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Oakwood Discussion

Oakwood is a victim of Aspro’s poor management. The park was terribly presented when we last visited in 2024, to the point of abandonment in place. Rides were closed for no apparent reason and operations weren’t great. There were some fantastic staff there though.

Other than the expansion for the neighbouring Bluestone, I wouldn’t imagine this is prime development land. That could mean that there’s no incentive to sell it off for development. That might just be wishful thinking, but Megafobia after its retracking was an absolutely fantastic ride; possibly the best woodie I’ve ridden other than Balder. I don’t think I’m starting into hyperbole to say it would be one of the biggest single attraction losses ever to the UK industry if we lose that ride.
 
Skyscraper said:
Speed yes, but as others have said I don't see Megaphobia being relocated. it's just not practical anymore sadly.
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I saw the earlier posts, it would be a real shame if we lost Megafobia.

I had a slim hope it'd be kept. It's as likely as Oakwood reopening in 2026 being rebranded as Walygator UK.

I'm sure that when Drenched and even Bounce was being dismantled that Oakwood's closure has been confirmed (even if it was internally within Aspro).
 
I’d be lying if I said this was hugely surprising news given the park’s sharp downward turn in the last year or so, but that doesn’t make it any less sad.

Megafobia will be an enormous loss to the UK industry; it was a top 10 UK coaster for me, and is probably now my highest ranking defunct coaster by quite some margin (excluding the extremely remote chance of it getting relocated)!

I’d be happy if Speed found a new home, and to be honest, it wouldn’t surprise me if one of the UK’s other smaller parks bought it.

This is quite unlike other park closures in the UK for me personally in that Oakwood does hold nostalgia for me. While I only went 3 times, it was one of the earliest parks I went to as a child and Megafobia was my first ever woodie and arguably one of my first ever “big” coasters, so its closure definitely makes me feel sad.
 
Oh dear. A real shame. Back when I first started lurking on these forums there was a lot of talk and excitement about Oakwoods potential.

I then visiting a fair few times and thoroughly enjoyed it - circa 2006-2010.

Then I never went again until 2018. It was obvious then this would happen.

Flamingo land next
 
Such sad news to hear the park closing for good but not surprising.

As for megaphobia, even if it was to be relocated within the UK, what park could even accommodate it? I'm guessing thorpe has the land but it doesn't feel like a good fit for them, paultons potentially but again difficult to see it there. Drayton could be a good fit but I'm not sure where it could go.

Unfortunately this does just seem like the end unless the park is sold on and the ride kept.
 
Jb85 said:
Oh dear. A real shame. Back when I first started lurking on these forums there was a lot of talk and excitement about Oakwoods potential.

I then visiting a fair few times and thoroughly enjoyed it - circa 2006-2010.

Then I never went again until 2018. It was obvious then this would happen.

Flamingo land next
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What makes you think Flamingo land is next? Far worse parks in a worse state than Flamingo land.
 
Really sad news. I'd like to think Megafobia may be of interest to other parks given the work that was done on it recently.

More importantly, someone needs to step up and take Waterfall
 
Damn it, I never got the opportunity to visit, really wanted to ride Megafobia at some point but everything else was very ‘whatever’ in my opinion. What a shame for such a large employer to go out of business, hopefully the staff will be able to recover from this.

I guess there’s a small chance we see Speed get relocated, and there’s now a monumental gap in the UK coaster lineup with a major wooden coaster. I think a major modern woodie for Thorpe, Blackpool or Towers is really needed now.

If it wasn’t for the news of Universal, we’d be facing a very bleak future of the UK theme park industry, but right now I feel like I’ve lost any real enthusiasm for this industry…
 
Not surprising really. Very sad news I have had some good times there in the early years. I think other theme parks should take notice, especially Merlin parks going forward.

If you don’t invest, serve crap overpriced food, let your park get dirty and run down, ignore the constant bad reviews then this is what happens.
 
I've just saw their statement and it seems like we've found our answers on where the rides will likely be going.

"Unfortunately, we could no longer see a sustainable way forward and will seek to improve our other parks using the assets and where possible team elsewhere"

It seems like both Walygator (Grand-Est and Sud-Ouest) parks in France will be benefitting from quite a few new attractions sooner than later.
 
Well...now Wales knows how Scotland feels not having a major theme park, not that Oakwood wasn't exactly major but still better than anything up here for sure.

Still a sad loss and you have to wonder what happens now.
 
Incredible to read social media and find a fairly large consensus that an increase in NI and minimum wage is to blame.

Perhaps paying staff literally the bare legal minimum whilst shareholders take in a wage is indicative of the type of issue which is causing these sort of businesses to become unappealing?
 
Felt in 2016 the end was nigh so in a way I'm happy it lasted this long. At the time I was well aware it could be my only ever visit, but as it limped on it was always a case of "maybe next summer" over and over and now there won't be a next summer. Bugger.

Won't pretend I rated Megafobia as highly as some people but it's still a huge blow for the UK and a bit of history gone. Would have liked to have had another go with the new track. Ridiculous to think there's only been two other wooden coasters built here since. I can't see it being moved. Real shame.

Speed was very much "it is what it is" but I hope it can be moved somewhere.

A sad day
 
Josh555 said:
Incredible to read social media and find a fairly large consensus that an increase in NI and minimum wage is to blame.

Perhaps paying staff literally the bare legal minimum whilst shareholders take in a wage is indicative of the type of issue which is causing these sort of businesses to become unappealing?
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I think going after Oakwood specifically in this regard would be unfair. Theme parks being reliant on lowly paid roles is industry-wide, and to be honest, I don’t think it’s only theme parks that do it; it’s the whole hospitality industry. Oakwood/Aspro were not exactly an outlier in this sense.

I don’t think anyone is saying that the NI and minimum wage increases are the sole cause of Oakwood’s demise, but I can certainly believe that they could have been the straw that broke the camel’s back after many years of stagnation. If you’re just about managing, as Oakwood had been for a number of years, any rise in expenses could be the difference between just about staying afloat and going under.
 
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