The traveling Harry Potter expo Visions of Magic has found its temporary home in the new expo building of the Tour & Taxi complex in Brussels, Belgium. Never Was Magazine sent in two intrepid reporters to have a bit of a gander. One who is quite an avid Potterhead, and one who is mildly interested in the franchise. So you get a review based on both, and not just that of a diehard fan.
There are some accessibility issues with the expo that need to be addressed, and I will do so at the end of this review. For now, though, let’s get into it!
Let me start by saying this right away: this is an interactive, for the most part digital, exhibition. If you were hoping to see movie props and costumes like the previous expo that toured around from 2015 onward (our review here), this is not it. So I’ll talk about what it is, rather than what it isn’t.
The theming of the expo goes quite far, even the building it’s housed into is fully dressed up to match what’s inside. It is, of course, not fully themed, as the entrance hall is a bit bland, but this is completely understandable as they have to work with the available venue. The staff were very friendly and available for questions. They were all at least bilingual (English and French) and most also spoke Dutch. While the Expo is mostly geared toward French visitors, the signage also covers, in smaller font, Dutch and English.
Every visitor is given an interactive wand at the beginning of the tour (on loan), and there is a little practice area before you go in. There is also a photo op, but the surrounding is quite dark, so the pictures didn’t come out great and were definitely not worth the nearly €15 a pop they charge for them.
Speaking of photos, most of the areas are underlit, so even with a high-end camera it can be hard to take good photos. Perhaps the latest high-end smartphones are a bit easier and better in this situation, but keep this in mind. You are allowed to photograph to your heart’s content as long as you don’t use flash. And you are allowed to take as much time as you want before going into the next room, which is great. I’m not sure if this is always the case, but when we went (the third day into the expo) it was rather quiet and low on crowds. We even had a few rooms to ourselves, other than the designated staff. Which was surprising for a Sunday afternoon.
You are, however, not allowed to go back into the previous room. So if there is something you really want to look at up close or take a photo, do it while you’re there.
It starts out in the Knight Bus, which you can go inside. It’s not a traditional bus like the ones you see in the Wizarding World in the Universal theme parks or the Warner Brothers Studio tour. Rather it is the outside of the bus, and once you enter, you are in a large room with bunks and decorated as the inside of the bus might look. It’s very cool, and some of the spots are fairly well lighted for photos.
Next is a hallway with some imagery before we walk into nr 12 Grimmault Place, which has an interactive Black Family tapistry on both sides. You need your wand to make family members appear, and it’s a hit or miss. This is sadly a theme throughout the entire expo. Oftentimes there is zero reaction. Or something reacts only once and not again. Or the interactive part is just bland.
For those wondering, no, your interactive wands from the theme parks won’t work, and no, the specific wand movements don’t do anything either. We asked.
Past the Malfoy family, you can listen to prophesies, which are mostly general movie quotes, in the hall of prophesies. To be continued by blandly moving bricks and lackluster design of the American Ministry of Magic, Newt Scamander’s suitcase, which has several big screens that switch between magical creatures (niffler, occamy, grindylow and hippogriff). And the Room of Requirement, which is mostly boxes in shades of grey intermixed with some well-known artifacts in various states of proper replica. By this I mean that the giant chess piece and the Monster Book of Monsters are among the few that look good, but others are clearly Noble Collection replicas. Which are nice, don’t get us wrong, but they’re not top of the line either. It was nice to see more obscure things like the weird eye stalks, as well as super well-know, and well-loved, items.
There’s a fairly extensive Knockturn Alley, but the effects are pretty bland. There’s a lamppost that is supposed to glow green if you point your wand at it and you have dark magic in you, but we discovered it’s more set on a timer than actually reactive to the wand. It’s also quite high up, making it hard for kids to reach. We saw several smaller children jump up at it to no avail. Criticism aside, Knockturn Alley was actually very atmospheric.
The final room is a short show, representing the final battle between Voldemort and Harry, ending in celebratory firework projections. Like a lot of things, it really could have been better.
