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Oakwood Discussion
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Plastic Person
TS Member
I didn't realise this myself until just this week, but Bluestone is still owned by the family that founded Oakwood. During the 90s and early 00s, the holiday village, waterpark and spa was mooted as the next logical development for the park, transforming it into a fully fledged resort.
The plans were already in motion when the death on Hydro occurred, and Bluestone ultimately opened in 2008, just as the park was sold to Aspro. I suppose the aftermath of the accident forced their hand, and the two were no longer symbiotic, whereas the original and logical plan was for each to compliment the other. Unfortunately, under new ownership, the park has languished while the resort is thriving.
flyingguitar
TS Member
I don't really buy the location problems,
You have a popular activity camp next door, with families comming to enjoy outdoors and do activities such as rock climbing, a theme park so close is a very good market.
But also you have Cardiff, Bristol and New Port close, it may currently take a simar time to travel to them as thorpe and chessington (due to speed limit changes) but they should be able to compete with thorpe and chessington for that market.
The problem is they let it get run down, and stopped investment, when I was a Bristol I saw adverts for Paulton, thorpe and chessington but didn't see anything for Oakwood despite it being closer, and less time to drive (at the time)
You have a popular activity camp next door, with families comming to enjoy outdoors and do activities such as rock climbing, a theme park so close is a very good market.
But also you have Cardiff, Bristol and New Port close, it may currently take a simar time to travel to them as thorpe and chessington (due to speed limit changes) but they should be able to compete with thorpe and chessington for that market.
The problem is they let it get run down, and stopped investment, when I was a Bristol I saw adverts for Paulton, thorpe and chessington but didn't see anything for Oakwood despite it being closer, and less time to drive (at the time)
QTXAdsy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
I believe that TPWW make a suggestion that depending how much Aspro strip out that the family in question could be interested in taking back Oakwood as part as merging it fully into Bluestone fully as what might have been the case as given the family would have gotten major connection to Megafobia as they would likely not want to see it ripped down. Honestly this might not be a bad thing as given if nearly the entire park is gutted with only say the larger attractions standing like Megafobia and Speed then they would easily be part of that resort which while not perfect would be the best chance for some of those attractions to remain working, mainly the woodie as given how it is literally spitting distance from that resort then it could easily become part of Bluestone without fuss.
owenstreet7
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
I believe the thing is, I'm almost certain Speed will be asset stripped and sent to one of the two Walygator parks.
Almost everything seems to be salvageable with the possible exception of Megafobia.
It wouldn't surprise me if they'll try to send Megafobia to a Walygator as well but that might be one of the only things left from the original Oakwood.
It does mean that if Bluestone buys Oakwood out, they could start from fresh.
If they have to start from scratch I don't see the park remaining in any capacity. At least if the majority of rides remain it wouldn't need too much of an investment to reopen, but if it's completely asset stripped it's just a piece of land in the middle of south Wales.
If bluestone does buy the land and the rides are gone I feel it will just be used as an expansion area for accommodation and nothing more. If the rides remain there would be more of an incentive to keep it as a theme park.
AT86
TS Member
Looking at google maps it seems Megaphobia literally backs on to the Bluestone site.
Am I right in thinking the owners of Bluestone are the folks that were in charge when Megaphobia opened?
If they do buy back all/some of the land it doesn’t seem out of the realms of possibility they might want to keep it going with access via their existing attraction.
Am I right in thinking the owners of Bluestone are the folks that were in charge when Megaphobia opened?
If they do buy back all/some of the land it doesn’t seem out of the realms of possibility they might want to keep it going with access via their existing attraction.
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QTXAdsy
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Black Hole
I do think that is the case...given how much that ride means to the family, no way would they want to let that ride get torn down and yes, it can be easy to have it part of the Bluewater site as an attraction in its own right so while Oakwood as a theme park going forward might be unlikely, a surviving Megafobia and maybe one or two other attractions working as part of an existing and, let's be honest, more successful resort complex is a possibility and honestly given how much custom Bluewater gets, having that ride added to that area would mean larger attendance for that ride likely not seen since Oakwood's better years.
