NewZealandAtoZ reviews; Cadbury World Tour, Dunedin

We heard a lot about the Cadbury World tour in Dunedin and looked forward to our Willy Wonka experience.

The Cadbury factory is a working factory, walking distance from the Octagon, which is good because parking can be challenging as there is only on street metered parking (it was not hard to get one). There is a supermarket across the road but parking is not permitted as you may be towed away.

The lady who gave us our tickets in Cadbury World suggested buying something from the supermarket down the road and parking there. All a bit messy really.

I think they should talk to the supermarket across the road and work out a deal. Everyone’s a winner if that car park is used because you may even do some shopping there.

The entrance way had a nice feel and the staff were friendly. I enjoyed looking at all the vibrant, attractive, interesting, pictures and displays.

The time for the tour was upon us, our tour guide gathered us round and gave us a brief overview of what we were going to do and see, firstly heading into a room to watch a short film about Cadbury.

After that we handed in all our worldly possessions (so nothing would fall out of our pockets) to be locked away, and put on our hair nets.

We are given empty “goodie” bags and off we go. The tour leader told us all to keep left as there are workers and other tours out there that we didn't want to crash into. As you are going around the tour leader asks questions and gave out mini chocolates if you got questions right. You all get 3 chocolate bars at one point – nice treats. You get to try some hot runny chocolate and the chocolate fall experience in the decommissioned crumb silo was pretty good. I always wanted to know how Jaffas are made and you find out on the tour. At the end of the tour there is the opportunity for you to take some photos in the 2 old vintage Cadbury trucks and hit the souvenir shop.

The souvenir shop was a bit disappointing as you cannot buy any special Cadbury food products, they cannot guarantee that the Cadbury products are any cheaper than the supermarket across the road, (some cost you more, now that’s just wrong) and you cannot buy any cheap factory “seconds”. You can buy the usual tee shirts and other venue souvenirs at normal souvenir prices.

I did expect to see more “Willy Wonka” type stuff. More fun paintings, talking characters, more free chocolates and interactive stuff.

I think I went in expecting too much overall, I give it a pass mark but if you are an adult into chocolate or factories you will find it interesting.

Make sure you do a weekday tour to see all the machines working and experience all the noise and smell that goes with it.

They say under 5s are free (flyer does advise that the tour is not suitable for this age group) but as we found out you cannot pick up your toddler if they get tired. They did offer a backpack to carry them in but our 3 year old was too big for that.  The only part that would appeal to a child under the age of 5yrs would be the entrance way the rest is not really suitable for younger children.

Enjoy your Cadbury World experience.