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Harry Potter, Travel Journal

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

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The eighth story. Nineteen years later.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child lives up to the reviews. 5 stars all around. The stage production was literal magic. So many trap doors, props, sets, lighting, and etc. Watching this play made me want to get a cloak. The choreography was so seamless and elegant. All the actors and actresses moved around on stage with such grace and synchronization especially when sets and/or props were involved. The play begins exactly how the epilogue was told at the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Once the characters came into place it was like watching that time jump come to life. Everyone on stage was so true to their character that it didn’t matter that you were being introduced to a new cast of people playing Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Draco, and etc.

The merchandise for this play was also quite fantastic. T-shirts, Pins, Necklaces, Patches, Lanyards, and more! I may have gone a little overboard when I was making my purchase but when in London nerding out over Harry Potter… one must treat themselves! I ended up buying a tote bag, Cursed Child t-shirt, Cursed Child pin, Ravenclaw pin, Ravenclaw quill pen, Ravenclaw necklace, stuffed owl, and of course a program for the play.

If you want to own any of the merchandise from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, you can SHOP HERE

Want to see photos from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child? CLICK HERE – Courtesy of Nerdist

You know you are a dedicated Harry Potter fan if you fly to London to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Here is my detailed experience of the two part play at the Palace Theater on August 11-12, 2016.

CHARACTERS

Augrey: Voldemort and Bellatrix’s daughter… who saw that coming? She is very cunning and conniving when you start to see her true character. Her desperate need to see and be with her father added to the chaos. She has a fantastic costume with her signature piece being the feathered jacket with huge sleeves.

Dumbledore: Harry is the only who interacts with Dumbledore’s painting. You see a golden frame lower down from above to fit the actor playing Dumbledore in a “portrait”. So many emotions are being conveyed between Harry and Dumbledore.

Hagrid: In the alternate reality you get to see flashbacks of Hagrid. The moment he rescues Harry from the destruction that Voldemort left behind and when he presents Harry with a birthday cake on his 11th birthday.

McGonagall: She was always one of my favorite professors and she is still teaching even nineteen years later. There is no lack of wit and sass that she has when dealing with her former students.

Snape: You get to see Snape again! Even in this alternate reality he is still helping Dumbledore because of his love for Lily. Snape once again sacrificed himself by letting the dementors take him so that Hermione and Scorpius could get away. Seeing Snape again made me miss Alan Rickman.

Trolley Witch: You get more insight on this character and she is not the sweet little old lady you know her to be. She makes it a point to let Scorpius and Albus know that she was successful in preventing James and Sirius as well as Fred and George from getting off the Hogwarts Express. Her voice got deeper and angrier as her fingers started to extend like tree branches. Now I can never see her the same ever again. Do not mess with the trolley witch!

Umbridge: The moment we get toward the end of Act I, you see this woman in pink and then she laughs in the way only Umbridge can. Once you realize who she is all you can do is go “OMG… WTF?!”. At this point in the play she is headmistress… what a scary thought.

Voldemort: Seeing Harry use the poly juice to become Voldemort was unsettling but necessary to convince Delphi that she was speaking with her dad. Toward the end of Act II, you see Voldemort stroll through the chapel doors past Harry and company to keep walking off the stage and into the darkness. Harry is then forced to watch his parents die at the hands of Voldemort in order to set the timeline correct again.

SCENES

ACT I SCENE 11: When Albus and Scorpius makes it to the top of the train who else is there but the trolley witch! The two of them are standing on a train car replica with the trolley witch on the far right end and the boys are on the far left. Her voice gets deeper and you start to see her fingers grow as she slowly approaches the boys.

ACT I SCENE 16: Albus, Scorpius, and Delphi take the polyjuice potions to turn into Harry, Ron, and Hermione. This scene is cool because you start to see the actors playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione emerge from the robes of Albus, Scorpius, and Delphi. When the transformation is complete, you get to see them take on the different personalities as the young kids up to no good.

ACT I SCENE 19: The bookcase in Hermione’s office was all kinds of chaos. Books would stick out, papers would fly out, running up and down the stairs, swallowing Albus into the bookcase, and etc.

ACT II SCENE 20: At the end of this scene is when you realize Scorpius has caused a ripple effect that has changed everything. Delores Umbridge is the headmistress at a school where they celebrate all things Voldemort. When she and Scorpius leaves the stage, you see and hear dementors descend from the ceiling and there is even one that flies out from the mezzanine. They are so eerily creepy and beautiful all at the same time.

ACT III SCENE 9: Even in this weird alternate reality where Snape is still alive, he does the righteous thing and sacrifices himself in order for the future to be set back right. Hermione and Scorpius make a run for it out of the forbidden forest and Snape gets taken away by the dementors. Once again they desceneded from the ceiling with.

ACT III SCENE 21: When the gang discovers the hidden writing in Delphi’s room you see a black light effect on stage on the wall of her room but then it starts to show up on all walls and surfaces within the theater with all these crazy looking symbols and text. It was very cool.

