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Being motivated by chocolate, I had Cadbury World on my bucket list, and our friends were indulging me.  Unfortunately, it was a two hour drive away!  That wasn’t two hours on twisty country roads either.  It was two hours flying across several motorways at top speeds!  We chipped in for the petrol, as they were kind enough to drive.  You know what it cost to fill the minivan?  100 pounds!!!  That was $184 Canadian!!!  OMG, I don’t know how anyone manages to survive here if that is the price for gasoline.  We thought Trudeau’s Carbon tax was expensive, but that is nothing!  OUCH!!!

Just a note about the motorways here.  They had several key differences from what we have in Canada.  For one, the “base” speed on them was 70 miles per hour.  Great!  EXCEPT – all the car speedometers are in km.  So just a bit of a challenge!  Our rental was a brand new Mazda 5 hybrid, and was outfitted with a lot of toys that we didn't have to pay extra for (thank you Enterprise!) – including a red line that would appear on the spedometer signalling the actual speed limit, which was pretty cool.

There were overhead signs all over the place on the motorways close to the airports, with a giant camera pictograph thingy, maybe every 200 meters or so.  Those were indicating the speed cameras!  It seems that they REALLY want you to slow down through that area.  Also, at certain times there was a row of lit up lower speed limits  indicated across some of the overhead signs.  Our friends explained that was to slow everyone down so there wouldn’t be stop-and-go traffic at any point.  We had seen the speed changes from 70 down to 60 down to 40.  And the speed cameras are calibrated to those changing maximums, so you really had to be on your game!

There are also spots closer into London that have a traffic congestion “tax”, sort of a toll, but we weren’t heading anywhere near that area for the Cadburys visit, thankfully!

We arrived at about 1:30 ish (or “half one” for your Brits), and got an awesome parking spot by the door, as our friends had a disabled parking pass.  They also had 3 people in the van with disabilities, which meant we could get 3 additional free admission tickets as carers.  Awesome!  So instead of 30 pounds each person (for the ANYTIME tickets), it averaged out to 15 pounds each.  Tickets for attractions here are sold with a specific entry time, so the crowds are managed.  Hmmm.  Interesting concept.  Also tickets bought in advance are cheaper, so everyone does that.   We also were fast tracked through a very long lineup waiting for their mini ride (and we received death glares from the family who thought they were next on the ride).  And for adults with toddlers, meaning kids age 5 and under, there is a special priced ticket for the two of them which is cheaper than the ticket for the adult alone! 

 

Don't mind the strange shadows on the first photo - we were in the rainforest section of the tour!  No, I don't really have chocolate all over my face (yet)!

All in all – there were SOOO MANY CHILDREN.  But really I shouldn’t be surprised, as there were a lot of kid oriented activities along the tour, including a big area to “give it a go” and have the kids spread melted chocolate across the marble slab counters to temper it.  We did enjoy the history bit of the tour, and the large collection of memorabilia.  Our friends were lost in nostalgia as they saw some of the items that were common in their childhood (which of course we had never seen before in our lives!) 

    

 

Randy wanted a pair of their giant mugs they had on showcase, but unfortunately they were just for display!   

 

Oh, I shouldn’t forget about the CHOCOLATE part of the chocolate tour.  Upon admission, each person was handed a Dairy Milk bar, 110g size.  Mmmmmmm. There were plenty of photo spots along the walk – it is what they call a “self-guided” tour, although you are collected all in one room at points throughout the walk, for a bit of a show.  At one point they directed that anyone with disabilities or issues with sudden movements should sit in the yellow seats at the back of the mini theatre.  I was thankful we had the “no movement” seats, as all the benches in front of us slid back and forth at the point in the show where it said the cocoa beans or nibs or liquid was agitated.  D-box meets Cadburys!

There was also the tasting part of the tour, where a little paper cup partially full of warm melted chocolate came down the assembly line, and you told the worker what 2 items you wanted in your cup.  I chose the white chocolate buttons, and the large dark chocolate wafers as I am just not a gummy candy fan, and I didn’t feel like the mini marshmallows or the oreo cookie crumbs. 

I thought the cup was kind of small, but it was very rich and filling, and gave me a sugar buzz for a while!  One of our friends didn’t want his, so I was gifted with a second one…  and this is why I wear stretchy pants!

At the end of the ride we were handed – MORE CHOCOLATE!  Each of us received a 45g Caramel bar.  And then, as all amusement parks seem to do – they conclude the tour in the GIFT SHOP.  Sooooo much chocolate, and chocolate themed things.  None of the items for sale were factory “seconds”, although I did see a clearance rack which had a single chocolate item on it – and a discounted sticker that said the box had been damaged.

Hmmm tempting as an impulse buy - doesn't everyone want a 4.5kg toblerone bar???  Only 70 pounds, a bargain! 

Not that I needed any more chocolate, but we had to look through everything to see if we could find anything new.  Those items we don’t get in Canada (there were tons of those) or the new releases.  We found several of those – a Daim bar, which I think is filled with toffee bits similar to a scor bar, and their new release, a 220g Dairy Milk & More caramel nut crunch bar.  I also found a new Dairy Milk salted caramel 110g bar.  And then of course I got a second Daim bar, because there was a discount when you bought 3 (1 pound 10 pence each with the deal).  And finally, a bag of Nibbly Fingers followed us home, just because...

Our friends had been kind enough to buy a souveneir bag for us at the admission gate, which came in quite useful!  OMG, I have to make sure I get lots of exercise after this!  For about a year, I'd say...

They had a live demonstration of chocolate tempering, and using one of the moulds.  They also had workers behind glass walls working on some of the showpiece items they sold there – Cinderella’s shoe (240g for 14 pounds)  seemed to be what everyone was working on that day, although they also do a full size “football” which is a whopping 1500g, and goes for 25 pounds.  You can pre-order a 525 g chocolate teapot for 16 pounds, or a milk chocolate slab, 410g.  All of these items can be personalized, of course!  You NEED a 1500g chocolate soccer ball that says “Happy Fathers Day!”  hahahaha.  Unfortunately we didn’t purchase any of the fancy novelty items because they were a bit pricy for how much chocolate you get, and there was no way those things would safely fit in our luggage! 

After that we found the tea shop and discovered how very expensive the items were, then, if we were interested in ordering, were told it was too late in the day and we would have had to queue up at the counter to order anything, as it was after 4pm by then.  We opted to just head home, and had to manage the traffic and the rain. 

We were dropped at our cottage just over 2 hours later (there had been some traffic jams at some of the off-ramps and round-abouts), where we thankfully had dinner premade (thanks to M&S Foods – which is what Marks & Spencer is called over here) and it was just popped into the oven for 28 minutes.  The rest of the evening is just fuzzy as we each slipped into a chocolate coma…