Oakwood opened in the late 1980s as a very small family park with BMXs, a wooden fort, a 3D-style cinema experience show, go-karts and a water chute ride. The park later incorporated four large thrill rides: Megafobia (1996), Vertigo (1997), Drenched (2002, as Hydro) and Speed (2006) which is a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighterroller coaster with a 97-degree drop. It was the first Euro-Fighter in the United Kingdom and was at that time the steepest roller coaster in the UK. The 85-foot-tall (26m)CCI-built wooden roller coaster Megafobia was rated by enthusiasts soon after its installation as amongst the best in Europe. In 2016, it celebrated 20 years at Oakwood.[2] On 4 March 2025, it was announced that the park would permanently cease operations after four decades.[3]
History
Until March 2008, Oakwood Leisure Ltd. was owned and developed by the McNamara family, Pembrokeshire farmland owners who diversified into the leisure industry in 1987 after the introduction of milk quotas. The park took twelve months to research.
A 15in (381mm)gaugenarrow gauge railway operated on site at Oakwood. The railway, which was well established, was not listed amongst the park's rides and attractions, but formed part of the operational infrastructure, providing a transport link between the theme park and the car park. Travelling on the railway was included in the cost of the park admission ticket. Until 2016, the railway was operated by four diesel locomotives; two were American-style (though British-built) steam outline engines, and the others were a standard diesel outline locomotive and a diesel railcar. Since 2016, only one non-themed diesel locomotive was used, the other three locomotives having been retired. Open 20-seater "Severn Lamb" type toast rack carriages were used in warm weather, with enclosed 20-seater former Liverpool Garden Festival coaches used year-round.
Following an increase in visitor numbers after the arrival of the Snake River Falls water slide in 1994, the management decided to pursue the development of the park into a more 'thrilling' theme park. In 1996, the park received a wooden roller coaster from the American firm of Custom Coasters International. Built at a cost of £1.7m, Megafobia allowed the park to reach 500,000 visitors in one season for the first time. In 1996, Oakwood also began an annual After Dark event, with late-night opening, fireworks, entertainment and discounted evening entry. Several major additions would follow in the coming years: Vertigo, a sky swing, in 1997, Bounce, a shoot and drop tower, in 1999, Hydro (later Drenched) in 2002 and Speed: No Limits in 2006.
The only themed area at this time was 'Jake's Town', home to the Nutty Jake's Gold Mine dark ride and Jake's Puppet Theatre, with a wild west theme. In 2000 the area was rethemed as 'New Orleans' with the opening of a new haunted dark ride, Voodoo Mansion, replacing the puppet show. This was followed by a revamp of Nutty Jake's Gold Mine to Brer Rabbit's Burrow in 2001. In 2003, Voodoo Mansion was rebranded as "Spooky 3D" with updated scenes.
The park was sold to Aspro Ocio S.A. of Spain as of March 2008.[4] The New Orleans area was rethemed back to a wild west theme in 2012. Later that year, the park announced that it was starting a five-year investment plan, including redeveloping Kidz World into Neverland in 2013. A themed soundtrack was also introduced in 2018, produced by Nick Hutson, including for the park itself, the After Dark event and Megafobia. Oakwood previously did not have a themed soundtrack for the park and often used licensed commercial music.
Summer 2013 brought a new development consisting of a Neverland themed area that opened on 23 May 2013. As part of the redevelopment, some of the children's rides were relocated to form a second themed area called 'Circus Land', occupying the former 'Plane Crazy' area (aimed at children under 8).
On 4 March 2025 it was announced that Oakwood Theme Park would permanently cease operations.[3]
1987: Park opening. The bobsleigh, the assault courses and go karts are present at opening. Only the bobsleigh remains.
1988: Nutty Jake's Gold Mine family dark ride opens.
1989: Treetops Family Roller Coaster opens.
1991: Jake's Town opens, including Nutty Jake's Music Hall puppet show
1994: Snake River Falls Family Water Ride opens. This addition replaced 2 of the original assault courses (courses 7 and 8). Further development on this area was planned but never came to fruition.
1999: Assault Course is first of Oakwood's original attractions to close. Guest Relations facility opens.
2000: Voodoo Mansion opens and Jake's Town is rethemed to New Orleans.