Plastic Person
TS Member
I think it's possible, but like any wooden coaster, Megaphobia is extremely maintenance-intensive and would represent a significant investment in itself. Personal attachments aside, would it be worth it? I haven't been to Bluestone, although it looks lovely. I'm not sure a coaster experience is top of their priorities for expansion.
owenstreet7
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
It could work possibly on a smaller scale where Megafobia is the main ride but the supporting rides are a package from Zamperla or SBF. If additional rides remain like Speed, that would be better.
In a similar way to the Butlins fairs which it's free for resort guests and an upgrade for day guests.
The lake could be used for Lakeside activities such as Kayaking etc. Even the Bobsleigh could be an activity as well.
I don't think it needs to be as big as Oakwood was but it could easily work with Megafobia, a junior coaster, a flume and a few flats.
It might be a starting point for them to expand again in the future sustainably.
MaxPower
TS Member
I think regardless of what happens to the park itself, the land will be purchased by Bluestone for future expansion of the resort.
I'm hopeful of the chances the park might still exist in some capacity.
It's one half of the family, William McNamara.
He sold his share of Oakwood in the early 00's to fund Bluestone and his brother Paddy continued to run the park until '08 when they sold up to Aspro.
I'm hopeful of the chances the park might still exist in some capacity.
It's one half of the family, William McNamara.
He sold his share of Oakwood in the early 00's to fund Bluestone and his brother Paddy continued to run the park until '08 when they sold up to Aspro.
I agree with this completely. If most of the assets have gone, it won’t be viable to bring it back as a theme park. I hope there is enough political will and pressure, with the jobs involved and the tourist benefit to the economy, to try and get Aspro to pause asset stripping so initial enquiries can be made to see if anyone will take it on.
Skyscraper
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
From the BBC article:
flyingguitar
TS Member
Whilst it may not be top priorities, I would say looking at their website it would definitely fit is, it looks very much like center parcs with biking, rock wall climbing, and more activities. For a place like that a coaster could thrive.
I don't think they would send megaphobia, it is from my understanding not easy to move a wooden coaster and not very cost effective, I think it could be possible useful parts they could use on other coasters (trains, controllers, etc)
Plastic Person
TS Member
I'm going to have to disagree here. Those activities listed are all health-conscious physical pursuits, which are soaring in popularity with families and young people, whereas Megaphobia is a rickety old wooden coaster, albeit a good one. Looking at the number of lodges and other accommodations available at Bluestone, there are probably around a maximum of 2000 people on-site at peak times throughout the season. It's a broader range of clientele than a theme park, so let's estimate around 500 of those would want to ride a thrill coaster. That's just twenty trains' worth of guests across a week.
I would honestly love to be wrong in this case, and would personally book a stay at Bluestone in order to ride Megaphobia again. Although according to policy, I still wouldn't be able to take my dog.
If location was an issue then Alton towers would have closed down a long time ago. But…. For Oakwood it may have been a factor. Anyone who travels over the Severn bridge towards Cardiff knows all too well what a car park the M4 has become there. Coupled with the Welsh Gov lack of investment in the roads and the slow, frustrating travelling times to get anywhere, it may have been a contributory factor.
I know with a recent survey of why tourism is down in wales, travel times was a reason, all be it lower down the list
The biggest reason though I think is that the park was unable to pass on the increased costs to its customers as customers had started to abandon the park, and I fear the same may happen to Merlin parks unless they pull their socks up.
Read through the reviews of Oakwood over the past say three years and it’s not pleasant reading. Common themes are lack of rides being open, breakdowns, dirty and run down buildings along with poor expensive food and drink - sound familiar?
I think the park had hoped the pull of megafobia and speed would keep bringing repeat guests back, but with the cost of living the way it is, people are not happy to shell out a substantial amount of money for a substandard offering anymore. Once that decline sets in it’s get hard to get people back.
