This weekend, I drove to Edmonton go see the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Telus World of Science with fellow bloggers Jordan and Bryna. It was a long commute, so I hope this review will help you decide whether or not it is worth your time to go check it out if you were wavering about buying tickets. The HP exhibit is on at the Science Centre until March 9, 2014 and tickets are $23.50 for students. If you do happen to live in Edmonton or somewhere very close like Red Deer, I highly suggest you go and check it out! On the other hand if you live somewhere further like Calgary, where it takes three hours to drive up; I still highly suggest going, but make a weekend trip out of it.
The exhibit was amazing. Unfortunately, there was a policy against pictures so I can’t show you my experience, but I can definitely tell you about my experience. The system they set up to get into the event itself was amazing. During the lineup, a lovely man came up and handed everyone house scarves of their choices, which lead us to a mini photoshoot, then into a room where a few volunteers got “sorted” by the famous Sorting Hat, (Bryna got to go up and the look of excitement on her face was priceless!) which then proceeded into a room which showed a fabulous montage of all the characters growing up, over the years. This was a wonderful way to keep the giddy children and even impatient teen fans occupied before their turn in the real exhibit – it really felt like you were entering Hogwarts!
I can’t tell you everything that was in the exhibit because there is far too much to name, but the selection was huge! We got to see pretty much every character’s wand, many costumes worn by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, including a few from the Yule Ball and some of the early movies, and many sets like Hagrid’s house and the potions lab. At the very end there is an amazing gift shop especially made for the Exhibit, and it was super neat, albeit pricey. Scarves were $35, hoodies $75, and wands were $50! So don’t expect anything to be cheap, but do expect whatever you buy to be good quality and in great shape. Although there was a lot to see, it took only about a half an hour at most to walk through it all, so if you are only going to Edmonton just to see the exhibit, I’d consider walking through the rest of the Science Centre, (which is really nice, yet very small compared to Calgary’s, and again took about half and hour to go through), or go to West Edmonton Mall.
Overall the Harry Potter Exhibit at Telus World of Science in Edmonton was amazing, there was tons to see and worth the money, if you live close. But if you are from Calgary and driving a total six hours, go on the weekend and make a trip out of it. Edmonton has a lot of other cool stuff to check out! Go get you tickets here