I visited a real life chocolate factory with a huge range of chocolates you can buy (Image: Emily Highward)
What's more thrilling for a 4 year old than a real trip to a Chocolate Factory?
I admit, I was as excited as our daughter had for our visit to celebrate her birthday.
Cadbury is in the hearts and traditions of generations of family, marking milestones from Easter mini eggs to Christmas roses. The iconic British brand has been engaging visitors from across the UK to Birmingham's Bourneville Base for decades, since the doors opened in 1990.
This site features a work factory that has been standing since 1879 and a development lab where new products are mixed. Although you cannot tour the actual factory, Cadbury World offers visitors a taste of what happens next to them, and there is plenty of sweet delights along the way.
As soon as we arrived, samples were shoved into our hands and staff each exchanged tickets for full-sized shaggy and Cadbury Caramel. My daughter was on the moon.
Munching our treats, we first ventured into the rainforest zone and tracked the origins of cocoa in the ancient Mayan and Aztec periods. We then took a stroll through the street scene rethinking the Bull Streets of Victorian era in Birmingham, with an old J-Cadbury Tea Dealer Shop where business first began in 1824.
This appeal does a good job of making learning fun for the youngest visitors who may find some of the history a bit boring. It was slightly bewildered when someone with a heart condition was encouraged to sit in a designated safe area as they were sitting in a small theatre to learn about the chocolate making process.
You can see chocolate being made (Image: Emily Highward)
The laughter and screams filled the air as the bench began to vibrate around us, simulating the roasting and flexing process that the cocoa beans undergo.
We then witnessed firsthand parts of the chocolate making process. Food safety regulations do not allow entry into the factory itself, but there are several production room windows that you can peek at to see the chocolatier at work.
The real highlight of this area is the sampling station. Here, a hot melted chocolate pan was toped with a selection of sweets and chocolate. It turned out to be too much chocolate – my daughter abandoned the marshmallow and chocolate button concoction after just one spoonful (I didn't expect to see that day).
Next up on the agenda was a marble slab with a frayed zone, blowing away melted chocolate. At this point I regret not bringing a wet wipe – an essential item to visit here!
Luckily there were a few sinks along the way. No, we tried the cinema for a 4D chocolate adventure.
With moving seats, this experience takes the helm of the Cadbury Caramel Bunny and highly persuasive and simulates the roller coaster and airship ride. If, like me, you've forgotten everything about that 90's Queen, head to the Advertising Avenue area for even more nostalgia. There you can see legends of TV ads like gorillas on drums.
It was full of sugar, swaying on the ride, delighted to stop the fresh air in the outdoor play area of African adventures. Divided into two zones (over-five and under-five), its climbing walls, netbridges and slides are fun for all ages.
For some reason, we managed to completely overlook one of the major attractions and left without getting on the Chocolate Quest. I've heard of the ride and thought that was the 4D chocolate adventure.
I was wrong. Chocolate Quest Ride, featured last spring, places guests on finding all the ingredients needed to create dairy milk, and laser zapping with lasers to earn chocolate rewards .
Sadly, we never got a chance. Ah, well, we just have to go back.
Our visit ended inevitably at the gift shop. It's worth a visit on its own, especially if you want to buckle the admission fee locally (from £27 for adults and £22 for children).
There is a convenient location at the entrance so no ticket is required to enter. This is an absolute gold mine for Cadbury treasures, with the largest range of the largest stores in the UK, including exclusive personalized items and misshaped bags.
We ended our day by visiting the Bourneville itself, a model village built by the Cadbury brothers, to provide decent and affordable housing for factory workers. Today it is a beautifully preserved place where mock tudors cover leafy lanes.
Bourneville is a Quaker suburb of Birmingham, built by the Cadbury family. (Image: Getty)
The Boneville Green sign is located near the Cadbury Factory (Image: Getty)
Wrapped chocolate Easter eggs at Cadbury Factory in Bornville in 1933 (Image: Getty)
There is also a lovely little high street where we enjoy lunch at Cafe Nion. There are no pubs here. In line with the Cadbury family's Quaker faith, it is a dry property where the sale of liquor is still prohibited within the official boundaries.
Cadbury World has a mixed TripAdvisor reviews, with an average rating of 3.5 stars. Critics have complained primarily that admission fees are rushing for the experience.
For full transparency, we didn't pay as we were hosted at a press conference, but I have to agree. It would have retreated us 76 pounds for the three of us and we were there for over an hour.
Certainly we would have been there longer if we hadn't missed the ride and we enjoyed our day.
There are also ways to save tickets, such as using ClubCard vouchers and a 40% off discount scheme for locals with specific Midlands postcodes. If I'm back, I definitely remember to take a fair amount of photos and bring wet wipes.
