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Oakwood Discussion
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Coaster
TS Member
It seems Bounce has also left Oakwood!
Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/people/Davies-Crane-Hire-Ltd/100063616415355/?locale=en_GB
Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/people/Davies-Crane-Hire-Ltd/100063616415355/?locale=en_GB
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
That's surprising, they only refurbished it a few years back!It seems Bounce has also left Oakwood!
Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/people/Davies-Crane-Hire-Ltd/100063616415355/?locale=en_GB
owenstreet7
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Seems like the accident has sealed it's fate.
My worry now is that Oakwood will announce it's permanent closure in the coming weeks.
It seems Bounce has also left Oakwood!
Photo source: https://www.facebook.com/people/Davies-Crane-Hire-Ltd/100063616415355/?locale=en_GB
Not wanting to be dramatic and hopefully it’s the angle (hidden behind the section of bounce being lifted) but shouldn’t you be able to see Speeds lift and first drop to the left of the barrel roll?
Edit - trying to match up with an existing photo is hard but think it may just be perfectly lined up to hide it. Fingers crossed!
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NuttySquirrel
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Batman: Gotham City Escape
Oh dear, this isn't good to see. However Bounce was ancient and possibly not actually safe to operate so it isn't really surprising that it's going. I very much doubt it will be replaced with anything though.
I think Speed's lift hill would be further to the left in that image, so perhaps the park has a bit more life in it still. Not sure for how much longer though as with drenched and bounce gone the lineup is looking pretty thin indeed.
I think Speed's lift hill would be further to the left in that image, so perhaps the park has a bit more life in it still. Not sure for how much longer though as with drenched and bounce gone the lineup is looking pretty thin indeed.
Managed to line it up with this screenshot from ‘DannyBoyVids’ on YouTube, and I think it is just behind the section of bounce. Will try not to go into another ‘everything is being removed’ spiral
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Enter Valhalla
TS Member
Remember Oakwood’s Ride the Big Four marketing campaign from a few years ago?
Ride the Big Two doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
Ride the Big Two doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
IDB
TS Member
Matt Creek
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Well looks like another ones bitten the dust. Unless they are just doing it up and changing the name to something random.
On a serious note, things are looking concerning for the park. That’s two potential ride removals and major ones at that. Plus they still haven’t announced this years park hours either.
Aspro really don’t know how to operate an attraction properly.
On a serious note, things are looking concerning for the park. That’s two potential ride removals and major ones at that. Plus they still haven’t announced this years park hours either.
Aspro really don’t know how to operate an attraction properly.
Enter Valhalla
TS Member
Aspro, currently, aren’t running this attraction properly, but it isn’t at all fair to say that Aspro don’t run their attractions properly. They have over 30 attractions around Europe including the hugely successful Aqualand waterpark chain and some very successful aquariums.
Aspro have also been running Oakwood for 16 years and the park has seen some, albeit modest investment under Aspro‘s ownership. Aspro are also a pretty financially successful company who have operated for over 30 years.
What I think could be happening with Oakwood however, and which may explain Oakwood’s rapid decline, is that they are, perhaps, and I hope this turns out to be wrong, giving up on Oakwood.
This would explain why we saw Drenched being carefully dismantled, suggesting that it may appear at one of their water parks.
Oakwood has always been Aspro’s largest attraction, and perhaps they’re finally seeing it as too much of a headache to manage alongside their smaller waterparks and aquariums. Of Aspro’s other attractions, only Walygator even comes close in size, and although I’ve not been there for many years, I’ve heard that’s in a pretty sorry state too.
This is all speculation, you never know, Oakwood may pull it out of the bag. I’ve got many happy memories of that park, but I can’t keep defending the indefensible.
As this is the Oakwood topic, not the Aspro topic, I would say that Aspro have never run Oakwood properly...a great lack of investment over time...you don't put new stuff in, people stop coming, simple.
They have run the place into the ground, through poor management of what was a decent attraction.
Nobodys fault but the owners.
They have run the place into the ground, through poor management of what was a decent attraction.
Nobodys fault but the owners.
Enter Valhalla
TS Member
But to say that there’s been no investment in Oakwood isn’t true. We had Neverland, with 8 new/refurbished attractions opening in 2013, and Dahl Land (which later became Spooky Street) in 2018.
Admittedly that isn’t much, but I think it’s unfair to claim that Aspro don’t know what they’re doing. They have never wanted Oakwood to be a UK leader. They’ve invested just enough in the park to keep it ticking over and, until recently, that’s been sufficient.
Now with rising energy costs, people spending less, and rides becoming older and more expensive to maintain, it seems like we’ve got to the point where Aspro consider the place to be too much of a headache. Meaning that, I expect, Aspro will either close the park, or they’ll do a Lightwater Valley style re-brand and make it into a “family” park, removing all the major rides. I think it was last Easter, or possibly the Easter before, that they experimented with opening the park with only the small rides. If this was a more cost effective way to do things, they may move entirely in that direction, hence why we’re seeing the removal of major rides at the moment.
Admittedly that isn’t much, but I think it’s unfair to claim that Aspro don’t know what they’re doing. They have never wanted Oakwood to be a UK leader. They’ve invested just enough in the park to keep it ticking over and, until recently, that’s been sufficient.
