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Cadbury World - Merlin Take Over

B&M hyper in the car park, ideal! built a multi story and lets have the Dairymilkmodium (totally not borrowed from Hersey, who make worse chocolate but better attractions by the look of it).
I visited a while back and it certainly wasn't as good as it was when I was younger, however I did enjoy it. I know @Thameslink Rail and I was disappointed by the shortening of the advert street for what was a very okay dark ride.
 
BennyBoy said:
Also, on a slight side note, it might just be me but has the taste of Dairy Milk changed? It tastes more bitter now I think.
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Funny you should say that as the vocal lot on social media keep going on about how Cadbury's are using more palm oil and less cocoa now (or something like that) and that the taste has changed for the worse but they're still charging more (so they're boycotting their Easter Eggs). Cocoa has actually unbelievably gone down in price by around 300% or something in the past couple of years too, so these companies are having a laugh with their price rises (Yeah, I know staff costs etc have gone up).
 
BarryZola said:
Funny you should say that as the vocal lot on social media keep going on about how Cadbury's are using more palm oil and less cocoa now (or something like that) and that the taste has changed for the worse but they're still charging more (so they're boycotting their Easter Eggs). Cocoa has actually unbelievably gone down in price by around 300% or something in the past couple of years too, so these companies are having a laugh with their price rises (Yeah, I know staff costs etc have gone up).
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Cadbury is run by a terrible American food maker who packs all of their food with rubbish, I assume that has an impact, they buy the ingredients in bulk for all there brands I'm guessing? Honestly just waiting for the day somebody decides to buy Cadburys and make proper use an a world known brand, and bring it back, oh and sort the bloody taste out.
 
Dairy Milk still tastes much the same to me! I did read that they no longer use Dairy Milk in Creme Eggs, but I still like them!

As for Cadbury World itself, I remember it being fun, but I admittedly last went in 2013, when a) I was 10 and b) The attraction itself was 13 years newer. Despite being a theme park enthusiast, Cadabra doesn’t enormously stick out in my memory from my trip; my main memories are the fact that they gave you free chocolate around pretty much every corner and the 4D cinema where they gave you a cup of liquid chocolate at the end!

I can sense it may not be one where a revisit would serve it well, however…
 
BennyBoy said:
Visited today for the first time in many years (pre covid). A fair whack has changed. We went first thing in the morning and it was quiet, but got very busy later on. Started well with 2 free bars and a creme egg :)

The overall experience is ok, the attraction isn't amazing as I'm sure your all aware. We spent a total of 2hrs30 there.

I think the whole start section up until the "manufacturing area" can be re-worked/re-done, as you don't actually get that much detail on how chocolate was discovered etc. It is all looking rather outdated now too, I'm sure they'll get round to it with how they've changed the rest.

Since my last visit, the 4D experience has been introduced as part of the tour rather than something on the side to do after, which I liked.

Cadabra has been ripped out and not sure what they are replacing it with? But the tour has been re-worked round where this was, so a lot of the bits surrounding it have changed. Advertising Avenue has changed route, preferred the old route when it looked like an actual avenue. This might of been where the new ride is too?

Half of the Bournville experience has been ripped out too, to make way for the new 'Have a Go' area.

Then there is obviously the new dark ride. It was ok, largely screen based but it is a shooter ride for the kids. Other thing is the points you get are collected as a team in the 1 ride car, so there is no competition between each other. Where is the fun in that!? Lol. Anyone know who manufactured it?

The shop has also been changed and is now much bigger than I remember. Wasn't it advertised as the World's biggest Cadbury shop too?

Also, on a slight side note, it might just be me but has the taste of Dairy Milk changed? It tastes more bitter now I think.
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The recipe was last changed around 2015/16 when the cocoa butter was reduced and more palm oil used. It’s currently 20% cocoa solids which is the minimum legally required in the UK to be called milk chocolate (it’s 25% min in Europe and less in America) The current recipe has been used for last 10 years or so.
 
BarryZola said:
Cadbury's are using more palm oil and less cocoa now
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They were barely using enough cocoa butter as it was to begin with.

From 1973 until 1999 Cadbury's Dairy Milk wasn't allowed to be called chocolate in the EU / single market, as it was made with palm oil instead of cocoa butter. Rather than change the recipe, we bullied the market to allow the use of palm and shea oil in chocolate.

Amusingly some EU countries still refuse to allow Dairy Milk to be labelled as just chocolate, instead giving it the moniker "family milk chocolate".
 
BennyBoy said:
Then there is obviously the new dark ride. It was ok, largely screen based but it is a shooter ride for the kids. Other thing is the points you get are collected as a team in the 1 ride car, so there is no competition between each other. Where is the fun in that!? Lol. Anyone know who manufactured it?
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Cadbury Chocolate Quest is by ETF Ride Systems - it's a trackless dark ride same as Symbolica at Efteling or Ratatouille at DLP.

ETF is a solid manufacturer, but the quality of the dark rides built around the Mystic Mover ride system varies enormously. Symbolica arguably represents their finest work; at the other end of the scale you have The Adventure of Scooby Doo at Parque Warner Madrid, an interactive shooter which is frankly terrible. I've not done the one at Cadbury World but it cannot be worse than that.
 
