Megafobia

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Megafobia
Megafobia-1.jpg
Megafobia
Oakwood Theme Park
Location Oakwood Theme Park
Coordinates 51°46′51″N4°48′20″W / 51.7807°N 4.8056°W / 51.7807; -4.8056
StatusClosed
Opening date30 April 1996
Closing date3 November 2024
General statistics
Type Wood
Manufacturer Custom Coasters International
Designer John Wardley, Dennis McNulty, Larry Bill
Height85 ft (26 m)
Length2,956 ft (901 m)
Speed48 mph (77 km/h)
Inversions 0
Duration1:40
Max vertical angle55°
G-force 2.75
Height restriction120 cm (3 ft 11 in)
Megafobia at RCDB

Megafobia was a wooden roller coaster located at Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It opened on 30 April 1996 and was built by Custom Coasters International, who wanted a ride to showcase their company's work in Europe.[ citation needed ] It was designed by John Wardley, Dennis McNulty, and Larry Bill. It operated until 3 November 2024.

Contents

Megafobia was the first major attraction to be installed at Oakwood Theme Park. It was the most recent wooden roller coaster to be built in the United Kingdom until the opening of Wicker Man at Alton Towers in 2018.

On 27 January 2023, the park announced that Megafobia would undergo a £1.5 million replacement of its track by The Gravity Group, a project that replaced around 40% of the track and re-profiled certain elements of the layout. Most notably, the first drop became steeper. [1] The updated ride re-opened to the public on 17 July 2023. [2]

On 4 March 2025 it was announced that Oakwood Theme Park and all its rides would be closing indefinitely, with park owner Aspro Parks citing "challenges presented by the current business environment", and a decline in financial performance "making further investment unsustainable". [3]

Statistics

The ride was 26 metres (85 ft) tall, and reached top speeds of 77 km/h (48 mph). It was 901 metres (2,956 ft) long, and had a maximum vertical angle of 55 degrees. It exerted a maximum of 2.65 Gs on riders.

The ride had two trains which were built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters. The trains had six cars that seated four riders in two rows of two each, for a total of 24 riders per train.

Ride experience

Upon dispatch from the station, the train made a left turn into a small dip before climbing the 26 metre (85 ft) tall chain lift hill. At the top, the track made a 180-degree left turn, before the train descended the first drop. The first drop passed through the support structure, and was followed by a sweeping left curve and an airtime hill which crossed over the lift hill. After this airtime hill, the track made a 180-degree left turn back towards the lift hill. An on-ride camera was situated at the exit of this turn. The track turned towards the lift hill again, traversing another airtime hill. The track then made a three-quarter right turn that passed through the lift hill's structure. Immediately following this, the train passed through another airtime hill and crossed over the exit from the first turnaround before turning in a 180-degree right turn and drop. The track weaved under itself and traced back along the earlier pass through the lift hill structure before making a drop and turn to the right. After passing under the second hill, the track made a final right turn and another drop before entering the brake run. Trains then passed through the transfer track and storage area before returning to the station. A full ride experience on Megafobia lasted approximately one minute and 40 seconds.

Awards

Megafobia was consistently rated among the top wooden coasters in the Golden Ticket Awards by Amusement Today.

Golden Ticket Awards: Top wood Roller Coasters
Year19981999
Ranking5 [4] 10 [5]
Year2000200120022003200420052006200720082009
Ranking 9 [6] 10 [7] 9 [8] 9 [9] 14 [10] 13 [11] 24 [12] 25 [13] 22 [14] 25 [15]
Year2010201120122013201420152016201720182019
Ranking 30 [16] 20 [17] 27 [18] 30 [19] 33 [20] 27 [21] 35 [22] – [23] 46 [24] 44 [25]
Year202020212022202320242025
Ranking N/A –––––

References

  1. ↑ "We've got some MEGA news… | Oakwood Theme Park". Oakwood Theme Park | Oakwood Theme Park. 2023-01-27. Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  2. ↑ "It's MEGA Monday". Oakwood Theme Park Twitter Account. Twitter. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ↑ Fr3ya0akw0od (2025-03-04). "Oakwood Theme Park to close | Oakwood Theme Park". Oakwood Theme Park | Oakwood Theme Park. Archived from the original on 2025-03-12. Retrieved 2025-10-27.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 6B. August 1998.
  5. ↑ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 6B. August 1999.
  6. ↑ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . August 2000.
  7. ↑ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 6B. August 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 6B. September 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  9. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 10–11B. September 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  10. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 14–15B. September 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 3, 2007.
  11. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 22–23B. September 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today : 30–31B. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  13. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 11 (6.2): 42–43. September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 12 (6.2): 42–43. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  15. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 13 (6.2): 38–39. September 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 14 (6.2): 38–39. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  17. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 15 (6.2): 46–47. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  18. ↑ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 16 (6.2): 46–47. September 2012.
  19. ↑ "2013 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 17 (6.2): 40–41. September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  20. ↑ "2014 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 18 (6.2): 38–39. September 2014.
  21. ↑ "2015 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today . 19 (6.2): 45–46. September 2015.
  22. ↑ "2016 top 50 wooden roller coasters". Golden Ticket Awards . Amusement Today. September 2016.
  23. ↑ "2017 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards . Amusement Today. September 2017.
  24. ↑ "2018 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards . Amusement Today. September 2018.
  25. ↑ "2019 Top Wood". Golden Ticket Awards . Amusement Today. September 2019.
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