2001: Nutty Jake's Gold Mine is rethemed to Brer Rabbit's Burrow.
2002: Senior and Junior go-karts are closed.
2003: Voodoo Mansion rethemed as Spooky 3D.
2005: Hydro is re-opened following closure through almost all of the 2004 season. It re-opens with a new boat interior with improved restraints and minor re-branding. Speed opening delayed.
Speed's initial drop
2006: Speed Euro-Fighter (Now Speed: No Limits) is opened on the former site of the Senior Go-Karts.
2007: Oakwood relocates its Premier Theatre from New Orleans back to the Wacky Factory location, next to Plane Crazy. Wacky moves into Lost Kingdom, which loses its Bouncy Castles.
2008: Sale to new owners 'Aspro Ocio S.A'. Oakwood's Late-night entertainment was cut to only one outdoor show with the removal of the dancing fountains. The park's fireworks also relocated to behind Speed, due to the parks neighbouring site, Bluestone.
2009: Oakwood's summer entertainment event After Dark and all entertainment is cut; the park extends its opening times by one hour during August.
2010: New logo introduced. Bounce has been repainted red and white, and there is an interior redesign.
2011: Hydro's name is changed to Drenched.
2012: The park celebrates its 25th birthday. The New Orleans area is reverted to a Wild West theme. Lost Kingdom is rebranded as 'Fun Factory' and the park receives a facelift with buildings, fences and rides being painted.
2013: Kidz World is rethemed as Neverland. This brings new and re-themed rides consisting of Skull Rock (log flume from Camelot Theme Park), Crocodile Coaster (also from Camelot), Tink's Flying School (formerly Plane Crazy), Neverland Chase, Lost Boys Adventure, Jolly Roger, Hooks House of Havoc (indoor play area), Journey to Neverland, Aerodrome and the London Taxi Ride. The park had a rebranding of Sky Leap into Moon Landing, a relocation of some kids rides to the former Plane Crazy area and creating the new 'Circus Land' consisting of the Clown Coaster, Kids Carousel, Circus Express and Scorches Playground.[5] Brer Rabbit's Burrow closes.[6]
2014: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is intended to replace Brer Rabbit's Burrow but is delayed.[7] According to the park's Head of Marketing, “The park invested £4.5 million in its new Neverland area and this year we have more major investment that will see the creation of a new soft play area, a children’s ride, a whole new themed restaurant and something very exciting planned for the summer!”[8]
2016: Dahl Land, to be based on the works of Roald Dahl is intended to open but delayed. The 'Spooktacluar' Halloween event is introduced. Bounce was closed but standing.
2017: Dahl Land opens, including Flight of the Giant Peach.
2018: Dahl Land rethemed to Spooky Street, with Flight of the Giant Peach renamed Creepy Crawler.
2019: Dizzy disk, a spinning disk shaped ride manufactured by DINIS Amusement Equipment located in the former Circus Land area. Bounce is intended to reopen for the summer but is delayed.[9] The teacups from Circus Land are moved to Spooky Street and renamed Witches' Brew.
2022: Bounce reopens after refurbishment, having remained closed since 2016.
2023: Spooky 3D closes. A replacement attraction is teased but never built.
2025: In March, the park is announced to be permanently closed by its owner, Aspro Parks.[10]
Seasonal and holiday operation
The face and atmosphere of Oakwood changed throughout the year, marking holidays and summer operation.
Summer: In 1996, the same year Megafobia was opened, Oakwood launched its "after dark" late summer openings. The tradition continued until the 2008 season, before re-launching in 2011.
Halloween: In 2000, Oakwood launched annual "eerie evenings" following the opening of Voodoo Mansion, but discontinued them a few years later. Oakwood then relaunched its Halloween event in 2008 during the day for the October half term. In 2011 Oakwood rethemed Brer Rabbit as Scare Rabbit's Hollow, suitable for ages 10+, and opened a horror maze (surcharge) at the nearby Oakwood Bowl site. For 2013, Oakwood launched its "Halloween Spooktacular" event, which was held over five days. The "Spooktacular" event included "Spooky Live" (Spooky 3D in the dark with a number of live actors), "Theatre of Nightmares" (a walk-through scare maze attraction with live actors and animals for ages 16+) and "The Ghost of Skull Rock" show, which was held in the new Neverland area for all ages and featured Captain Hook, Tinkerbell and The Lost Boys. The evening ended with a firework display in Neverland.[11]
Christmas: In 1995, Oakwood made a practice of opening the original children's area, Play Town, themed as a winter wonderland. In conjunction with this, the park held an annual Christmas pantomime in which minor celebrities would often undertake parts. Despite the relative popularity and success of the Christmas opening, the park decided to discontinue this venture.
