Over the weekend, my girlfriends and I headed to Chicago. There is always so much to do, see, and eat in The Windy City, but when we saw the Harry Potter Magic at Play experience at Water Tower Place, we knew we had to go. We were actually shopping at Water Tower, and saw this experience was set up where Macy’s used to be. It’s a very convenient location, near lots of places to grab lunch afterwords!
This interactive experience was geared towards kids, but as three 30-somethings without kids, we still had a blast. The Harry Potter Magic at Play experience will be open in Chicago until mid-May. You can get tickets and find more information here. But now, let’s accio a good time 😉
Harry Potter Magic at Play
We booked our tickets for 10am, and arrived about 10 minutes early. There was quite a line, but when we were done, there was no line, and the day prior when we walked by and saw it, there was also no line. If you don’t want a line, I would avoid the first ticket window on a weekend, otherwise, the space is big enough to enjoy and take your time!
No food or drinks are allowed in, and there are no bathrooms! They also offer coat check for $3 (credit-only).
When we walked in, we received a card with a QR code. At the various photo-ops, we could scan our card and take our own photos. I really liked this!
At the end, we were able to purchase all our photos digitally for $50. There were 3 of us, and we did the broom photos 3 times each… so we had A LOT of pictures. I thought that was a decent value (seeing as how I paid the same amount for 5 pictures at TILT the day before!)
The journey starts at 1 Privit Drive, and then we travel on to Diagon Alley and Hogsmead, and ultimately into Hogwarts. There was so much to look at! A few things had “do not touch” signs, but most things were fair game – and lots of fun! Recreating some of our favorite Hogwarts moments was absolutely priceless!
We made feathers fly with some wingardium leviosa magic, stirred potions, took a walk through the forbidden forest with black lights, and even enjoyed some butterbeer and chocolate frogs at the end!
On the Quidditch floor, we were able to throw quaffles, ride brooms, and play some interactive games — I think this was all of our favorite part!
Harry Potter Magic at Play should definitely be on your Chicago Bucket List this spring! For more Winter/Early-spring Chicago fun, check out this blog post.
Find tickets and more for the Harry Potter Magic at Play experience here.
xo -j
