Firstly, a big thank you to Jennifer, Mark & of course The Captain for looking after us so well. We felt very special, & have the most fabulous chocolate hoard, and the DCs are the envy of their mates!
Overall, we have a great day. The DCs had a complete ball, & haven't stopped talking about it.
The best bit for me & Dh was Captain Spoon - he really was fab. Genuinely funny, witty, warm & joyous. I assume he's not a standard part of the tour, but I think cadbury would do well to employ some ambassadors like him to spread the joy.
Ds (just 9) says cadabra & essence were his favourite bits, but he also loved purple planet & the gorilla/ad disco room. Dd (6) says the outside climbing frame was her favourite.
We went back to go on cadabra, and I'm glad I didn't queue 40 mins for it - it really wasn't anything special (although both DCs loved it). I agree that signposting that it is really for younger children might help the traffic flow, as I suspect lots of people would be better off skipping that...
The Dcs loved egg n spoon - esp with captain spoons ritual. Ds has been caught muttering ' scoop out their innards' a few times today! For me, they are nice, but not a patch on cadbury creme eggs, which are impossible to improve on!
I would consider buying them as one of a few Easter treats, but wouldn't be rating them above other Easter goodies
I knew a lot of the Cadbury/Quaker stuff, and the history of chocolate, but the dcs enjoyed that. We all learnt a bit about the chocolate making process in the 4d cinema.
I had a conversation about CW today - with another family who had been, and one who were considering going. My feeling was the CW is ... fine. But without the captain in attendance, I question whether it would be worth the money. There is lots to do, and its well done (good use of varied media, always something new to see), but it doesn't have the magic that you feel a chocolate factory could have - there's a bit of a missed opportunity somehow.
That said, I know the DCs will rave about it - and actually, if it works for them, maybe that's enough.
Thanks again to all involved in setting it up, hope the videos are ok (I have lots more, inc more of the captain, but the system wouldn't let me upload them all! If you want the rest, just let me know)