Took a trip to Cologne for the Xmas markets last December, visiting their 'Chocolate Museum' which has sponsorship from Lindt.

Maintains the old charm that Cadbury World has now lost. Multiple points during the tour where chocolate is handed out or sampled, robots which 'steal' a chocolate bar from the factory line and an actually informative tour...
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Cadbury Chocolate Quest is by ETF Ride Systems - it's a trackless dark ride same as Symbolica at Efteling or Ratatouille at DLP.

ETF is a solid manufacturer, but the quality of the dark rides built around the Mystic Mover ride system varies enormously. Symbolica arguably represents their finest work; at the other end of the scale you have The Adventure of Scooby Doo at Parque Warner Madrid, an interactive shooter which is frankly terrible. I've not done the one at Cadbury World but it cannot be worse than that.
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Thanks all for the answers and replies!

CCQ (Cadbury Chocolate Quest) feels very similar to Gangsta Granny the ride, with the mix of screens and physical sets IMO.
It's ok, not terrible but not fantastic either.

Yeah we got Melted Chocolate half way through too, you got to chose 2 toppings with it too, sweets or biscuits basically. Whilst trying to flog personalised chocolate to everyone (you are going to eat it anyway!). You don't get anywhere near as much chocolate as you used to. Thought there may of been an Easter treat too but was just the creme egg probably.

Although it's a chocolate tour it is very much aimed at children.

In regards to Dairy Milk, I swear I heard something about the fact they've lost the royal mark/warrant? Might of been to do with ingredients...
Or just the fact the ownership changed.
Still tastes different to me!
 
The best one is the Swiss Chocolate Adventure at Verkehrshaus in Luzern, Switzerland. Trackless dark ride with free Lindt and a very silly mid ride.....thing that I won't spoil.

The museum it is in is awesome as well, can highly recommend. We tied it in to EP, a fair in Colmar and Cite du Train.
 
BarryZola said:
Funny you should say that as the vocal lot on social media keep going on about how Cadbury's are using more palm oil and less cocoa now (or something like that) and that the taste has changed for the worse but they're still charging more (so they're boycotting their Easter Eggs). Cocoa has actually unbelievably gone down in price by around 300% or something in the past couple of years too, so these companies are having a laugh with their price rises (Yeah, I know staff costs etc have gone up).
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Incorrect, cocoa prices are still 2-3x higher than 2022 and were for a while 5x higher. Please do some research before believing what people post on the internet, it's easy to say anything. Article for reference. That's not to say I don't think manufacturers are using general rising food prices to hide unnecessary price increases or package reductions.

I wonder how have people have found queues for the dark ride? I went a few months after they opened and it was a quiet day but still waited 20 minutes. I was surprised when Merlin took it on tbh because the place just can't handle the kind of crowds they expect. The car park alone is a major limiting factor, I don't know if they've created a pleasant walk from the train station.
 
coastercoaster said:
Incorrect, cocoa prices are still 2-3x higher than 2022 and were for a while 5x higher. Please do some research before believing what people post on the internet, it's easy to say anything. Article for reference. That's not to say I don't think manufacturers are using general rising food prices to hide unnecessary price increases or package reductions.
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There's no need to be quite so rude, particularly when @BarryZola's underlying point is actually grounded in recent market reality.

If we are going to be pedantic, Barry’s numbers aren't actually wrong, although the phrasing is slightly clunky.

If the 2022 baseline price of cocoa is 100%, and it peaked at 5x that amount (500%), but has now settled at 2x that amount (200%), the price has indeed dropped by 300 percentage points relative to that baseline.

If a commodity drops by 300 percentage points from its peak, a casual observer stating it has "gone down by 300%" is making a completely understandable semantic error (confusing percentage decrease with percentage points), not a factual one. Barry didn't just pull the number out of thin air or fall for internet misinformation; he just used the wrong mathematical suffix to describe a very real, massive plunge from the commodity's peak. One which you casually omitted in your takedown.

Before we start throwing around "do your research" snark, let's perhaps apply a little nuance and grace?
 
coastercoaster said:
Incorrect, cocoa prices are still 2-3x higher than 2022 and were for a while 5x higher. Please do some research before believing what people post on the internet, it's easy to say anything. Article for reference. That's not to say I don't think manufacturers are using general rising food prices to hide unnecessary price increases or package reductions
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I looked at a chart all by myself. I quoted the 'past couple of years', meaning around the past 2 years. Not sure why you're bringing 2022 into it. We're now a few months into 2026.
 
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Is Cadabra completely removed or is the ride just SBNO. They really should of had Cadabra and Cadbury's Chocolate operate at the same time would make better value for the attraction
 
Hid said:
Is Cadabra completely removed or is the ride just SBNO. They really should of had Cadabra and Cadbury's Chocolate operate at the same time would make better value for the attraction
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Not a clue tbf. The tour has been re-routed around where this was (I think) so you don't get a chance to see where this is/was.
 
Hid said:
Is Cadabra completely removed or is the ride just SBNO. They really should of had Cadabra and Cadbury's Chocolate operate at the same time would make better value for the attraction
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Its completely gone, although it apparently (according to something ChatGPT found, correct me if I'm wrong) closed some time AFTER Merlin took over a few years ago, in March 2024.
 
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