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Oakwood Discussion
- Thread starter Rob
- Start date
Mark-Cal
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambala
Oakwood is top of my "UK must do " list for 2014, but I have to say if it wasn't for Megaphobia I don't think I'd be making the journey across six time zones from the east midlands.
I'll be avoiding that evil looking clown coaster as well, just who thought that was a good idea ??!!
Credit or not, clowns are the spawn of Satan and to be avoided at all costs.
I'll be avoiding that evil looking clown coaster as well, just who thought that was a good idea ??!!
Credit or not, clowns are the spawn of Satan and to be avoided at all costs.
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Joseph said:I'm sorry what?
Errm if i'm not mistaken every country in the United Kingdom uses GMT. and it's really not that far away. 3 hours tops.Mark-Cal said:
Well it's 4 hours from where I live in Staffordshire, around £80 petrol return, and that's with no break... so it will be around 5 hours from the East Midlands!
Mark-Cal
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambala
Joseph said:I'm sorry what?
Errm if i'm not mistaken every country in the United Kingdom uses GMT. and it's really not that far away. 3 hours tops.
Thank you for pointing that out to me Joseph, it should cut quite a chunk off the journey time now I don't have to keep stopping and fiddling with my watch. :
According to the AA it's four and a half hours for me, I'm sure I can beat that.
James
TS Founding Member
It's only 1 hour and 40 minutes away from Cardiff! I've driven back and fourth to Tenby (20 minutes from Oakwood) in an afternoon and I live in Newport. Easy!
If you live in East Midlands though it would be a pain to go there for a day trip (and cost a lot in petrol). Unless you live in Wales Oakwood usually has to be a visit which results in you staying in a hotel nearby.
If you live in East Midlands though it would be a pain to go there for a day trip (and cost a lot in petrol). Unless you live in Wales Oakwood usually has to be a visit which results in you staying in a hotel nearby.
jon81uk
TS Member
TheMan said:
I know this is getting off topic from Oakwood, but a lot of people keep bashing Merlin for introducing the same brands into the 3/4 theme parks but Tussaud's began the process before Merlin took over. Also most of the brands that have come into the parks (Burger Kitchen, Pizza/Pasta etc) have replaced high street brands that Tussaud's introduced back in 1998. So the convergence of Chessington, Alton Towers and Thorpe I think has been happening for at least 15 years....
TheMan
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- NemiLerVion
jon81uk said:
Yes, you are right a bit off topic but just to reply - the eateries are worse for the change, and they still all had their own identity. There is nothing wrong with having a backdrop of a company so people know, the MAP does that perfectly adequately. However the parks are moving towards carbon copies of each other increasingly.
Yes there are unique attractions, but even Mandy managed to spot that Merlin is on absolutely everything everywhere. They are absolutely obsessed and it is most definitely to the greater degradation of the feeling of escapism as a whole.
Individual parks, like Oakwood, BPB, DMP etc need strong investments to ensure our industry does not become Merlengland imo.
Can anyone honestly say, that you thought of Alton Towers as a Tussauds park? Yes you knew, but it was always a feeling of Tussauds as custodians of Towers. (Far from perfect obviously, especially DIC time) - However Merlin give the impression that Alton Towers is just a small part of MERLIN. Not simply custodians of something far more historical than they ever will be.
I used to love Oakwood, living in Cardiff it was only an hour and half drive and it offered good value for money. I went last year and vowed never to return unless some serious money is pumped into the park.
Oakwood has the potential to be a fantastic little park it really does, but instead of new coasters, they need to be investing in the current infrastructure and updating it. For example, the restaurant and food outlets, poor quality, expensive. The toilet facilities, worse than your average public toilet on a busy high street.
The water slides are filthy, the dingy's they make you sit in are disgusting. Voodoo 3D is mostly broken, dull and sits in an area of the park hardly used anymore. Speed - no themeing whatsoever, the area around it still looks unfinished.
Mini golf is in a poor state of repair.
Then the other rides - Megafobia is excellent, but usually only running 1 train. Bounce is ok but is showing its age, when I was on it the thing kept doing an e-stop at the very top of the lift cycle, coming to an immediate stop with a jolt feeling very unsafe. Hydro only opens in the afternoon, runs 1 car and has endless queues in the summer. Vertigo is extra and costs about another £30 on top of entry. Toboggan run is ok but can have huge queues.
