Harry Potter film sets open for tours
(CBS News) LONDON - Harry Potter, that boy wizard who for more than a decade cast his spell over audiences worldwide, will never fly again.
He hung up his broomstick and his cloak of invisibility for the last time in 2011 when the final film hit theaters, but that doesn't mean the magic's over.
On a massive, 150,000 square-foot site on the outskirts of London, the Potter universe has been meticulously recreated, Hogwarts and all, for fans of the famous franchise.
The studio tour is exactly what it claims to be - a close-up look at the actual sets used in the actual films, from a huge scale-model of Hogwart's Castle, to a magic broomstick ride with computer-generated backdrop, Dumbledore's office, and, of course, the Weasley family dining room, where not a napkin is out of place.
Potter fans are likely to be very pleased.
This hasn't just been made to look like a film set, this is the actual film set. For example, a visitor can stroll down Diagon Alley, where Harry first went to pick up his wizard supplies.
It's got everything a wizard needs, from Clabbert Pustles to Dragon Liver to Chispurfle Fangs.
The centerpiece, however, has to be the Great Hall of Hogwarts, the setting of so much of the drama that unfolded during Harry's life.
It was on the massive oak dining tables in the Great Hall, laid with cutlery dipped in real gold, when a cast of little characters assembled more than ten years ago, to genuine surprise.
"I've heard a story that the producers didn't let the children see the set until that very first day that they came on for the first film," says Sarah Roots, Vice President of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. "Their sense of awe is completely genuine from their very first filming day."
The idea being that the young actors would be genuinely blown away by their surroundings - not just act it.
And they were... which is exactly how fans may feel when they're able to walk in Harry's footsteps.
To see Charlie D'Agata''s report, click on the video in the player above.
