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I’ve been waiting for quite some time for an excuse to visit Cadbury World in Bournville and was quite excited when Vic booked tickets for us all to go.
We drove down in the morning, arriving at a decent time, which gave us plenty of time to look around.
I have to say that I was quite disappointed with the whole experience. I was expecting Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, instead I experienced something along the lines of …err… something quite different.
Once we got our tickets that we’d pre-ordered, we joined a queue with about 500 groups of schoolchildren. We then got through the doors to the exhibition - armed with our free chocolate (well, it’s not free is is, it’s included in the ticket price). The first part was informative - I’ll not go into details in case you intend to go. Once you come out of there there’s an exhibition - we apeared to walk right into the middle of it, so we watched until the end and then watched it as it started again until we got to the bit we’d already seen. The animations were pretty good - I’m not sure how they did it, but it was quite impressive.
Then on to the next exhibition. We caught the tail end of the previous showing, so had to wait 6 minutes for it to start again and then watch it all the way through before we could move into the next room. I’ll not tell you about the next room so as not to spoil it if you decide to go.
Coming out of there we moved into another exhibition where there were lots of monitors - some turned up really loud and some hardly had any volume at all. Coupled with the fact that there were about a gazillion schoolkids in the same room, it was impossible to hear anything. On the point of the schoolkids - why do they all have to go to the toilet at the same time? We went to take Tom only to find half a school outside the toilet all wanting to go. Aaagh.
Onwards with the tour, we went up some stairs and into the packaging area where it was forbidden to take photographs. I don’t know why, because there was nothing to photograph. The walls all had boxes of (I suspect empty) chocolates piled up so you couldn’t see in and where you could see in, all that was to see was a conveyor belt bringing the odd box of chocolates down to an unknown destination. At one point we saw a human, whose role appeared to be to sit and watch these boxes disappear down a hole.
We visited all of the exhibitions, but one in particular stood out. The Purple Planet. It stood out for the wrong reasons. There were a number of exhibitions but no information as to what they were. For example, there was a row of 4 or 5 spinning shapes and superimposed onto the wall they had things like a Saxaphone, a Teapot, a Top Hat and something else. What did it do? How do you work it? I have no idea. (If anyone knows, please enlighten me, as I just didn’t see its point). Throughout the tour there were a number of non-functional exhibitions (possibly just temporarily broken) and it was just about that point where I lost the will to live.
At the end of the exhibition, we went into Essence. I have to say that the whole queueing thing at Cadbury World leaves a lot to be desired - when we got in we were at the back, so the kids couldn’t see a thing. (I’ve probably been spoiled by Disney where they’d ask the adults to step to the back so that the kids could see what’s going on).
After our liquid chocolate (very tasty) we went into the Bournville Museum. Quite interesting, but someone had their head in the way of the projector the whole way through the film, which kind of spoilt it. So I went to the back of the room to watch the packaging robots (ahhh, that’s where the boxes were going to!). In the time I watched them, they must have lifted about 20 packets of chocolate onto a pallette for wrapping. A human could have definately gone faster, but having said that, there were hardly any chocolates coming down for it to pick up (the website does warn you that there are busy and slack days and gawd, this must have been an ultra slack day).
So bored to tears watching the slow-bot and not wanting to re-watch the Bournville film again because the aforementioned head was still blocking part of the projection, we decided to pack up and go home.
On the way out I heard a couple of old geezers talking and one of them summed it up nicely. When asked by his mate what he though, he said: “It’s alright, but I wouldn’t bother coming again”.
My sentiments exactly. And I’ll be writing to Cadbury World to let them know what I thought and what improvements they could make. I doubt the’ll listen, but it’ll get it off my chest.
Hi,
Ive lived in Bournville for many years and actually live just up the road from Cadbury World, so i know how busy it can get. However, “500 groups of schoolkids” is a slight overstatement i think as the policy is that there is a set amount of entrys allowed per day…and as each group contains about 30kids…500 groups is an overstatement…by far.
Also, you moan about the free chocolate not actually being free….i bet u still ate it though didnt you…
In regards to not being allowed to take ictures in the factory…..why do u think that is…? Possibly something to do with the fact that cadburys is one of the bigest confectionary companies in the world (im not saying its top) so theyre not going to want pictures of their processes put up for anybody to see. The factory do have quiet days when staff are allowed sum time off….or do you work 24hours a day 7days a week?…dont think so.
and u say u expected a wily wonka experience? Why? surely a grown man would realise that oompa lumpas dont realy ext and ther is no way anyone could make an entire field etc all out of edible things..and obviously you must realise that if cadburys do that sort of stuff its actually copyright…!
You aso could have just asked the head in front of the monitor to move….or do u just like to moan about things when you know noone will be able to say anything to your face?
As to queuing what exactly did you expect..? its a very popular place…both adults and kids enjoy it…if they didnt how do you think they get more people going every year…but then i guess your particulary special and you dont want to queue like everyone else.
As to sending in a letter, i hope you realise that the staff at cadbury world have to work hard everyday to try and please people like you who appaently just want to complain about EVERYTHING and they have to sit ther smiling at you all day long when people can be so rude and vile to them…but they sit there and take it.
