I just bought myself a ticket and am going tomorrow after work. Has anyone seen it?* I thought it looked like fun–there are props and sets from the films and who knows what all else. From this museum, the exhibit will travel around the world (I think–I’ll know more after I’ve been).
HPExhibit
*If you went and thought it sucked, please don’t rain on my parade–at least until I’ve actually been to it, kay? Thanks.
We went to see it back in May, and really enjoyed it. My wife and I are big fans of both the books and the movies (though she didn’t enjoy the movie version of Half-Blood Prince). It’s mostly a display of costumes and props for the various movies, placed in “sets” built to look like various locations in and around Hogwarts.
There isn’t a whole lot of interactivity to the exhibit, despite how some of the ads describe it…IIRC, there’s exactly three “interactive” bits:
- Pulling a mandrake out of the ground
- Throwing quaffles through goals
- Sitting in Hagrid’s XXXXL-sized chair
I suspect that smaller kids, even if they like HP, might get bored. We were with two 10-year-old girls (our goddaughters), and they liked it, but, had they been a bit younger, I suspect it wouldn’t have held their interest for long enough to get through the entire exhibit.
Echoing Kenobi, we saw it a month or so ago (right before HBP released). I’m not really a Harry Potter fan but I found the set pieces and costumes interesting just because of all the little details that go into making a set seem alive. My son is 10 and he liked it (we saw it for him) but probably would have been bored a year ago. He mainly liked pointing stuff out and saying “I remember that! That’s from…”
And that was kinda lame, as well. Heavy plastic, you pull up, it comes up and screams. You let go and it just kinda goes back to where it was.
I thought it was reasonably entertaining if you really liked the movies. There are TONS of props and costumes from them and it’s kind of neat to see them all in real life.
I agree completely on the mandrakes. I loved Hagrid’s chair, though. The quaffles were lame as well.
I am glad I went (and Emma Watson must be either a size 2 or a 0–that ball gown was so tiny!). I loved seeing the costumes and was glad they had included everybody’s. I was touched to see how small Harry’s red sweater and cords were for the first movie–it really brought home how young they were.
I had never seen any of the wands close up, either. I really like Hermione’s and Harry’s, but I find AD’s to be ugly. Cedric’s was nice as well.
It’s not phantasmagorical, although the “sorting” at the beginning was very well done, but it was worth it. I’m very glad I didn’t wait in a loooong line–then it wouldn’t have been worth it.
I liked the moving pictures–just like in the films. That was a clever touch.
That was my reaction on seeing her costumes, too. According to her IMDB entry, she’s 5’6", but I find that hard to believe, given how small even her current costumes are.
But she is about the same height as Daniel Radcliffe–and he’s about 5’7" or so, no?
Let us hope she is thin from metabolism. She looks healthy.
Took our 13 year old nephew last weekend and we loved it. Would definitely recommend it for anyone who is into the movies.
This exhibit is coming to Boston’s Science Museum just in time for Halloween. I’ve already been to Boston twice this year, but I may have to make a third trip.
My husband and I went to see it today. We like the books and the movies, and it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing so we wanted to make sure we went before it closed. We loved it, and spent about 2 hours in there, made sure we saw every single thing, and even did the audio tour, but that was kinda lame (as were the Mandrakes, which sounded more like cats meowing). We definitely got our money’s worth.
Robbie Coltrane is a big guy, but he’s not really THAT big, right? Those clothes were HUGE! It was cool seeing Buckbeak up close. My favorite things were the cemetery statue, the Dementor and the Chess pieces. Oh and seeing the treats from Honeydukes up close. And Harry’s Yule Ball outfit. Spiffy! And the wands. All the wands, but especially Voldemort’s. And Dumbledore’s outfits. And everything else.
I’m so glad my husband is as geeky as I am. I wish we could have seen a similar exhibition for Lord of the Rings.
It closes in Chicago in less than a month.
Put together an exhibit at the MSI all about FX, 1988-style. Saw Jaws being carted in via the Stevenson, and I still noticed when it moved while I was sitting below it. The Keebler elves tree, against which they animated, was cool. Ridley in her forklift vs the Alien Mom was ultra-cool.
Of course, most of this was pre-CGI. 
No, he’s not really that big (he’s only 6’1"). I suspect that those costumes were made just to give the sense of scale, or used in shots that Robbie himself wasn’t directly in, but that his clothes (or part of “Hagrid”) had to interact with regular-sized actors.
Saw it not too long ago in Chicago and thought it was pretty meh. I’m not a fan, but I appreciate the attention to detail.