Where We Went Today

Spooky season is over for this year but fear not! There is still a chance to practice your spells at the Forbidden Forest Experience! It was a huge hit last year and is back again for 2022. This post is based on our experience last year which was absolutely magical and well worth the journey.

My eldest has been absolutely obsessed with all things wizard related since she was about 4 years old and believe me, we’ve done a lot of ‘magical’ events since then, but I think this was the best experience we’ve been to. When tickets first went on sale last year I rushed to buy them, immediately regretted spending so much money, and then spent a few weeks dreading the 3 hour drive from Newcastle to the grounds of Arley Hall near Cheshire to spend a couple of hours walking around the woods in the dark with a 6 year old and a toddler. However, I set my doubts to one side and we set off…

The experience is an immersive walk through the ‘Forbidden Forest’ where you will encounter characters familiar from the Harry Potter films and books and is officially endorsed so all the sound effects and props are film-accurate.

When we purchased our tickets we were given a time slot. We were able to access part of the site prior to this and there was a well stocked gift shop (much to the delight of my daughter, although my bank balance was less keen!) Once we got to our allotted time to start the experience we were met by a guide who gave us a brief introduction and then sent us walking through the forest.

As we walked through the forest we were able to see recreations of scenes from the films along with sound effects. There were also projections of some characters such as the centaurs which were very well done.

As you walk through the woods it really does feel like there are magical creatures nearby due to lightning and sound effects. There are also some brilliant interactive elements and fab photo opportunities. You have the opportunity to ‘cast your own patronius’ charm with a very clever projection of a randomly generated animal that really makes it look like it do on the film. My daughter was 100% convicted she had actually cast a spell! I took some great videos of this but don’t want to spoil some of the surprises so I won’t share them but it was fantastic and great fun.

it was never scary for us and was more atmospheric. Even her brother who was almost 2 at the time wasn’t scared a d either toddled along with us or snoozed in the carrier. Some young children might be scared and I think it’s a judgment for parents to make based on the personality of their children. Without spoiling too much of the surprises there is possibly one point that children (and adults) with a phobia of spiders might not like, however it was completely avoidable and there was a member of the event staff at this point pointing out an alternative route. We did go into this but though and it was good fun.

The experience culminated with a recreation of a pivotal scene from the films set beautifully across the lake from where we were watching. Again, I don’t want to give too many spoilers.The projection equipment was really fantastic and throughout the whole experience it felt immersive rather than being a pretty light show.

At the end we came out into an eating area with stalls selling hot and cold food. This was all themed and felt like part of the overall experience rather than an afterthought. The food options were rather expensive but most dietary preferences were catered for. And since we are very much a wizarding family we stopped to drink a couple of tankards of Butterbeer before we left and carried on our way.

Our experience was based on our visit in 2021 but tickets are on sale for Forbidden Forest again now. We had such a fab time and I would really recommend it to any Potter fans, young or old. As i mentioned above, this is not a cheap experience (adult tickets are £49.50 this year and children aged 5-15 are £37.50 – I think prices were similar last year. I do think as a one off treat for real fans it is worth it. It’s so much more than a walk in the woods with some lights and it really does feel like you’ve stepped into the films at points. If my youngest was less of a runner now (he loves nothing more than running at full speed in the opposite direction of where we want to go while laughing) we would definitely go again this year because we had such a lovely time. Hopefully smallest calms down a little and we can go back again. If you want to go, tickets are available from https://hpforbiddenforestexperience.com/cheshire/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=sc&utm_campaign=111963_man&gclid=CjwKCAjwzY2bBhB6EiwAPpUpZsy_le8F-7M8HH4f81eunSGo8yJVzofX7P2TgKe9NYQEaO_j-R0BkBoC_P4QAvD_BwE

The experience is on now and runs through to 4th December.

PRACTICALITIES:

Where is it? Arley Hall, Northwich CW9 6NA

Accessibility? This is a walk in the dark through the woods. I’m not a wheelchair user but there were no areas with steps however the ground is a little rough and not paved. I used a carrier for my youngest when he wanted a break from walking but that’s our general preference anyway.