Visiting the Official Harry Potter Store in New York for the First Time
I recently took a trip to New York with my husband with a list of stores we wanted to visit. When I found out there was a Harry Potter store, it was at the top of my list. I have not yet been to Harry Potter World in Universal Studios so I was ecstatic to at least get a taste. The store was a bit of a journey for us to get to as it is not in Times Square. It was completely worth it though as we shopped in their three story area with bakery and virtual reality experience.
The store has been open since 2021, but surely raised attraction as the Harry Potter fanbase is one of the biggest in the world. Harry Potter is one of those things that will always remind me of my childhood so I will never get sick of it.
The Shopping!
I definitely busted a hole through my wallet while shopping. Every corner I turned, there was something that caught my eye and the store is filled with exclusive items. I mean how often am I going to New York so I had to go a little crazy. Pricing was honestly not as bad as I thought at least for some items. I am a fanatic Loungefly collector, but my favorite purse/mini backpack designer is actually Danielle Nicole. When it comes to choosing purses to collect, I look at the whole design.
Is it creative? Is it just a simple print? What fun elements are on the bag? How exclusive?
Danielle Nicole bags usually tick off all the boxes for me because her designs utilize 3D elements, fashionable fun colors, and incorporate interesting shapes. I am not a fan of grabbing a bag and seeing just a printed on pattern, but it costs like $80. No, thank you. Anyways, Harry Potter NY had not only beautiful Danielle Nicole bags, but also some exclusive original store handbags that were only $30.
Besides the bags, there was really everything a Harry Potter fan could want. Books, house clothing and accessories, home décor, sweets, butterbeer, and of course wands! My husband and I were stoked to get our own wands. The store had wands from Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts characters as well as some general themed wands. For instance, they had wands with different icons like the house mascots, Fawkes, and a thestral to name a few. My husband ended up choosing one of these wands with an exclusive golden snitch wand. I was having a hard time decided, but I actually ended up with a character from Fantastic Beasts, Madame President. I knew I was wearing a pink ball gown this year for the Yule Ball so I wanted my wand to match.
Luckily, you don’t have to travel to New York to buy some of the incredible items because it is also online. Of course if you get the chance to have the physical experience, I highly recommend, but it is nice to still be able to purchase your own wand online as well as other goodies.
Sweets & Treats
Speaking of goodies, the store also had a treat area where you can enjoy different themed baked goods and butterbeer. When you purchase a butterbeer, it comes in a plastic mug you get to keep and take home. They even provide a sink to wash your cup so you don’t carry around a sticky cup. My only complaint for the bakery is there isn’t a lot of room in the seating area and you are required to drink your butterbeer in that area. I know they were trying to fit a lot in the store, but it is inconvenient to stand around trying to enjoy your treats. The costs for the baked goods were on the pricier side so you really are paying for the aesthetic of the treats. I’m not going to lie I really wanted the mandrake cake because of how cute it was.
Other treats available besides the baked good are the classic sweets & candies from Honeydukes. There is a whole Honeydukes section with chocolate frogs, jelly beans, lollipops and more. They even had cases of butterbeer you could take home, but we didn’t want to deal with packing glass. The chocolate frog had two options: one regular frog in a cardboard box and another in a collector tin box with all of the trading cards. I ended up trying the Fizzing Whizzbees which reminded me of a chocolate covered strawberry, but then pop rocks in the end. I thought mine weren’t fizzing, but a few minutes later I felt the popping on my tongue.
VR Experience
Harry Potter NY really was like a taste of Universal Studios Harry Potter World because it even had virtual reality. There are two different experiences you can choose from when you buy your tickets online: Wizards Take Flight & Chaos at Hogwarts.
In Chaos at Hogwarts, Dobby needs your assistance in catching magical creatures he accidentally left loose. In Wizards Take Flight, you fly with Hagrid while trying to escape Death Eaters. We decided on Wizards Take Flight since it felt a little more adventurous and exciting. They bring you into a room where you sit on your own electronic broom while wearing the VR headset & gloves. You are also given a wand during the experience to fight off the death eaters. I wasn’t very good at this part because I was being too gentle with the wand and apparently you really have to flick. Guess I need to go to Hogwarts for some training.
All in all I had a wonderful time in New York with the Harry Potter store as my big highlight. We did also go to the Nintendo store, but I did wish it was bigger. Still it was a great experience and I felt so lucky to get the chance to go. I went to college near New York, but I hardly ever went since I didn’t have a lot of money. Now I am blessed enough to go on amazing adventures with my husband as we continue to explore the world. If you are ever in New York, I highly recommend checking the store out. I recommend checking online first that there isn’t a wait to get in and buy your VR tickets ahead of time.
If you had to pick any fandom to have a themed store, what would it be? What’s your house? Where has been an awesome place you have traveled to? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to like and subscribe to get notified of new posts. Have you checked out our new merch yet? Don’t miss out and check out Bombshell’s new store for cute apparel and accessories. Until next time my bombshells, Bye!
