Cadbury's Chocolate World and some Spoilers

[Gary]

I'm not sure if Cadbury's Chocolate World qualifies as an amusement park or a theme park...More of a theme factory really..Anyways..here goes my report..

Half term is always a difficult time with Isabel. (My 7 and three quarters year old daughter) It seems that every year at this time she comes up with a wild and wacky idea which invariably involves Ann, said daughter and myself travelling up/down M6 in search of "Places that are interesting and worth a look."..Oh, and with an overnight stop in a Travel Lodge to boot. (It helps if you get a Travel Lodge £26 deal by booking in advance and over the net for this..GREAT VALUE!!)

Last year we travelled to the East Midlands and the Space Centre in Leicester..(School project you understand) This year it was Bournville in deepest Birmingham..Cue Cadbury's Chocolate World!

We left 6pm from St Helens and arrived at Frankley Services Travel Lodge 1.5 hours later. Great journey. (It took us twice as long to get back the next day but that's another story..Aaah, so what?)

We had booked our tickets in advance for CCW over the net: (Approx £10.50 adults, £7.00 children, £1 booking fee.)

It was about 8 miles from the Travel Lodge to CCW but it was a slow 8 miles. Our time allocated for the tour was 1030..We left the Little Chef at 9.15 and give or take the rush hour traffic heading into Birmingham we got there with 15 mins to spare.

We need not have rushed. It was a busy day and due to a problem with a computer..(Yeah, yeah, and the person that programmed it..we know, we know..) things were running late.

It was a cold day.
The queues were long.
The automatic doors kept opening and letting in the cold air making the job of the ticket booth people in the foyer much more uncomfortable. (Lots of French speaking people employed here)
Man on stilts and juggler keeping people happy...

But hang on..If this sounds a bit of a put down then read on...The Family Gary really enjoyed their day!

For a start, we were only about 15 mins behind our allotted time.
Cadbury's Chocolate bars were given out on entering the first section which was:

THE MAYAN JUNGLE WALK THROUGH BIT:

This looked new and interesting but..a bit silly in my opinion...But my daughter loved it..

Next:

THE THREE D WATCH THROUGH

By this point the crowds that had been evident on queueing had miraculously dispersed...You stood and watched 4 tableaux come to life by way of special effects. One criticism that ran through the whole day for me: PUMP UP THE VOLUME..(or am I getting old and deaf?)

Next:

THE COURTYARD WAITING AREA

Nicely themed with shop fronts and a guy's face on a clock talking about...er..dunno...not loud enough..

Next:

MOVIE TIME

Some mad professor..(don't you just love 'em?) talking about chocolate processes..get ready to shake in your seat unless you sit in the back row..

Next:

MORE MOVIE TIME

Face coming alive on a statue..(Moving lips etc..You get the picture) talking about how Cadbury's was set up...(Very interesting)

Next:

SOME HANDS ON COMPUTERS

Skipped this..Some not working..too many people congregating here..

Next:

THE PACKAGING PLANT

I liked this..very interesting..Curly Wurlies, Cadbury's Dairy Milk included in the freebies.

Next:

3D SPEX AND A ROBOT

Promises more than it delivers on a small screen but started out well enough..

Next:

CADABARA

A Dark ride in a car through Cadbury World. Something about a Cocoa Bean's friends..(Has Bean more like but..) The Kids LOVE this ride..certainly from evidence on the day..

Next:

THE MELTED CHOCOLATE TASTING

People in white frilly hats, small pots of melted chocolate, write your name in chocolate, dip a piece of fudge in chocolate...We loved this.....

Next:

SOME BIT UNDER REFURBISHMENT: CLOSED

Next:

CADBURY'S ADVERTS ON TV THROUGH THE AGES

I loved this bit:

"Only the crumbliest, flakiest chocoalate, tastes like chocolate never tasted before...!

Next:

MORE HANDS ON

er..Large machines that you pressed buttons on which make honeycombed bubbles in Crunchie bars..(not really you understand..Health and Safety would have a field day)
Next:

THE SHOP AND EXIT

The shop sold chocolate..Cadbury's.

Next:

OUT TO THE BACK YARD

Cue Magic Show and

"Interactive" 5 minute "Animatronics" kids show featuring Buttons, Chomp, Dudley and Fudge who had a scouse accent..very animatronically circa nineteen seventies but it all brought a smile to my face..

Next:

We could have gone to a Bournville shop and got some bargains but

Next:

IT RAINED AND WE WENT HOME

We wouldn't go again. But maybe you should...

Isabel gave it an Mmmmmmmmm....chocolate NINE OUT OF TEN!

[porterm]

Hello Gary et al,

Yes, I went to this attraction around 1996 I seem to recall (pre Cadabra ride attraction). In comparison to Hershey World in Pensylvania, USA, I thought this was quite a quaint unique attraction. Is the walk through Cadbury historical exhibit still there by the way? (with loads of old photographs of the factory buildings and employee housing areas, complete with an old-fashioned mock sweet shop).

I still can't get used to saying "Cadbury Dairy Milk" by the way; "Cadbury's" just sounded more apt - sign of the corporate times I guess, what with global rebranding etc. Just a bit sad I think though.

I found Hershey World extremely busy last year by the way. They had a ride-on experience but didn't seem to have anything else too innovative, just relying on extras like pay-on-the gate 3D film shows and rather tacky "pretend" chocolate making process mockup production lines; aimed at children I believe. They have a very large theme park next door to this attraction which I thought was very good, with a great mix of rides, including a great wooden racer coaster, and of course, new for last year, Storm Runner, the launched inverted coaster. Scared the hell out of me on my inaugural ride!

Martin

[Gary]

Hi Martin!

Thanks for your reply!

How could i miss out the exhibition? Yes it is still there! It was GREAT!!

How many of you remember "Sultana" chocolate bars or "Old Jamaica" bars (er..didn't know these were Cadbury's)

Old fashioned mock sweet shop = the misty eyed rose tinted glasses of Gary's childhood..

Martin, Did Hershey Theme park have a Whip ride?? Or have I got that right??

PS: Don't like going upside down on coasters ..wooden racers..now that's another thing....

[porterm]

Hello again Gary,

Sorry, didn't recall a Whip ride at Hershey Park, although apparently our visit last June was on one of their busiest ever days from what I heard. It was literally swarming with people; heavy waits on practically all attractions.

Going back to Cadbury World I also recall some Cadbury Egg "mobiles" outside (a small vehicle-type contraption). They just seemed to be static; whether they could actually move I do not know, but I thought these could have been used more imaginatively (or perhaps they were on some occasions).

Martin

[Gary]

The only thing that greeted us on our visit was..

.. a clown on stilts..

I think he was employed by Cadbury's although you never know.

Wish the Cadbury's eggmobiles were there when we visited..they sound great!!

- How did you drive yours?