ACCIO VISIONS OF MAGIC: Magical Harry Potter experience arrives in Toronto

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Just in time for Halloween, kids and the young at heart.

Budding wizards and witches who love using a wand or anyone else who’s a fan of the fictional British wizard Harry Potter from the popular book and film series will likely flock to Harry Potter: Visions of Magic.

The self-guided, family-friendly interactive art experience, located in an unassuming white building on Downsview Airport’s (YZD) Hanover Rd., opens Friday in Toronto after a March-August run in Montreal earlier this year.

Inside, it’s a whole new world made up of eight connected dark rooms full of wild videos, visuals and sounds, eye-popping props and, yes, even magic.

“People who are super fanatics of Harry Potter — they will enjoy it,” said Tony Haswani, president of the Montreal-based EMM Williams Productions promoting the experience, at Thursday’s media preview.

“And people like me, I only saw the movies (adapted from J.K. Rowling’s book series), I like it, not getting so deep in the story, but I enjoy it like a kid. And that’s our mission, (it) is to bring happiness.”

First things first: Get your wand

When guests arrive, they are handed a blue-tipped black wand that can be pointed at walls for interactive experiences called “traces of magic” in each of the rooms in the 30,000-square-foot installation, beginning with the Knight Bus and ending with the Pensieve. The latter features an exciting video showdown between Harry Potter and his arch nemesis Lord Voldemort.

“The main thing in the show is for the audience to be able to create the magic,” said Haswani.

“It’s also to take the wand and point it and create the magic. That’s amazing. And every time I do it — I’ve been doing it all year long — I keep enjoying it. How we can spend those 45 minutes passing from the beginning to the end through those different rooms and interact. And even not only interact, but also understand the story, what’s behind it. My son is a superfan, he knows everything. I’m not a superfan, but I discovered a lot of things.”

Before hitting the first installation, guests for an extra cost can also have a picture taken with their wand in hand or enjoy a non-alcoholic butterbeer, a sweet, butterscotch-flavored drink.

The latter proved to be so popular in Montreal that they ran out.

“Butterbeer flew so fast and we’re out of butterbeer at a certain point of time,” said Haswani with a laugh.

“Everybody wanted Butterbeer and we didn’t expect that. So for one week, we didn’t have. So we had to order and bring them (in). People were very nervous, like, ‘We don’t have butterbeer! Like, we came without butterbeer!’ So now we have a lot of stock.”

Hall of Prophecy also a crowd pleaser

Also popular in Montreal was the Hall of Prophecy where guests explore a mirrored room filled with glowing orbs and can use their wands to unlock prophecies.

While you can buy a Hogwarts sweater set and so much more in the Harry Potter: Visions of Magic gift shop at the end of the experience, visiting the wizards and witchcraft school itself isn’t part of the experience.

“Yes, for sure, it’s (to do with) licensing from Warner (Bros.),” said Haswani.

“We have to differentiate between what we see at, for example, when we go to the huge (amusement) parks, which are billions of dollars of investment. There is (also) about seven to eight touring productions for Harry Potter, but we chose to work with this one specifically because this one it’s not a touring museum. We are holding the wand and we are creating (magic). The show is based on the wand.”

Tickets are on sale now at harrypottervisionsofmagic.com and adult admission starts at $28 plus applicable fees with timed-entry tickets required. Group rates are also available.

The experience is recommended for children aged 12 and older.

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