I’ve always wanted to visit Cadbury World and now that I finally have, I’m cross that I waited so long.
The Birmingham-based attraction was fantastic, with plenty to entertain both myself and my young daughter for hours.
Travelling there from Aberystwyth was easy too. We got on the train to Birmingham New Street and hopped on another to Bournville. From there it was a short walk, with signposts to Cadbury World along the way.
You book a time slot to take part in a guided tour, during which you get a brief history of the cocoa bean, the Cadbury family, and the processes they used to create the chocolate bars we recognise today.
From there we got the chance to see how soft centred chocolates are made (I wish I knew the name of the girl demonstrating this because she was wonderful!), and we received a pot of melted chocolate. Delicious!
We ate this as we queued for Cadbury World’s new Chocolate Quest ride, a fun, interactive attraction in which you collect ingredients to make chocolate bars.
My favourite part of the day was walking around the museum area where the private collection of Cadbury memorabilia collector Gill Cocks is now on display. It was great to see so many items I remember from my own childhood such as mugs, tins and – my personal favourite – a 1p chocolate dispenser machine, one of my favourite toys!
![I had a 1p chocolate dispenser like this one on the left, and seeing all these tins reminded me of my gran who used them to store buttons once all the chocolates had gone](https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/tindle-static/image/2024/07/21/9/34/Untitled-design-2024-07-21T105337-702.jpg?width=669&height=445&crop=669:445)
It was moving to read about the humanitarian efforts of the Cadbury family who provided healthcare for workers. They also championed women in the workplace, offering them managerial roles at a time when that was very rare.
![Do you remember the Wildlife Bar? I loved them as a child!](https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/tindle-static/image/2024/07/21/9/29/449147763_1062144515280262_4767038196022727711_n.jpg?width=669&height=445&crop=669:445)
The Have a Go Zone followed where we got to temper some chocolate and write our names with bottles of it. Then we went to the 4D cinema – great fun for all!
![In the Have a Go zone you can temper chocolate](https://www.cambrian-news.co.uk/tindle-static/image/2024/07/21/9/38/450781622_1175407687001941_2965183929708425689_n.jpg?width=669&height=445&crop=669:445)
We ended the day in the outdoor play area, where younger guests can climb on frames and squeal on slides for hours.
We spent around four hours at Cadbury World and could have stayed longer, but I had been carrying a heavy rucksack around with me all day and was feeling pretty tired. Lockers would be a great addition to Cadbury World for people to store their belongings, but that is the only recommendation I can make because we had a great time otherwise.
If we’d had more time - and If I’d had a bit more energy/someone to carry my bag for me - I would have booked afternoon tea and treated us to a selection of sweet and savoury food in the company of Cadbury character, Freddo and his friends. We’ll just have to go back without a bag I guess. I can’t wait!