Birmingham, Cadbury World Review

Overall Rating

Loads of things to do, interesting for all ages, wet weather/dry weather activities, lots of chocolate, reasonable prices, well thought out so you can take your time in the areas of interest.

We visited Cadbury World on Mothers Day 2002 and had a thoroughly enjoyable day.
The attraction consists of a tour (including a section of the factory packing department), outdoor activity/play area (hidden around the back of the factory) and a 'automaton theatre experience'.
I would definitely recommend booking in advance-no deposit is required and it saves any delays when you arrive (we would have had to wait aprox. 2 hours if we had not booked in advance).
You go round the tour in groups so there is always plenty of room, even on the busiest of days. The groups are flexible however and nobody hurries you along if you find something of particular interest. The tour consists of a number of scenes tracing the history of Chocolate and Cadburys from South American beginnings as an aphrodisiac through to the modern day. Each scene is quite short so the attention span of even the youngest is not a problem. The smell of chocolate when you enter the packing section is gorgeous and as you go round you are given chocolates to munch. I particularly enjoyed the section showing how Cadburys have marketed their products over the years.
Outside there is a well equipped play area and picnic area.
The attraction features two restaurants: a fast food place (around the back near the outdoor attraction) and a restaurant close to the entrance. We ate in the restaurant and the prices were reasonable (although seats can become scarce at peak times).
Another sign of the importance Cadburys place on their marketing are the two shops which must contain one of the widest ranges of manufacturer related merchandise I have ever seen. From pencils to 5Kg bars of chocolate it had pretty much everything-watch the budget here.
Round the back of the attraction there is also an automated 'theatre type experience' which is aimed at the youngsters but is worth a look. There is also a museum which a lot of people didn't bother to look round but is well worth a look, especially since it features a large picture window onto the automated final packing area so you can watch the uncannily 'real' robots piling up boxes on pallets for them to be taken away automatically.

Allow 5 or 6 hours to see everything (plus time if you want to play in the outdoor area). If you can manage it, or if you're there for the weekend, it is also worth having a look round the local area as Cadbury built a whole village around Bournville (originally a 'country' location outside birmingham when built) for his workforce and there are some picturesque buildings worth seeing.

Members' Comments onRichard.'s Review

• ra2 on 27th Jul 2005

  Very comprehensive review - thanks; you must do this for a living!

• Suky Wuky on 16th Oct 2006

  Excellent and helpful review, It was a pleasure to read. We are taking our granddaughter and niece to Cadbury World next week, so your review was very informative. Thank you. Sue Gill