ACT 4 SCENE 12: Even 19 years later we have to experience the pain of Harry losing his parents again. This time it is even more heartbreaking because he is a full grown adult and had to watch Voldemort kill his parents. You sit in the audience only get to hear James and Lily helplessly try to fight off Voldemort. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Draco, Scorpius, and Albus all stand in solidarity so that Harry wouldn’t have to watch his parents untimely fate alone.

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Harry Potter, Travel Journal

WB Harry Potter Studio Tour

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One does not simply go to London and not go to the Harry Potter Studio Tour. The timing of it all for me was just so perfect. We see Part 1 of the Cursed Child on a Thursday evening, Part 2 of the Cursed Child on a Friday evening, and then off to the WB Studio Tour bright and early Saturday morning. So you can say that our trip to London was very much Harry Potter themed. You begin your tour with a video montage of how Harry Potter got published and the phenomenon that took over the world. Our first guide told us if we are enjoying our experience then his name is Joe and if not then his name is Gary. Haha

Once the video ends, we get shuffled into another room with theater seats where we all take a seat to watch another video with Daniel, Emma, and Rupert as our narrators. The footage showed the process of how they filmed the movies, the behind the scenes fun that they all had, and the phenomenon that is Harry Potter. Once the film ended, the projector screen rises up and you see the giant and beautiful golden doors that lead you into the great hall. You could just feel the excitement before we even pushed the doors open.

My Harry Potter Studio Tour went like this:

The Great Hall

Yule Ball

The Mirror of Erised + The Fat Lady

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Chamber of Secrets

Dumbledore’s Staircase

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Triwizard Cup

Potions

Mad Eye Moody’s Trunk

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Horcruxes

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The Black Family Tree Tapestry

Ministry of Magic

Umbridge’s Rules

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Hogwarts Express

19 Years Later

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Knight Bus

4 Privet Drive

Potters’ Cottage

Creatures

Diagon Alley

*BONUS: We started talking to a tour guide named Lina who was working in Diagon Alley and she was able to show us the only existing Tom Riddle’s Diary after it had been stabbed by the basilisk fang. All of the stunt copies were destroyed so that they couldn’t be resold but one of them was saved!

Art Concepts

Grand Finale

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Want to see more photos? CLICK HERE – Courtesy of Nerdist

Doctor Who, Travel Journal

Doctor Who Experience

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My group and I went to Cardiff where all the Doctor Who magic happens. The train ride was close to 2hrs and 20 min but well worth the ride. Once you get off the train you have to ride a city bus that will take you the Doctor Who Experience. The giant blue building gives it away and is a stop on their daily bus route. There is a small cafe to the left and a reception desk to check you in. Once you get your tickets scanned you line up until the doors open to an interactive start of the tour.

A tour guide hands everyone a lanyard with a “crystal” attached that lights up at certain points within the tour. The first room has a projection of a video on a wall with a crack that is about Gallifrey narrated by a former time lord commander. She goes into detail about the doctor and why he is so important and elusive. Once the video is over, you see the crack in the wall separate that allows you to proceed into the next room. Another video starts and the 12th doctor starts talking with the tour guide “interactively” and we are in a room that has a dangly tree with orbs that glow. We learn that within our group we are tasked with finding 3 crystals to power the tardis in order to get rid of the space octopi we encountered. The next room is by far my favorite room because it is the Tardis console! We all circle around and there are at least 8 joysticks that “direct” the Tardis based on the direction that the doctor tells you. We crash landed and move on to the next room.

The first crystal was found on the planet of Skaro and we all know who lives there… Daleks! We get a brief video about the Daleks and the tour guide asks for a volunteer to retrieve the crystal from an “inactive” Dalek but of course the Daleks start to awaken and we have to get out of there quick!

The second crystal was found in a dark room with my least favorite creatures… the weeping angels… Everyone has to walk on a path that has a weeping angel on every turn with lights and sounds going off every so often just to spook you. Yes I know they are fictional but I still do not like them. The second crystal was retrieved by my best friend Liz who had to get the crystal from the weeping angel. She was fine because she didn’t blink haha

The third crystal was in the final room that was Magpie Electrials themed. My best friend Brittany retrieved the final crystal and everyone who had a crystal in their possession plugged it into a console that activated a video that required us to wear 3D glasses where we got to see the end of the space octopi and witty banter from the doctor telling us we did good and that we saved the day.

Once the interactive experience was over you could free roam around the rest of the experience. There were a variety of Tardis’, Tardis consoles, Costumes from former doctors, companions, creatures, and more. Once you are satisfied with your tour of all the Doctor Who things, you end at the gift shop.

In addition to the Doctor Who Experience, we also signed up for a filming locations walking tour because why not? It was about a 1.5 mile walk but we got to see many cool things that was filmed for Doctor Who from the interior of the Millenium center building that was used for New Earth to the concrete structure that River “jumped off” from. I cannot remember all the details that Conner (tour guide) went over but check out the pics I took and see if you can remember what episodes they are from.

Luckily I did not do too much damage here. I bought two t-shirts, some pins, a Dalek mug for my sister and in addition to my purchase, I bought the merchandise package with one of my tickets so that my sister and I could share the goodies. It came with a lot of good stuff!