Next time you visit an attraction i suggest you think of the people that are there trying to make it a pleasant experience for people like you and just enjoy it instead of looking for excuses to moan.
Rachel,
Thanks for your comments and for dropping by.
From your comments, it doesn’t sound like you’ve been to Cadbury World recently, although you do sound like you’d be an excellent ambassador for Cadbury World, maybe there’s a job in their customer service team waiting just for you.
The bottom line is I paid money to go there and I have a right to say if I didn’t like it (as others have also done on other message boards). If other people didn’t like it, then Cadbury’s should hear about it so that they can try to ensure that as many people as possible enjoy the experience. They have some fundamental flaws in managing this as a tourist attraction and there are areas where they can do much better. I’m not knocking the staff, they were all very pleasant and it’s evident that they work very hard at their jobs. I’m just saying that Cadbury’s have some work to do to make it more enjoyable for all.
Oh, and for reference, the free chocolate really isn’t free, it is included in your entry price, and no, I didn’t eat it, I gave mine to the kids.
I think Matt has a right to say what he thinks… he paid his money. I don’t see that he’s having a go at anyone and didn’t complain about everything - but if someone pays money and then it doesn’t come up to expectation they should say something. It won’t do Cadburys any favours if they think everyone is enjoying the experience but actually isn’t, and then they go away and tell people it wasn’t great, and then other people don’t visit. That won’t help the people who work there.
If Cadburys know that there’s some aspects that people don’t like then they’ll improve them. They’re a big corporation, they can take it on the chin.
Im not saying that you shouldnt say what you think.
I agree that things could be changed there, i dont claim it or its ideas are perfect…just that you seem to be focusing on all the bad points is all. I have been recently actually, i hold an annual passport where i take my niece and nephews. and yes the chocolate is included in the price…but i bet 98% of people that go would still pay the same price evn if there wasnt chocolate given out
Im not saying that you shouldnt voice your opinion but it does seem to be that most people actually do enjoy their visit…as cadbury world get more people each yr visiting,
Out of interest did your kids enjoy it?
Im in agreement about sumtimes the factory is quiet and sumtimes particular shows arent working, but surely thats just bad timing? as far as im aware when anything has been broken down when ive been, usually, im not saying always, maintenancey people would be runnin round trying to fix things.
And Darren, I appreciate he paid his money, but havent you ever been to mcdonalds and not been happy with the food? or service? at the end of the day things like cadbury world arent everyones cup of tea, thats just the way it is…i personally dont like legoland…but i know loads of people that do which is fair enuf.
And in all fairness cadburys do listen to customers comments as they changed cadbury world this year to make it what it is now, last yr the purple planet area wasnt ther…you know the bits i mean, dont wanna describe them in case people go obviously, and the only reason it was changed to the way it is is because of customers comments.
Im not saying dont voice your opinion, if i wasnt happy with something i would be the same, but do at est try to see the good points in things…mayb cadbury world just wasnt your cup of tea? and your more of an alton towers person?(By the way, i dont know if you go but there is a wily wonka ride at drayton manor, its the gass elavator. just for your info is all)
I do hope you’ll consider giving cadbury world a second chance…maybe in a quieter period where there arent so many schoolkids etc as you can appreciete if things are being messed with by hundreds of kids..i guess there gna break down really :S
And i do agree there are areas that could be improved, but i just think it would be nice to say some good things too, ive had bad experiences with various things when ive been but the overall experience is still worth goin again, just need to pick when you go wisely is all
Anyways, sorry if i caused offence just wanted the world to see that cadbury world isnt really a crap place, you maybe just caught it at the wrong time..
Rachel
Hi Rachel,
No offence taken. There were some good parts of Cadbury World, I’ll agree, and I think I mentioned those above (I just didn’t want to say too much and spoil the good bits for potential visitors).
The kids sort of enjoyed it - what they could see of it, but, of course, they wanted to try all the things that were broken or didn’t explain what they were. There were some good displays upstairs with the chocolate writing, and I think that has to be the highlight of their day. Shame really, as it potentially has so much more to offer.
As for the point about older people standing in front, all I’m saying is that most places tend to usher the kids to the front and make the adults stand at the back - seems like common sense, but there was none of this. I for one wasn’t going to risk pushing the little ones all the way to the front and face the wrath of some potentially angry adults, so we had to catch what we could see.
I’m not saying I’ll never go back, just not for a long time. I’ll give them some time to update what they have and see if things have got better. It does have some good potential, but unfortunately, they didn’t display it on the day.
As for Legoland, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. That place rocks! Next stop: Diggerland
the wife just wants to add her piece!
it was literally a childhood dream of mine to go to cadbury world, and i have to agree with matt that it did not meet our expectations.
further to one of rachel’s comments, yes i have been to mcdonalds and paid, only to find things were not up to scratch. what did i do? i advised the management. they have then dealt with the situation as they saw fit. if no one ever says anything, nothing will ever improve.
i agree that there is no point just moaning about negative things, but overall our particular visit to cadbury world *wasn’t* a great day out. what a shame. one of my best friends has been twice and loved it both times. maybe people just have different expectations…
hi vic,
i agree completely that people probably just have different expectations, and hope that maybe someday cadbury world will meet yours
out of interest, have u visited west midlands safari park? if u have, what did you think?