We went to see the
Harry Potter exhibit at the
Pacific Science Centre in Seattle on Saturday January 15, 2011. We chose that weekend because our seven year old loves Harry Potter and it is his birthday in January.
Hotel
We stayed at the
Sheraton Seattle via Hotwire $89 a night with tax (check out my
How to Use Hotwire post)
By the way I do like this hotel. The bed and furnishings aren't as nice as the Westin Seattle but it's on the block next to H&M, Nordstrom, and Banana Republic.
Tickets
At almost 30 bucks an adult pricing seems expensive since we were in it for 90 minutes but in hindsight it was worth it to us since it's so exclusive and included admission to the rest of the Science Centre. We needed to pre-order online and select a time slot to show up.
We walked the two blocks to
Westlake Centre to catch the Monorail to the Pacific Science Centre.
As a complete aside the
Hot Topic in Westlake Centre was closing. This was bittersweet because I really do like this store - remember going in there with HonoluluGirl on
our Twilight Forks trip!
On the plus side I paid $20 for all this stuff; yes 4 Eclipse T-shirts, 1 Hunger Games shirt, an Edward tote bag, and a bookmark.
By the way my kids loved the Monorail. It is a 2 minute ride to the Pacific Science Centre from the downtown shopping core. I loved the Hogwart's Express motif on the Monorail too - nice touch!
Seattle Centre
The Pacific Science Centre is part of the Seattle Centre complex. There's a big carnival circus area which was closed since it's pouring rain/winter time. The Space Needle is here. It's expensive and we opted to save it for the next trip. The restaurant up to rotates and has an awesome dessert for the kids so we'll be sure to go.
Pacific Science Centre
We picked up tickets at the will call booth and there was no line. We went right into the Science centre but couldn't line up for the Harry Potter until 15 minutes before our time slot. While there we saw some Star Wars characters promoting the upcoming Star Wars exhibit.
 |
| Didn't expect to see Darth Vader on this trip |
By the way the cafeteria has pizza corn dogs cheeseburgers. The most enthralling exhibit for the kids was watching a boa constrictor eat a full sized rat. Disgusting but fascinating!
My favourite was the butterfly house (which Mr. TC found utterly boring of course).
Harry Potter Exhibit
There were clear signs about "No Running or Rough Play" in the exhibit. We should have these around my home so maybe my two boys would be more gentle.
We opted to pay $5 for a handheld audio tour to supplement the signs under each item - it was well worth it!
Now there's a no photo policy in there and there are very detailed blog posts
elsewhere about every item. I won't regurgitate them here.
My favourites?
The sorting hat at the beginning that tells visitors which house they belong to.
The fat lady video portrait on the wall - lifesize!
All the employees have English accents.
I was expecting a bunch of props in a regular exhibit hall - well I'd be wrong. The decor, lighting, sound, and even smoke effects were astounding.
We walked through Hagrid's Hut and even sat in the armchair. There was a dragon egg on the table which would rattle sometimes - the kids loved it!
They recreated the great hall for the last room - with candle floating in the air and everything.
These pics are from the Harry Potter Exhibition Official Guidebook I was forced to buy since we weren't allowed to take photos.
 |
| Example of a Quidditch board game - can't buy this anywhere! |
 |
They had the real time-turner from the movie.
You can buy one for $60 USD! |
 |
| Seeing Professor Umbridge's office in its entirety - with kitten plates and all. |
 |
| This Hungarian Horntail's head was huge - really freaked out the kids. |
 |
| Getting to score goals with Quaffles kept the kids busy. |
 |
Pulling out mandrakes was very fun - stock photo of course
Those aren't my kids! |
 |
| The wall of degrees went up two stories - so authentic. |
 |
| Loved that Rob had touched this cup. |
 |
| Hermione's gown was beautiful |
 |
| Squeals for seeing these outfits in real life. |
It was surreal to walk around the corner in the ball costume area since I knew these were coming. I was of course with my husband and kids and felt like I was buzzing. You know when you're watching Twilight and you need to be alone to have a moment? It's not like a lemon lust moment but just a need to be with your own thoughts to enjoy being content. Well that's how I felt. Like VitaminR70 had warned me they rope off all the costumes but they're within arms reach. I could have been over that rope and sniffing the fabric in no time. But surprisingly didn't feel the urge. In fact I was more enthralled with Cho Chang's dress. It's even more gorgeous in real life and as a girl who has worn a cheong sam or two in her time I can tell you this is different. I feel the urge to have this commissioned somewhere - maybe for Halloween?
 |
| Spent a good few minutes gawking and basking. |
The gift shop was packed. You couldn't walk or breathe it was so full. Stuff was expensive but that was expected. Everything was Disney priced - about 30% over what you think you should pay.
I love my Maruader's map heat activated mug - much cheaper than the $50 Marauder's Map that was for sale.
My kids really wanted wands. The Ollivander's part was very cool - the setup was just like the movie. But the $50 price tag was too much.
They also had brooms for sale and the boys couldn't understand why I wouldn't buy them. The 8 year old wanted a Firebolt - I think it was about $300.