The new area is good, though I think they could have done more with the log flume area.
As for ride throughput, dont get me started on that. On a busy day in the summer, on more than one occasion, there has been 1 person running Speed - thats checking restraints, operating the ride, batching, there has been 1 person on tree tops coaster, 1 person on the water slides having to lift dingies on 3 different slides by themselves, 1 person on bounce, its run on a shoe string. On a quiet day its ok, but a busy day is a joke.
I've seen them so busy that on Speed a kid who was far too small to ride it was allowed on because the girl didnt have time to measure him. I told her afterwards and her response was "oh well, saves the parents having a go at me then". I actually wrote to Oakwood about that, never heard back though.
Before they go installing new rides, they seriously need to do more with what they have got, get that up to standard, then look at new rides.
Oakwood has the potential to be a fantastic little park it really does, but instead of new coasters, they need to be investing in the current infrastructure and updating it. For example, the restaurant and food outlets, poor quality, expensive. The toilet facilities, worse than your average public toilet on a busy high street.
The water slides are filthy, the dingy's they make you sit in are disgusting. Voodoo 3D is mostly broken, dull and sits in an area of the park hardly used anymore. Speed - no themeing whatsoever, the area around it still looks unfinished.
Mini golf is in a poor state of repair.
Then the other rides - Megafobia is excellent, but usually only running 1 train. Bounce is ok but is showing its age, when I was on it the thing kept doing an e-stop at the very top of the lift cycle, coming to an immediate stop with a jolt feeling very unsafe. Hydro only opens in the afternoon, runs 1 car and has endless queues in the summer. Vertigo is extra and costs about another £30 on top of entry. Toboggan run is ok but can have huge queues.
The new area is good, though I think they could have done more with the log flume area.
As for ride throughput, dont get me started on that. On a busy day in the summer, on more than one occasion, there has been 1 person running Speed - thats checking restraints, operating the ride, batching, there has been 1 person on tree tops coaster, 1 person on the water slides having to lift dingies on 3 different slides by themselves, 1 person on bounce, its run on a shoe string. On a quiet day its ok, but a busy day is a joke.
I've seen them so busy that on Speed a kid who was far too small to ride it was allowed on because the girl didnt have time to measure him. I told her afterwards and her response was "oh well, saves the parents having a go at me then". I actually wrote to Oakwood about that, never heard back though.
Before they go installing new rides, they seriously need to do more with what they have got, get that up to standard, then look at new rides.
DiogoJ42
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Metropolitan Line
At the risk of furthering the off topic tangent, the reason Tussauds brought in high street food outlets was because the in house catering was dire. There were constant complaints from customers, along the lines of "we would rather have a McDonald's"... so they got a Maccys (then Burger King) franchise to keep people happy.
Fast forward to today, and even though everyone knows Maccys is utter crap, it's still better than the own brand stuff that replaced it.
And in an attempt to get back on topic, Oakwood has by far the worst food of any park I have ever visited. It makes Lightwater look good. The only place on park I found that offered remotely appealing food was the canteen near Hydro. (In fact, the curry I had was better than the slop served in the canteen at work!) However, Not everyone wants a sit down meal at a park. I usually prefer to grab a hot dog and keep moving, but after one look at the state of the hot dog and burger stall (and the huge queue), I decided against it!
Fast forward to today, and even though everyone knows Maccys is utter crap, it's still better than the own brand stuff that replaced it.
And in an attempt to get back on topic, Oakwood has by far the worst food of any park I have ever visited. It makes Lightwater look good. The only place on park I found that offered remotely appealing food was the canteen near Hydro. (In fact, the curry I had was better than the slop served in the canteen at work!) However, Not everyone wants a sit down meal at a park. I usually prefer to grab a hot dog and keep moving, but after one look at the state of the hot dog and burger stall (and the huge queue), I decided against it!
A
Anonymous
DiogoJ42 said:
Honestly? I think Drayton Manor is worse *Well, that and a few of the small regional parks in Germany that I've done).
Drayton's food is extremely bad! Granted, I've not visited since 2011, but then it was not even worthy of my money. I actually left the park to get a McDonalds before returning afterwards.