Harry Potter NY's New Broomstick Experience Will Make You Nostalgic
Matthew Lewis (aka Neville Longbottom) relives his flying days: "We just looked like idiots."
The years come and go, but the love for Harry Potter lives on. Nearly a decade and a half after the last HP movie was released, fans continue to show their appreciation for the franchise on social media (even when the cast is being “so millennial” at reunions), at the theme parks, and more. So the comments about Harry Potter New York’s new broomstick experience have been extremely supportive.
On Wednesday, June 19, after the official Instagram account for Harry Potter’s NYC flagship store teased that “Something magical [would be] flying into” the shop one day later, Potterheads couldn’t help but express their enthusiasm. “I’m super excited!” wrote one fan, with others echoing similar sentiments.
The experience in question? An immersive broomstick adventure, where fans can have photos and videos of themselves flying over enchanting backdrops from the Wizarding World taken and available for purchase post-flight.
“It’s an experience they’ve had back in England [at the Warner Bros. studio tour] for a while,” Matthew Lewis, who played fan-fave Neville Longbottom in all eight Harry Potter films, tells Elite Daily ahead of opening day on Thursday, June 20 — but he never wanted to “get back on a broomstick again” because he always felt like he was “too old.”
[Flying a broomstick now is] very different from my day; I was the guinea pig.
The 34-year-old finally gave in, though, for the latest experience, noting that “it looked cool” and that he should’ve done it sooner. “I’ve been missing out,” he says. “It’s very different from my day; I was the guinea pig.”
“When I was doing it, they were just making it up as they went along,” he says of his experience working on the 2001 film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. “They took a broomstick, put it on top of a crane, put that crane on the back of a pickup truck, then strapped me to it and just drove around.”
The newest experience involves a green screen, no wires, and even a comfortable butt seat.
Even more to fans’ advantage, you can see footage of the sets displayed in front of you while you’re “flying,” so it’s easier to pretend. “We had to just use our imagination, having no idea how it would come out,” says Lewis. “We just looked like idiots and then saw it at the premiere.”
You Can Also Find A New Broomstick-Inspired Treat One Floor Up
For a limited time, Harry Potter NY will serve up new Quidditch-themed cupcakes at its iconic Butterbeer Bar while supplies last. The dulce de leche-infused snack includes an edible chocolate broomstick and golden snitch.
On the subject of Quidditch, Lewis believes he would make a good chaser. “I’d like to think that I am relatively athletic,” he says, but the one to take the glory during a match à la Harry Potter wouldn’t be Daniel Radcliffe, in his opinion.
“Alfie is an annoyingly good athlete,” Lewis says of Alfred Enoch, who played fellow Gryffindor Dean Thomas throughout the series. “He's one of those annoying people who’s just good at everything. [...] He’d be the seeker.”
Actual Harry Potter Movie Props Made Their Way Into The Store As Well
The Sorcerer’s Stone, time-turner necklace, Nimbus 2001 broomstick, Bellatrix’s dagger, and several wands are just a few of the many items that were actually used in the movies currently being showcased in the NYC space.
Free tours — which are first-come, first-serve — spotlighting the new props will be available from now through Sunday, June 23, at the top of every hour from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. EST and last about 30 minutes.