Now with rising energy costs, people spending less, and rides becoming older and more expensive to maintain, it seems like we’ve got to the point where Aspro consider the place to be too much of a headache. Meaning that, I expect, Aspro will either close the park, or they’ll do a Lightwater Valley style re-brand and make it into a “family” park, removing all the major rides. I think it was last Easter, or possibly the Easter before, that they experimented with opening the park with only the small rides. If this was a more cost effective way to do things, they may move entirely in that direction, hence why we’re seeing the removal of major rides at the moment.
I stand corrected, I should have said major investment, the new big ride to drag people back.
Nothing worth attending for again really, just minor makeovers, and other stuff left to rot.
And I agree on the cheaper, family route, especially with the big camp place next door, that may be a better local fit.
Lightwater is a good comparison, but it has a wide local market.
Nothing worth attending for again really, just minor makeovers, and other stuff left to rot.
And I agree on the cheaper, family route, especially with the big camp place next door, that may be a better local fit.
Lightwater is a good comparison, but it has a wide local market.
Coaster
TS Member
Aspro bought Oakwood in 2008, meaning they've owned the park for 17 years.
In that time, they've invested in the following:
- Neverland (nice area albeit all second hand rides)
- A knackered Pinfari from M&Ds with an IP they had to change because they hadn't obtained the rights to it
- Dizzy Disk
Meanwhile, they've closed the following:
- Drenched
- Bounce
- Brer Rabbits Burrow dark ride
- Spooky 3D
- Mini golf
- Moon Landing drop slide
- Clown coaster
Over the 17 year period of Aspro's ownership, the level of investment at the park has been woeful. The previous ownership invested in huge rides like Megafobia, Speed, Hydro and Bounce; rides that made the park popular with locals and holidaymakers. Before that, they built the foundations by adding new rides every few years. Even the smaller stuff like Voodoo Mansion/Spooky 3D was of a decent quality at the time it went in, and if you look at the former Wild West area housing Brer Rabbit and compare the quality of that to what's there now, it's not even comparable.
You only have to look at the rapid development of another nearby attraction, Folly Farm, to see that locals/holidaymakers are interested in visitor attractions. It's simply the case that Oakwood haven't had anything new or exciting to offer since 2014 with Neverland (a year where they had a very busy summer but most big rides were closed), and before that, 2006 with Speed.
I put the failure of Oakwood down to 17 years of underinvestment, consistently poor ride availability, capacity and concerning safety standards. I do love the place and remember it being bustling and thriving in the early 2000s - The atmosphere and customer experience was completely different to the park of today. I remember the buzz we got picking up an Oakwood leaflet from nearby places in Wales whilst on holiday, and seeing the big new ride for that year plastered on the front.
Whilst it's definitely also true that the Hydro accident floored them, I think the biggest culprit is that instead of picking the park back up, Aspro ran it into the ground.
In that time, they've invested in the following:
- Neverland (nice area albeit all second hand rides)
- A knackered Pinfari from M&Ds with an IP they had to change because they hadn't obtained the rights to it
- Dizzy Disk
Meanwhile, they've closed the following:
- Drenched
- Bounce
- Brer Rabbits Burrow dark ride
- Spooky 3D
- Mini golf
- Moon Landing drop slide
- Clown coaster
Over the 17 year period of Aspro's ownership, the level of investment at the park has been woeful. The previous ownership invested in huge rides like Megafobia, Speed, Hydro and Bounce; rides that made the park popular with locals and holidaymakers. Before that, they built the foundations by adding new rides every few years. Even the smaller stuff like Voodoo Mansion/Spooky 3D was of a decent quality at the time it went in, and if you look at the former Wild West area housing Brer Rabbit and compare the quality of that to what's there now, it's not even comparable.
You only have to look at the rapid development of another nearby attraction, Folly Farm, to see that locals/holidaymakers are interested in visitor attractions. It's simply the case that Oakwood haven't had anything new or exciting to offer since 2014 with Neverland (a year where they had a very busy summer but most big rides were closed), and before that, 2006 with Speed.
I put the failure of Oakwood down to 17 years of underinvestment, consistently poor ride availability, capacity and concerning safety standards. I do love the place and remember it being bustling and thriving in the early 2000s - The atmosphere and customer experience was completely different to the park of today. I remember the buzz we got picking up an Oakwood leaflet from nearby places in Wales whilst on holiday, and seeing the big new ride for that year plastered on the front.
Whilst it's definitely also true that the Hydro accident floored them, I think the biggest culprit is that instead of picking the park back up, Aspro ran it into the ground.
Enter Valhalla
TS Member
Don’t forget Circus Land, featuring the new kids train ride and the refurbished slide Moon Landing, which both opened in 2013, and have both since been removed. And also the Teacups ride which opened in 2014. Nothing massive, but if we’re going to list every bit of investment that Aspro have made in the park, these should be included too.
Also, do we know for definite that Oakwood didn’t have the rights to the Roald Dahl stuff? That’s a pretty big accusation to throw at them, without proof.
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