Ollivanders Wand Shop – Diagon Alley
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Overview
Ollivanders is an interactive wand-selection experience inside The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley.
Small groups enter a dimly lit wand shop stacked from floor to ceiling with thousands of wand boxes, where a Wandkeeper selects one guest to take part in the ceremony.
The chosen guest tries several wands, with spells producing unexpected magical effects around the room before the right wand finally chooses its wizard.
Only one guest is normally selected from each group, although everyone watches the complete ceremony and can browse or purchase wands afterwards.
There is no height requirement, ride vehicle or restraint. Wheelchair and ECV users can remain in their mobility device throughout.
Queue Details
The queue begins within Diagon Alley and leads towards a series of small wand-selection rooms.
The route is step-free and wheelchair and ECV accessible.
The Diagon Alley location has multiple ceremony rooms, allowing several groups to experience Ollivanders at the same time.
Groups are admitted together rather than continuously moving through the experience, so the queue can pause while the current ceremony finishes.
The interior spaces are deliberately small and tightly themed, with narrow-feeling rooms surrounded by shelves of wand boxes.
Transfer Info
There is no transfer requirement.
Wheelchair and ECV users can remain in their own mobility device throughout the ceremony.
There is no fixed seating, ride vehicle or restraint. Guests stand or remain positioned around the edges of the wand-selection room while the ceremony takes place in the centre.
Space inside the room is limited, so a wheelchair or ECV may be positioned where there is enough room to maintain a clear route through the small space.
Sensory Experience
The wand-selection room is small, enclosed and deliberately dimly lit.
Tall shelves packed with wand boxes surround the room and can make the space feel tighter than its actual size.
The ceremony includes sudden magical effects as different wands are tested, with objects moving or reacting, changes in lighting and bursts of sound.
The room can become very quiet while the Wandkeeper speaks and then suddenly louder when a spell produces an effect.
Groups stand relatively close together, so the space can feel crowded even though only a limited number of guests are admitted at once.
There is no physical ride movement, 3D imagery, water effect or restraint.
Practical Tips
Being dressed as a Hogwarts student does not guarantee you will be selected for the ceremony, so it is best to treat being chosen as a bonus rather than the whole reason for visiting.
If somebody in your group particularly wants to experience the wand choosing, quieter times can give you better odds simply because there may be fewer other guests in the room.
You do not have to purchase a wand if you are selected. The ceremony and the purchase afterwards are separate decisions.
The Diagon Alley location generally processes groups faster than Hogsmeade because it has multiple ceremony rooms, so this is usually the better location if you simply want to experience Ollivanders with the shortest possible wait.
Apparently the wand chooses the wizard. Conveniently, the wizard is still expected to pay for it afterwards.
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