Harry Potter The Exhibition — Local services in Sandy

My two eldest daughters and I went to this exhibit while we were visiting from out of state, and it was fantastic! The exhibit is very immersive, and it really feels like you're taking a tour of Hogwarts. It is so perfect for Harry Potter fans.

There's a nice mix of interactive parts where you get to actually touch and interact with the world, pretending to be a young wizard and actual movie props that you get to see in person. (They have a very simple but elegant system: if it's behind plexiglass, it's a real, actual movie prop used in filming; if it isn't, then you're welcome to touch it.)

The timed entry system also works really well. They don't seem to be super strict on the exact timing, but what they accomplish is staggering the starts so that you go into the exhibit with a nice, reasonably-sized cohort, and then move through it (for the most part) at your own pace. It works great because there's always a reasonable number of people in each room, so you have plenty of access to see the props, play the interactive games, and get your photo ops in.

Perhaps the most impressive part of our visit was what transpired afterwards. As I said, we were visiting from out of town, just me and my two eldest. Naturally, we wanted to get some souvenirs, both for the kiddos there and to bring home to their three younger siblings, and as gifts for friends at school. Among the several items we purchased was a beautiful, large snow globe of the Hogwarts castle.

Unfortunately, I just didn't think about the fact that, technically, it is a liquid, and it was well over 3oz, so guess what happened at the airport? Yep, TSA confiscated our highly dangerous snow globe. (There was no time to try and go back, check a bag, and then go through security again, or we would have risked missing our flight. That's not to mention that checking the bag would have cost well over the purchase price of the globe. Sadly, we had no choice but to let them chuck that beautiful snow globe in the past.)

So that put a very sad spin on our trip, and I really wished there were something I could do to reverse that taint. I reached out to the retail store, explained the situation, and asked if there was any way I could purchase another snow globe and have them ship it to me.

Honestly, I thought it was a long shot and didn't really expect them to be able to help me out. I thought they'd just say, "Sorry, but we only sell merchandise in person." Boy was I wrong. They were extremely sympathetic and compassionate. Not only did they send me an identical snow globe (free of charge), but they even threw in a few other Harry Potter goodies. I was just blown away that they would care that much to help out this random family from Oregon.

In summary, it's a great exhibit run by great people, and if you live in the area or are just passing through, you should definitely...

Don’t waste your money. We paid for the VIP experience which basically includes front of the line access for getting in to the exhibition and at the end you are supposed to get a butterbeer and a bag with a book of pictures. There was nobody in line when we got there, the butterbeer machine was broken, and the bag was a cheap 50 cent bag with a pointless book. At the end of our tour we were told the butterbeer machine had been broken for 2 weeks so we were not able to get any. At no point during those two weeks did they bother to tell their customers who had paid extra money for VIP tickets that the machine was broken nor did they stop advertising for it so that people would not purchase VIP tickets under the assumption that butterbeer was included. My 12 year-old nieces worked hard to make the money to buy their tickets and the value of what you get for the $50 VIP ticket is absolutely ridiculous. The workers at the store checkout were unprofessional and did not offer us any sort of reimbursement or even an apology. They just acted like it was no big deal and that they were annoyed they had to help us. They seemed to be more concerned about discussing the party they were all going to. After complaining multiple times they finally brought another guy over who didn’t look much older than them and he said the best he could do was a 15% discount off store products. Which doesn’t go a long way since their products were the same prices as what you would find in the stores at Universal Studios. We ended up buying one of the tumblers and haven’t even had it a month and the words on the handle are rubbing off. It looks like they were painted on and not sealed. There were some pretty cool rooms in the exhibit and some small interactive activities. However, a good portion of the exhibition is just rooms with memorabilia and clothing from the movies and plays so it was basically a museum-type display. The first room was just a large room with nothing but a luggage trunk in a glass display case. The tour guide said that it was Harry’s son’s luggage from the seventh movie and she also said that she could not guarantee the items were actually from the movies or plays. Also, the pictures they take of you throughout the exhibit are not included in the basic package or the VIP paddl package and when you get to the end you have to pay per picture. Which is absolutely ridiculous considering how much you pay, especially for the VIP experience. Save your money and go to Harry Potter world or somewhere better than...

The five of us really didn't expect alot. Costumes, props, behind the scenes stories and such had us wondering if this could be as exciting and fun as they made it sound. However, we were ALL very much surprised! If you take the time to read the plaques and information boards, it is well worth it! They really share experiences from behind the scenes and making of the films that was utterly fascinating! As we each saw our favorite characters outfits and read the information about them and the clothing, it meant so much more to know such details. We kept commenting throughout the exhibit, "Who knew?" It was very well done, was fully engaging, extremely informative, alot of fun, and delightful. From area to area, memories began to come back. Where we each were, who we were with, what we were doing, the remembered laughter, intrigue, and excitement as we view each Harry Potter movie as they came out. So, it was also a heart warming walk down memory lane for each of us adults. All four of us, and one grandchild, were totally engaged as we walked through each display. We learned "alot" that none of us knew or even imagined about the making of the movies, as well as each of the characters, and how the scenes were put together, developed, and the snags they ran into that had to be adjusted immediately. It was fun to read how the crews over came crazy obstacles and problems during the shootings. Again and again, "Who knew?" We all highly recommend this exhibition and felt it was really worth the money. How fun to visit with one another at each stop and relive, talk about, and share the, "Did you catch that? OH, that's what that was all about? Do you remember that? Oh, I caught that the second time I watched it!" All the way through, we giggled, laughed, remembered, and completely enjoyed ourselves! And the staff? Outstanding in every way!! The ONLY negative thing? Parents who have not raised their children with manners or any social decorum! With no public supervision, even as parents stood near by, we wondered if the kids were going to destroy the displays! Running into people, shoving, pushing, yelling, being rude and extremely disruptive. They were all older grade school children when we were there, old enough to know better, if they had of been taught how to conduct themselves. Other than that, IT WAS...