Perhaps a huge new unique coaster or ride might have bright people back, but they didn’t have the money and by then it was too late anyway.
I do feel for theme parks and other businesses at the moment, it’s very tough out there financially and only set to get worse. Keeping your customers onside is vital.
I wonder out of interest how many consumers who visit Alton each year are repeat customers, ie visited last year and how that percentage has gone up or down over the years.
I know with a recent survey of why tourism is down in wales, travel times was a reason, all be it lower down the list
The biggest reason though I think is that the park was unable to pass on the increased costs to its customers as customers had started to abandon the park, and I fear the same may happen to Merlin parks unless they pull their socks up.
Read through the reviews of Oakwood over the past say three years and it’s not pleasant reading. Common themes are lack of rides being open, breakdowns, dirty and run down buildings along with poor expensive food and drink - sound familiar?
I think the park had hoped the pull of megafobia and speed would keep bringing repeat guests back, but with the cost of living the way it is, people are not happy to shell out a substantial amount of money for a substandard offering anymore. Once that decline sets in it’s get hard to get people back.
Perhaps a huge new unique coaster or ride might have bright people back, but they didn’t have the money and by then it was too late anyway.
I do feel for theme parks and other businesses at the moment, it’s very tough out there financially and only set to get worse. Keeping your customers onside is vital.
I wonder out of interest how many consumers who visit Alton each year are repeat customers, ie visited last year and how that percentage has gone up or down over the years.
I don't think you can compare Alton and Oakwoods locations. Whilst Alton is rural and needs to try and bit harder to pull in the visitors than a park directly next to a motorway, it is located just over an hour away from England's second and third biggest cities (Birmingham and Manchester)
I hadn't considered the Ireland visitors to Oakwood but it sounds like that might have been quite lucrative back in the day until Emerald park upped it's game.
I think Oakwood is the victim of the sorry state of UK theme parks that had their day back in the 90s and 2000s. Poor investments and a major player having almost a monopoly over the whole industry. I do wonder what places like Alton would look like now if the market wasn't so heavily dominated by merlin and theme parks needed to compete with each other.
Anyway, I don't think a theme park would suit bluestone in it's current state as just being part of the resort. That doesn't mean it couldn't be ran separately by bluestone with offers such as promoting bluestone as accommodation for oakwood or discounted tickets if you stay at bluestone being a possibility.
More than likely they will buy the land as it will have been asset stripped and then used to expand bluestone. However good megaphobia is, it's just not worth the financial implications of maintaining a ride for guests of bluestone to enjoy on the odd occasion.
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Alton Towers is in the middle of nowhere but pretty straightforward to get to . It's within a 2 hour drive of...
Derby
Stoke
Nottingham
Sheffield
Manchester
Liverpool
Birmingham
Leicester
Coventry
Milton Keynes
With Oakwood, only Swansea and Cardiff are within 2 hours drive and for 95% of the population you're looking at 4 hours+. Oakwood have always been up against it with attracting day visitors and have relied on families holidaying nearby. Lack of investment has put those families off returning every year and here we are.
Hope I'm wrong but I think it's beyond saving now as it would need significant investment to make the park look presentable, and given the above factors it's probably too big a risk to take on.
Derby
Stoke
Nottingham
Sheffield
Manchester
Liverpool
Birmingham
Leicester
Coventry
Milton Keynes
With Oakwood, only Swansea and Cardiff are within 2 hours drive and for 95% of the population you're looking at 4 hours+. Oakwood have always been up against it with attracting day visitors and have relied on families holidaying nearby. Lack of investment has put those families off returning every year and here we are.
Hope I'm wrong but I think it's beyond saving now as it would need significant investment to make the park look presentable, and given the above factors it's probably too big a risk to take on.
Steve Minor
TS Member
Aspro dud say they have explored sll possibilities in order to sage the park from closure, therefore it seems plausible that they have already trued to sell it as a going concern & failed