During our few days traveling to Melbourne, we stumbled upon the newly opened Harry Potter Exhibition. As a quiet but devoted Potterhead, we were really excited and quickly booked two tickets from the official website.
The tickets are available in several types: Standard, Flex, and VIP. There isn’t a huge difference between them. Since we really love the Harry Potter series, we bought a VIP ticket! Before entering the venue, we saw two lines, one for VIP and one for Flex and Standard ticket holders.
The Harry Potter Exhibition Experience
Before entering, the staff will give you a wristband, which you will use later for scanning and interacting with the screens. Before starting the exhibition, you will be guided to tag your wristband at a machine and input your personal information (it is better to use your real information as it will be needed later).
If you take photos and look carefully at everything, it takes about an hour to go through it.
Each small section is clearly labeled with the different houses, places inside Hogwarts, and the events that happened there. Even people who have not watched Harry Potter can easily follow the storyline by reading the display boards.
There are many interactive elements throughout the exhibition. We liked the Quidditch section the most, where you could actually throw the ball, it felt like a lively interaction. We also got a bit excited seeing the display cases for the different houses, especially Ravenclaw.
You will also find the long tables in the Great Hall.
The only real difference between VIP and the other tickets is at the very end, you can collect a free tote bag and a small booklet at the gift shop, and get a free Butterbeer. You can take the cup home, but the drink tastes terrible. It smells sweet like caramel cream but tastes sour.
Overall, the exhibition is great for hardcore fans and kids. If you are just casually interested and want to check it out, a Standard ticket is probably more than enough.
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