And, of course, as is the case with these things, you exit through the gift shop. We didn’t ask, so we’re not sure, but as there isn’t really a big distinction between the entrance and exit, we think it might be possible to visit both the shop and the Butterbeer bar via the exit without needing a ticket. But doublecheck before you go if you’d be going specifically for this.
Now as for the shop. It is very big and roomy. It has a lot of really good merch, original merch too, that is fairly priced. A lot of it is actually good quality and stuff you can use, too. Which is a bit of a shocker nowadays (for all fandoms). There’s a wide variety available, ranging from mugs, stationery, patches, coin purses that double as notion pouches, garments, pins, prints, etc. There were large display cases displaying rarer merchandise, but it had no prices listed, so it’s a bit up in the air if you can actually buy Gryffindor’s sword or Narcissa Malfoy’s earrings there. But as far as the “regular” merch is considered: even things you can find anywhere, such as Hogwarts and house-related T-shirts and scarves were just a little bit different than anywhere else. Which is definitely cool if these things are your vibe.
What really was different is that they sold the official Butterbeer, not just at the aforementioned bar. Don’t expect an atmospheric and aesthetic Butterbeer bar like the short-lived Harry Potter Photographic Experience in London’s Covent Garden from a few years ago. No, it’s a barely lit area at the end of the gift shop with a themed food truck, little candy stand and picnic tables.
If you’re a collector, the shop is almost better than the expo itself. It is, however, cash-free — despite this being illegal in Belgium.
Now what did we really think about the expo? It wasn’t really worth the high ticket price. Yes, it was fun to do once, but it was also fun because it was not at all crowded. Had it been crowded, it wouldn’t have been nearly as enjoyable. The interactive parts are subpar, and could have been done much, much better. Visually a lot of areas were still stunning, but they were kind of diminished because they weren’t executed as well as they could have been. There was also a weird chronological order to things, making the whole thing rather incohesive. It’s great they included Fantastic Beasts, but everything was jumbled completely out of order in a way that made very little sense, and that really annoyed the casual fan on the team. We wouldn’t say it’s just for kids necessarily, as we feel that Potterheads of all ages can enjoy it, but it’s just not worth the money for what it ends up being.
And now for the erumpent in the room: accessibility. Which is not as good as it should be. The building has no toilets. There are container toilets outside, and we were told by a member of staff they are not accessible (one of us was using a rollator walker due to disability). So in order to use an accessible toilet, we had to leave, walk the short distance to La Gare Maritime (the next building over where the food court is, which is also cash-free, by the way) and use the disability toilet there. Wheelchair users beware, because the one in the ladies’ is behind the door. So you first need to close the door to the loos in order to open the door to the accessible one, and you might very well end up smacking it into said door, or worse, another person when opening it. The architect clearly did not have their coffee when designing that one. Apparently the one in the men’s is not behind a door, so do with that information what you will. The accessible toilets, of which there are apparently only two, are also baby changing stations. So basically: if you want the accessible loo full stop, make sure to go during hours that Gare Maritime is open.
Now back to the venue. There was a system where they made little queuing rows with a rope system. Which was not wide enough to accommodate a larger wheelchair. Now, as mentioned earlier, the staff were really friendly, so we think (you can never know sadly) they would adjust if asked, but it’s a bit of an annoyance to have to ask. The rollator we had with us (byACRE Overland, not sponsored) folds up into what is basically a cane on wheels, which was definitely handy in few spots for that very reason, as not all the hallways were as wide as they should be. Meaning that if it does get busy, it will be hell to manoeuvre. For everyone, not just people with mobility aids.
You could sit down in only two rooms: the Knight Bus and Newt’s suitcase. So if you can’t stand up long, and you need to wait in line at some points, make sure to bring a collapsible seat with you (or a mobility aid that has a build-in seat). We had to wait a few times, for about 5 minutes, even though it wasn’t crowded at all when we went.
The shop and bar are fairly wide, and it should be OK to at least get through without hassle. The displays, however, go up, so you may need to address a tall(er) person to reach for things if you’re in a wheelchair.
You do, however, get a free carer ticket if you can present proof of disability, such as a EU disability card.
Thanks to Bert Van den Wyngaert for his contributions to this review!
