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Oakwood Discussion

Folly Farm demonstrates that you can have a successful visitor attraction in that location. I’d argue that Oakwood’s stagnation in investment and generally poor upkeep is what has led to its decline. When we first visited the park 20-ish years ago, Oakwood was the big attraction and Folly Farm the junior.

If you look at the continual investment and love Folly Farm has received in that 20 year period, compared to Oakwood’s minimal development, it feels almost like the two have switched places. Folly Farm is immaculately presented with loads to do, whereas Oakwood is almost the reverse.

As has been said, it’s going to be difficult to turn around such deep rooted issues.
 
Bones said:
a bit like Brittania hotels then!
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Not as such no, because Britannia Hotels was one brand. Aspro has a number of different parks and brands. Theme parks, water parks, aquariums, all in different locations around Europe which offer a different product to different demographics.

Oakwood could shut down of course, but Aspro are a really successful business who I’ve not known shut down a park before. If it did happen, Oakwood would be the first… I think.
 
I keep hearing odd rumours that Oakwood is the UK park that has allegedly bought T3 from Kentucky Kingdom, so if there's even a hint of truth to that, they can't be doing that badly... it seems unlikely to me given recent reports and recent investments (or lack of) from Oakwood, but I'm happy to be proven wrong!

I've long blamed Oakwood's remote location for its predicament, but a recent visit to Folly Farm changed my mind somewhat. That attraction is located a stone's throw from Oakwood and draws upon the exact same local area, but it seems to be absolutely thriving by comparison. The zoo has come on leaps and bounds in recent years and is continuing to expand with new enclosures, they've invested in a new, reasonably well-themed tractor ride for young children, they've tarted up numerous parts, and overall, Folly Farm has a vibe of incredible prosperity. It has an almost Paultons Park-type feel of having an ever-improving product and a huge focus on quality and guest experience. Even in the 5 years since my last visit, I felt palpable improvement.

I've been holidaying in Pembrokeshire pretty much annually (sometimes more than once a year) since an extremely young age, and have been to the region countless times with family over the years (we once tried to count, and the count was getting on for 30 trips, at a conservative estimate...). I've been to Folly Farm with my family many times over the years, and it's a place we've always gladly returned to whenever we do (although admittedly my recent visit was my first in 5 years). How many times have I been to Oakwood? I make it three, one of which was on a school trip and not with my family. So out of all the times my family have been to Pembrokeshire, I have only visited Oakwood with my family twice; once in 2010 and once in 2019. And I should add that my 2019 visit was with my mum and nan only and in hindsight, I get the impression that they visited under some duress... my point, though, is that I think my family's lack of appetite to visit Oakwood despite having visited the area countless times perhaps proves that the issue isn't location. We don't exactly live that far from the park, either; we live in Gloucestershire, only 6 miles from the South Wales border, and it's around a 2h 15m, 120 mile drive from us, which is certainly within the realms of feasibility for a day trip. So had we really wanted to visit, we may even have made the day trip on occasions other than our Pembrokeshire holidays!

We tried to visit in 2024, as we had my grandad in tow and he fancied visiting a theme park other than Alton Towers, but the park was closed for the entirety of our time in the area... so we went to Folly Farm instead.

It's such a shame to see Oakwood like this, as I think the park is a hidden gem with real potential. It's a charming park in places, and I think rides like Megafobia and Speed are incredibly impressive headline thrills for a park of Oakwood's calibre. Had the park continued the strong investment from the 1990s and 2000s and had a similar focus on quality, guest experience and constant improvement to Folly Farm, I think we could have been looking at a really, really solid and successful park by this point.
 
Thameslink Rail said:
They did close Wasalandia in 2015
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So I guess there is a very small chance that Aspro could close Oakwood. However, looking at Wasalandia’s attendance figures on Wikipedia (yes I know, not the most reliable source but it’s all I can find), Wasalanfia went from having attendance figures of around 200,000 to 350,000 in its early years, dropping to what looks like only around 30,000 in its final few years.

Oakwood’s numbers may have declined but they’ve not declined anywhere near as significantly as Wasalandia’s. Oakwood does still get reasonable numbers in the summer months, as well as during Schools Week. Even during Halloween, the park was, whilst not heaving, relatively well attended.

As I say, under the ownership of Aspro, I find the closure of Oakwood very unlikely. I’m not saying I think Aspro are great, I’m just saying that it’s easier for them to keep their head above water with the backing of a parent company, albeit one that hates to spend money.
 
Matt N said:
I keep hearing odd rumours that Oakwood is the UK park that has allegedly bought T3 from Kentucky Kingdom, so if there's even a hint of truth to that, they can't be doing that badly... it seems unlikely to me given recent reports and recent investments (or lack of) from Oakwood, but I'm happy to be proven wrong!
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I'd question the logic of buying a rollercoaster that's nearly 30 years old, and also when it wasn't very well-liked at all in its latter years at Kentucky Kingdom. It just doesn't make very much sense to me.
 
Keep reading the odd rumours Matt, but be judgmental.
I keep hearing I'm going to be man of the year...

Back on topic, and I know it has been said before...
Bluestone would be the excellent new owner...or operator, with all those punters right next door.
 
Coaster said:
T3 is hideous, would be a terrible choice for any park.
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I haven't ridden T3 and have heard of the reputation of the rollercoaster however a refurbished T3 could enhance Oakwood's line up 🤔

Whether it brings in more people to what they already get and is well received by the enthusiast community is a different matter - I think the general public may well love it
 
T3 would be an odd choice for Oakwood given that several other rides there are knackered and in need of repair. The only other park I could see T3 going to in the UK is Great Yarmouth Pleasurebeech but hopefully nobody of sane mind touches it. I don't think it would do Oakwood any favours.
 
Relife said:
T3 would be an odd choice for Oakwood given that several other rides there are knackered and in need of repair. The only other park I could see T3 going to in the UK is Great Yarmouth Pleasurebeech but hopefully nobody of sane mind touches it. I don't think it would do Oakwood any favours.
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M&Ds? 😅🤔
 
owenstreet7 said:
I haven't ridden T3 and have heard of the reputation of the rollercoaster however a refurbished T3 could enhance Oakwood's line up 🤔

Whether it brings in more people to what they already get and is well received by the enthusiast community is a different matter - I think the general public may well love it
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No like, it's so rough and uncomfortable, and this is from someone who enjoys Infusion!

Even Kentucky Kingdom used to admit it was awful.
 
Jonathan said:
I'd question the logic of buying a rollercoaster that's nearly 30 years old, and also when it wasn't very well-liked at all in its latter years at Kentucky Kingdom. It just doesn't make very much sense to me.
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Same logic that made them buy a third hand Pinfari 7 years ago.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they have bought it. I just hope if so they’ve at least replaced the trains.
 
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