Originally located at M&D's under various names. In 2017 it was moved to Oakwood as Flight of the Giant Peach as part of the new Dahl Land. In 2018 the theming was removed and it was renamed to Creepy Crawler[12] in the Spooky Street area.
A Euro-Fighter coaster that held the world's steepest rollercoaster title between April 2006 and July 2008 and was the UK's first roller coaster with a beyond vertical drop[15]
A track ride, seating 4 guests per car located in the park's Neverland area
SBNO
Witches' Brew
2014
I.E. Park
A junior teacups ride, that previously operated at Camelot Theme Park. Located in the Spooky Street area
SBNO
Past attractions
Name
Opened
Closed
Manufacturer
Description
Nutty Jake's Gold Mine
14 April 1987
1999
Imagination
Riders were taken through a gold-mine themed tunnel in the then themed area of the park Jake's Town.
Voodoo Mansion
2000
2002
Rex Studios
A haunted dark ride. Rethemed as Spooky 3D for 2003.
Spooky 3D
2003
2022
Rex Studios
A tracked dark ride with 3D UV effects in which guests where 3D glasses. As of 2023, the ride has been stripped out and is set to be rethemed again. Located in the Spooky Street area.
Cine 180
14 April 1987
2000
A 3D cinema
Go Karts
1987
2001
Junior Go Karts
1987
2001
Assault Course
1991
1998
Jake's Music Hall
1991
1999
Sparks Creative
Puppet show. The building was used to house Voodoo Mansion from 2000.
Brer Rabbit's Burrow
2001
2013
Rex Studios
A dark train ride that takes you through Brer Rabbit's Burrow. Was previously Nutty Jake's Gold Mine.
In April 2004, 16-year-old Hayley Williams was killed after falling approximately 100ft from the top of the Hydro ride. The accident was attributed to human error after CCTV footage showed staff had not checked the rider's restraint was in a safe position.[19][20] The ride was closed until the next season, when it reopened with more secure over-the-shoulder restraints instead of lap bars.
In 2006, the coroner's inquest into the accident returned a narrative verdict on the death with some indication that the accident was more the result of the restraints being improperly secured by staff as opposed to fundamentally inadequate in and of themselves. The inquest reported that CCTV footage taken at the ride before the boat left clearly showed that the victim's lap bar was in an "open and unsafe position". Other CCTV footage showed both operators had failed to properly check that passengers were secure.[21][22]
On 18 May 2007, the Health and Safety executive reported that Oakwood would be prosecuted, and in February 2008 the HSE charged Oakwood for not ensuring that guests were properly and safely restrained. The case against Oakwood was committed for trial at Swansea Crown Court on 7 July 2008 where Oakwood pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety Act 1974. On 18 December, the park was fined £250,000 in addition to £80,000 legal costs, a penalty which was described by the victim's close family as inadequate. High Court Judge Justice Lloyd-Jones who passed the sentence had earlier commented that safety breaches at the theme park had created "the potential for really serious injury to very large numbers of people".[23]
In 2011, Hydro was renamed Drenched. Drenched closed at the end of the 2022 season.[24]
Treetops
On 23 October 2022, there was an incident on the Treetops roller coaster in which a rider was reportedly ejected from one of the rearmost carriages of the ride. The park was evacuated and closed whilst the HSE investigated with Dyfed Powys Police.[25] However it was later reported that the HSE had determined there had been no fault with the ride and declared no further action was necessary.[26]
Bounce
On 10 July 2024, the launched drop tower ride Bounce came to a sudden stop, described by park management as a "programmed Emergency Stop Procedure”. Around eight people received first aid treatment on site while six others visited hospital for further treatment. [27]
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