My sister and I toured the candy factory on our mini vacation this year. It is a trolley car ride with a guide who tells you all about the history of the factory and what is happening in present day (they make Dum-Dum suckers among other things). You are encouraged to ask questions which is always a good thing.
We took our 8 year old to the factory for the tour. She had fun and loved the candy samples of course. :)
We came upon the Spangler Candy Factory purely by accident and made the mistake of taking the Candy Factory Tour. After they have everyone put on hair and beard hairnets, they take you in a trolley for nothing more than a drive through the warehouse, where all you get to see is mountains of flat boxes and pallets and pallets of boxed candies. You never get anywhere near any candy factory. The only candy making you get to see is on the TV monitors that they have mounted inside the trolley. If we at least had the opportunity to view any of the candy making process through a window showing the employees at work - making the actual candy maybe I wouldn't feel so cheated. Don't waste your time or money. Drive up the road and see something else - anything else!
Every year I take my daycare children here. It isn't a long tour, but it is fun. The kids really enjoy the trolly ride. If it can keep six kids (2-10) entertained for an hour ( between the ride and meusum, then I give it a thumbs up.
We took our 4 kids here. They loved riding the trolley through the factory. They also really liked the factory store. We have always loved dum dums!
The Spangler Candy Factory Tour is a fun experience if your children are old enough to have some patience and appreciation for a mechanized factory. Call before going to verify that tours are open and no tour groups have set times reserved as we ran into a problem with that. The tour is appx 1/2 hour and takes place on a drivable train that has small monitors to watch an occasional video. There is a tour guide providing history and facts. A little disappointed that the tour does NOT include the candy making areas... mainly you see the mechanized packaging areas as well as the shipping bays. Still an impressive place when you consider 10 million suckers are made each day ! Take time to read the historical picture captions while waiting for your tour and kids will like the free suckers while waiting as well. There is a small fee.
If you are in the area this is a nice little stop. There is a very short tor through the factory and warehouse on a trolley.They have a nice gift shop.Look at the signs in front of the employees parking area. They will tell you how many feet to the museum and convert that figure to how many dum-dum’s to the museum.
Nice history.....Samples are only the Dum Dum Suckers and Safety Pops. They also have a new flavor for tasting called Red Velvet. There is a charge to do the tour and there is no way you can recoup the cost...Even if you take several handfuls of suckers...your tour admission price will be sunk costs. there is a lot of history in the museum. The tour is interesting but you can't take pictures and you must remain in the trolley at all times. The trolley does stop a lot but they play videos inside the trolley. You will see tons and tons of candy canes and circus peanuts. You will learn about all the private label for candy canes such as Sweatarts, JellyBelly, Skittles and etc. If you are less than 90 minutes away it is worth the trip and we you are down you can stop by the town square of Bryan Ohio and the Ohio Art Factory for photos.
We were in the area and decided to try the tour. It was a hoot! The trolley takes you mainly through a warehouse area, but they show you how the candy is made. And you get lots of samples in the gift shop. You can even buy a package containing only your favorite dum dum flavor (both our kids did!). The tour guide was sweet and answered all our questions. She even took a picture for us. It was a fun time.
Spangler had a really neat factory in Bryan, Ohio. They have a tour bus that takes you around inside so there is no walking. It's amazing the amount of candy they make and ship year around. Lots of dum-dums, of course. And candy canes of all sorts. Just the volume of product is sure to astound you. Why not take a little drive to Bryan and check them out. You can call for hours at 419-633-6439.