Cadbury World review - I took my family to this city attraction even though I thought it would be rubbish - Birmingham Live

Of all the attractions in the city, Cadbury World was near the bottom of my list - hear me out

05:30, 11 Jun 2023

It's no secret that I absolutely adore Birmingham, I harp on about it in my articles all the time. I love nothing more than singing its praises, from the best restaurants to my very favourite hidden attractions.

‌

But one attraction I've never been sold on is Cadbury World, and it feels wrong admitting it. Perhaps it's because of this idea I have in my mind from childhood of what a chocolate factory should be - lickable wallpaper, choco-rivers and pop that makes you float off into the sky with your grandad.

‌

I'd been as a child (and I'm 36 now!) and while I don't remember details, I do remember the feeling: underwhelmed and disappointed. And so, it never returned to my list of places to go on a day off.

‌

Read more: Where to see the famous Flying Scotsman as it visits stations near Birmingham this week

But then, a dilemma. In a giant list of ideas that had been thrown around of potentially fun things for me and my two little mates (aged seven and 10) to do on a sunny Wednesday, they'd settled on it. Cadbury World!

My dreams of two rambunctious boys choosing a lovely calm, sunny walk around the Botanical Gardens was scuppered. We were going to Bournville.

‌

Tickets for the three of us had set us back £58, which didn't feel unreasonable for a day out given we wouldn't need to travel far to get there. We arrived a little early for a 12:10pm slot and mooched around the shop while we waited.

Now the shop I have been to a few times. In the run up to Christmas, I swing by and get super giant bars for a fiver and chocolate teapots because they make for fun gifts. Now I'm saying it, I'm not sure if you're allowed into the shop without a ticket to the attraction but, if it's illegal, just pretend I didn't just admit it.

We decided then and there all of the things we were planning to buy at the end and headed into the rainforest for the start of the tour. This holds up really well, transporting you to the very origins of chocolate and we had fun playing on the touchscreen games that taught us more of its history. Maybe my mind is playing tricks, but I felt sure that I'd tried some of the spicy, early era chocolate when I'd visited as a kid?

‌

The story continued as we watched little characters, beamed into rooms on screens inside what look like big arcade games. Both kids were quiet and attentive for these parts of the tale, which really surprised me because I didn't have them down as history guys. They both commented how interesting they'd found it.

I won't give you a blow-by-blow of the story because I don't want to spoil it, but another highlight came as we were shook up on moving benches as we got a better understanding of the process of making chocolate and walking into an old Birmingham street, to look into the window of an early Cadbury shop.

‌

The highlights kept coming. We squirted bottles of warm, melted chocolate over a marble slab, writing our names and drawing patterns, and used scrapers to 'temper' it. While we couldn't just squirt it straight into our gobs, we also loved the chocolate tasting experience, where we got a little cup of melty Cadbury, with little added treats inside, to satisfy the urge.

That's one of the other criticisms I've heard of Cadbury World over the years, that you just don't get as much free chocolate as you used to get. We had three bars each, a Dairy Milk, Wispa and Caramel, most of which we ate in queues.

And there were a few queues. We didn't bother waiting for the green screen experience' as none of us were interested in seeing how we looked riding a massive bar of chocolate. We did queue (some of us more patiently than others) for the Cadabra ride and, while it has really aged and could do with a refresh, we did enjoy looking out for (and laughing at) the little Chuckle Bean characters, in various costumes.

‌

At this point, I had to eat my words as well as my chocolate pot - Cadbury World is a great time. And the best was yet to come, though not before a minor dining disappointment.

We sat outside and waited for what seemed like ages for food from the restaurant in the play area. It hadn't come in cheap, the big one had a chicken burger and chips for around a tenner, the little one, nuggets and chips, though he didn't like the nuggs and cast them aside. Gutted - I should have packed lunches.

‌

We burnt off some energy on the play park (one for bigger kids, a second for smaller) and that was great fun. The biggest highlight came at the 4D cinema though, where we went on a short but fun adventure with the Caramel Bunny and that idiot parrot from Mini Eggs. I wish we'd been allowed to go on twice but, it's a one time deal.

There was a magic show from Freddo but, tired from playing and queuing, we went to the shop instead and bought those giant novelty bars and some cheap and cheerful stationery to take home.

In the car ride on the way home, everyone agreed strongly that we had really enjoyed ourselves at Cadbury World. I was so relieved to have been wrong.

‌

Sure, there were no rooms full of geese laying chocolate eggs and no TV rooms that shrink you down tiny small. But then I remember how the kids in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ended up and I'm glad we were going home with nothing but chocolatey gobs and happy memories.

This is an independent review and tickets were paid for by the BirminghamLive reporter.

Follow our Brummie Mummies Facebook page and Instagram page, listen to our podcasts and sign up to our free Brummie Mummies newsletter for lots more great things to do in Birmingham.