Janice T.
Yelp
Gosh. I had way more fun than I anticipated, especially as an adult! Is Chocolate World a glorified candy store? Yes, it is, but they added other attractions to bring in the cha-ching that makes it enjoyable! From shirts, apparel, plushies, socks & candy to their small food court of specialty milkshakes, s'mores & cupcakes, to the free chocolate tour ride that's comparable to it's a small world sans the repetitiveness , that takes you on a journey through the chocolate making process with various technology. There are a few fun photo ops upon entering.
It's free to enter Chocolate World, however to create your own candy bar, see unwrapped, do the trolley tour or stuff your own Reese's there is a fee.
We did order some beef bbq sliders in the food court. It's more than enough to share between 2 people. While not the best BBQ I've had, it was enough to satiate my hunger, but a tad on the salty side.
I participated in the create your own candy bar. It's a popular activity & I'm sure it gets booked fast in the summer, holidays and on weekends. So if you have your heart set on it, book it in advance. While it's on the pricey side, you are paying for the experience. They start you off with an apron & hair net to don prior to entering. This experience was super fun & better than I expected. If you're able to book during a less crowded time, do it! We didn't feel rushed & took our time to create our own wrapper. There were only 7 of us in the entire "factory." It was my sister & myself plus 5 other people we didn't know. It requires scanning your ticket at five different stations. It is wheelchair accessible. You start at a screen where you pick your chocolate (white, dark or milk) then up to 3 inclusions, plus an option of sprinkles. Then you walk through the factory doors. This is where the magic happens. You get to pull a lever down that supposedly starts the physical creation of your candy bar. You get to see your bar being put together through a glass window on a conveyor belt. Your name pops up on a screen when your bar is ready to move down the line, so you can follow it. At some point, you go to the next screen to design your wrapper. If you're feeling lazy or just aren't creative they have 3 pre-set designs, but if you really want to personalize your wrapper there is an option for that. This was really fun as well! For some reason I missed watching my bar being sealed, but I was able to see it sent down the line & see my wrapper being placed over the tin and handed to me. There are some good photo ops with the walls at the end, so make sure to take pics with you & your candy bar before exiting the doors. When designing your wrapper choose contrasting colors for your name & background. If you go monochromatic regardless of lighter & darker hues, it still won't show up well, even if it does on the screen, so keep that in mind.
After much deliberation I opted on doing the stuff your (1lb) Reese's cup on the day I headed home. There is no need to sign up. It's roughly $19/$20 with a military discount & takes about 3-4 minutes to make. You choose dark or milk chocolate for your top, but before then you choose up to 3 inclusions & watch them fold your choices into PB. I feel it was well worth it. But if you have a family, probably just come to a consensus on the 3 inclusions & purchase one Reese's stuff your cup. I stuffed mine on 4/30/23 & it's 5/13/23 & I still have a good sized piece left. This is even sharing it with my husband. It's held up pretty well in the refrigerator.
If it's your birthday, let them know at the ticket desk, they will give you a "Its my birthday " sticker & a full sized Hershey bar.
They do offer military discounts, just be sure to show proof with ID.
The only disappointing aspect of Chocolate World was the few "unique" chocolate flavors available.