Oakwood Discussion

[owenstreet7]

Or similar to Emerald/Tayto Park, a dragon themed log flume would have been perfect.

That is true too I was thinking something similar to Hydro but yeah, a more traditional flume or super flume would've been more ideal

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I think that Hydro was installed at a time when Oakwood were trying to be different. They had success with Megafobia as the UK’s only modern woodie, and their following installations were pretty much all UK firsts. We had the only Huss tower, Plane Crazy, the UK’s first Eurofighter, and Hydro.

Their approach seemed to be that, due to their location, they figured Oakwood could best attract people by installing something that couldn’t be found elsewhere in the UK. That’s what I assume was the strategy anyway. Hydro was the wrong decision though, and a bit too unique.

I don’t think they should have built Hydro, but I do see the logic of why they (probably) did.

 

[jon81uk]

Their approach seemed to be that, due to their location, they figured Oakwood could best attract people by installing something that couldn’t be found elsewhere in the UK. That’s what I assume was the strategy anyway. Hydro was the wrong decision though, and a bit too unique.

I don’t think they should have built Hydro, but I do see the logic of why they (probably) did.

Tidal Wave at Thorpe opened two years before Hydro though. So wasn't that unique really (I know technically different manufacturers but it is visually the exact same ride).
I get what you mean though and yes Speed being the first Eurofighter should have been a big deal but Oblivion did the vertical drop thing better and the ride never looked "finished" even Rage at Southend seemed better presented!

 

[Enter Valhalla]

Tidal Wave at Thorpe opened two years before Hydro though. So wasn't that unique really (I know technically different manufacturers but it is visually the exact same ride).
I get what you mean though and yes Speed being the first Eurofighter should have been a big deal but Oblivion did the vertical drop thing better and the ride never looked "finished" even Rage at Southend seemed better presented!

If you look at Hydro, it does actually look pretty different to Tidal Wave. It had a very steep, intimating looking drop, setting it aside from any other UK water rides. This will be what Paddy was going for, and why he didn’t purchase an Intamin Spillwater, even though in reality this would have been a better option.

I rode Hydro/ Drenched many times and can honestly say that the vertical drop didn’t add anything to the ride at all. Tidal Wave is actually a more fun drop because it’s not over in seconds.

 

[owenstreet7]

I think that Hydro was installed at a time when Oakwood were trying to be different. They had success with Megafobia as the UK’s only modern woodie, and their following installations were pretty much all UK firsts. We had the only Huss tower, Plane Crazy, the UK’s first Eurofighter, and Hydro.

Their approach seemed to be that, due to their location, they figured Oakwood could best attract people by installing something that couldn’t be found elsewhere in the UK. That’s what I assume was the strategy anyway. Hydro was the wrong decision though, and a bit too unique.

I don’t think they should have built Hydro, but I do see the logic of why they (probably) did.

I would say it's much like what Drayton Manor did before Thomas Land in a way

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I would say it's much like what Drayton Manor did before Thomas Land in a way

Yep, so that sort of backs up what I was saying. In the 90s and early 00s, the trend was far more in favour of theme parks installing thrill rides. This changed around the mid-00s, especially since park operators saw the success of Thomas Land and Peppa Pig World. I also think now that the height and speed records can’t really be broken that easily, the public are less wowed by thrill rides than they used to be.

 

[DistortAMG]

If you look at Hydro, it does actually look pretty different to Tidal Wave. It had a very steep, intimating looking drop, setting it aside from any other UK water rides. This will be what Paddy was going for, and why he didn’t purchase an Intamin Spillwater, even though in reality this would have been a better option.

I rode Hydro/ Drenched many times and can honestly say that the vertical drop didn’t add anything to the ride at all. Tidal Wave is actually a more fun drop because it’s not over in seconds.

Hydro opened at the back end of the water ride crazy in the UK. Parks were going after the wettest water ride title, so in that aspect it was not unique in the slightest.

We had Storm Force 10 in 1999, Tidal Wave and Valhalla in 2000 and then finally Hydro in 2002. All going after the title of the wettest water ride in the UK. Given that, I would argue that it was not unique in the sense it was chasing a title 3 other parks had all very recently gone after.

It could be argued that in persue of that title, we ended up with the least exciting and blandest water ride in the UK. Sure, it was the tallest, but had zero theming or storyline, something the other three leaned into quite heavily.

 

[DiogoJ42]

Fun fact: Hydro's water supply was fed from a local fresh spring. The same source as the park's drinking water. (Though I would assume there was some kind of filtration & recirculation system like any other pool?)

 

[DistortAMG]

Fun fact: Hydro's water supply was fed from a local fresh spring. The same source as the park's drinking water. (Though I would assume there was some kind of filtration & recirculation system like any other pool?)

I would have thought so yeah. I think legislation changed after 1999 mandating rides needed to have clean water if guests were getting soaked by it, in order to combat getting sick from waterbourne diseases.

Drayton got in there just before with Storm Force 10, thus were and are allowed to operate their rides with water that has a colour of military grade dark green and brown.

 

[Funcone]

Hydro opened at the back end of the water ride crazy in the UK. Parks were going after the wettest water ride title, so in that aspect it was not unique in the slightest.

We had Storm Force 10 in 1999, Tidal Wave and Valhalla in 2000 and then finally Hydro in 2002. All going after the title of the wettest water ride in the UK. Given that, I would argue that it was not unique in the sense it was chasing a title 3 other parks had all very recently gone after.

It could be argued that in persue of that title, we ended up with the least exciting and blandest water ride in the UK. Sure, it was the tallest, but had zero theming or storyline, something the other three leaned into quite heavily.

You could add The Lost River in 2004.

 

[John]

I really don't see Speed as a blunder. It was added when the park was in a period of expansion, broadened their appeal by adding something new yet relatively accessible due to the height restriction. At the same time it would have been far better value than most other major coasters they could have chosen.

Hydro/Drenched on the other hand was always a questionable decision - the park already had the water slides so didn't urgently need another wet attraction. A ride that didn't really suit the demographics whilst only being an appealing concept for a few weeks each year (at best) was always a strange choice

 

[East Coast Mariner]

I always wonder what percentage of visitors rode Speed compared to what percentage rode Megafobia. My gut feeling was always that the park was too remote to have true extreme rides like Speed (and Hydro didn't appeal to me either). It's true they needed a big ride other than Megafobia, but I always thought another huge family or family-thrill coaster would have been better. I remember there was a sort of "campaign" (perhaps that's too strong a word) for them to get a 2nd woodie. It could have been the UK's Knoebels.

 

[Hid]

Oakwood should have built up slowly another problem Oakwood had was the fact it had little competition so had little reason to improve itself. A lot of our UK parks so spread out they don't compete