Harry Potter New York

The long awaited Harry Potter store in New York opened a few weeks ago and as expected it is super busy. To avoid massive crowds inside the store, especially during these Covid times, the store only allows people in who have reserved a spot in the virtual queue for the forseeable future. I had family in town visiting last week and we made a plan to go to the store and crossed our fingers we’d be able to get in.

To get in “line” on the virtual queue you need to scan the QR code which is available outside the store starting every day at 7am. We headed into the city from New Jersey at 6am to get there for 7. By the time we got to the store a few minutes after 7 the line was already around the block! The line moved quickly since all you had to do was scan the QR code once you got to the front. The store doesn’t open until 10 or 11 so we knew we wouldn’t be getting the text letting us know we could go in for another few hours, but since we were in the first 100 tickets we knew we’d get in before noon.

After doing some other things around the city, we got the text that it was our turn while sitting a few blocks away in Madison Square Park. The store did not disappoint. When you enter you’re greeted with the huge phoenix overhead and lots of Harry Potter merchandise. The 21,000 square foot store is two floors and has 15 themed areas. It was so fun to look at the walls of wands you could buy. Wands of your favorite characters or wands for the different houses. There’s a big stone griffin on the stairs like the one leading to Dumbledore’s office. There’s a sweets area and even a whole butterbeer room. It was fun to walk around and see everything. I saw a Hogwarts Express long sleeve tee on a mannequin that I really liked, but sadly it was sold out. I did pick up a tee that I really like though and I’m sure I’ll share it on here eventually.

Enjoy the photos below! I took video too and am planning to post 2 Reels on Instagram today and tomorrow. I had too much footage to fit into one 30-second Reel so I had to make two.

Check my instagram later today and tomorrow for my videos! By the way, this was my first time back in New York City since before the pandemic started. It felt good to do something normal!