Coaster
TS Member
PARK OPEN: 10am - 5pm
RIDES CLOSED: None!
BREAKDOWNS: Megafobia opened at 11am as it was having a few issues in the morning, but apart from that I don't think there were any.
After the poor days we had at Oakwood last year we vowed never to return, however it was decided that we were going to give them one last chance - after all, it was one of my first ever theme parks and it houses Megafobia!
We had a fantastic day at Oakwood, everything was open and the park was quiet meaning that queues were minimal and the ride count was great!
It is clear that money has been spent on some areas of the park as some areas are looking much better than they did last year, and there was very little downtime on the rides so they have clearly upped their game since last year with regards to getting rides open.
Bounce for example has had both compressors replaced meaning that it can run both cycles again, and it didn't break down once today, so money has clearly been spent on this. Some areas of the park (such as the burger bar, mini golf and gold panning) have seen some paint and are looking really good, however other areas are still in dire need of attention (such as the area around Spooky 3D and Speed).
Operations were pretty much the usual for Oakwood, only one train on Megafobia and one car on Speed but thankfully it was a quiet day so this was acceptable most of the time. However, there are staffing issues as most rides were being operated with only one member of staff, which on Megafobia is a bit unfair as they have to operate the ride, check all the restraints and lock off the exit gate meaning that dispatch times aren't great. Speed with one ride op is okay but Megafobia definitely needs at least two so that they can efficiently run the ride.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow still remains a legend, as despite being told last year that it would be ready by the start of this season, they haven't even started demolishing the old Wild West/Brer Rabbit area yet so I'm not sure what is going on with this, bearing in mind that the project has already been delayed twice this is poor.
For those who haven't been to Oakwood, here is a review of some of the rides;
Megafobia is still as brilliant as ever, it was running amazingly throughout the day and offering insane airtime, I'm sure we spent more time out of the seat than on it! It is still riding as well as ever, and the fact that it was walk-on pretty much all afternoon meant that we could just stay in the seats without walking round, or go to another row if there was someone behind our airgates. I must credit Oakwood for this, they are very good with allowing re-rides in a fair and efficient manner.
Speed was still good, however the ride is in absolutely appalling condition. The track is peeling off, and the car was making some very concerning noises as it went round the track that it never used to make. The track is rusty in places and the flaking track (not just the paintwork, the actual lining of the track) meant that it didn't ride as well as it used to, even since last year it has seriously deteriorated and the car "grinds" it's way around the track now rather than flowing the way it used to. A real shame, this used to be one of my top coasters but it seems as if very little maintenance has taken place on it recently, and it shows!
It was great to get back on Drenched after it being closed last year due to the cable snap, the drop is very forceful in the back row and it is a much better ride than Tidal Wave at Thorpe IMO.
Bounce was back on form and the launch was quite forceful, whilst it's not hugely thrilling I do enjoy it.
Bobsleigh is a brilliant ride, I really enjoy rides where the rider is in control and in my opinion every park should have one of these, it's brilliant fun and was great to get on it with a short queue.
Spooky 3D is also in very poor condition, lots of effects were broken and it just generally looks like it needs a lot of TLC, also the ride op forgot to gave us glasses the first time!
RIDECOUNT:
Megafobia x14
Speed x6
Bounce x3
Treetops x3
Bobsleigh x3
Drenched x2
Snake River Falls x2 (Running much better than last year, actually got airtime at one point in the tunnel slide!)
Spooky 3D x2
Waterfall x1
Skull Rock x1
Tinkerbell's Flying School x1
Neverland Walkthrough x1
Crocodile Coaster x1
TOTAL: 40
Photos!
Megafobia, without question one of the UK's top coasters;
Speed, still a good coaster and probably my favourite Gerstlauer;
Drenched;
(These photos were taken after the park closed and the water had been switched off)
Finally, a view across Vertigo and the Bobsleigh;
Thanks for reading.
RIDES CLOSED: None!
BREAKDOWNS: Megafobia opened at 11am as it was having a few issues in the morning, but apart from that I don't think there were any.
After the poor days we had at Oakwood last year we vowed never to return, however it was decided that we were going to give them one last chance - after all, it was one of my first ever theme parks and it houses Megafobia!
We had a fantastic day at Oakwood, everything was open and the park was quiet meaning that queues were minimal and the ride count was great!
It is clear that money has been spent on some areas of the park as some areas are looking much better than they did last year, and there was very little downtime on the rides so they have clearly upped their game since last year with regards to getting rides open.
Bounce for example has had both compressors replaced meaning that it can run both cycles again, and it didn't break down once today, so money has clearly been spent on this. Some areas of the park (such as the burger bar, mini golf and gold panning) have seen some paint and are looking really good, however other areas are still in dire need of attention (such as the area around Spooky 3D and Speed).
Operations were pretty much the usual for Oakwood, only one train on Megafobia and one car on Speed but thankfully it was a quiet day so this was acceptable most of the time. However, there are staffing issues as most rides were being operated with only one member of staff, which on Megafobia is a bit unfair as they have to operate the ride, check all the restraints and lock off the exit gate meaning that dispatch times aren't great. Speed with one ride op is okay but Megafobia definitely needs at least two so that they can efficiently run the ride.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow still remains a legend, as despite being told last year that it would be ready by the start of this season, they haven't even started demolishing the old Wild West/Brer Rabbit area yet so I'm not sure what is going on with this, bearing in mind that the project has already been delayed twice this is poor.
For those who haven't been to Oakwood, here is a review of some of the rides;
Megafobia is still as brilliant as ever, it was running amazingly throughout the day and offering insane airtime, I'm sure we spent more time out of the seat than on it! It is still riding as well as ever, and the fact that it was walk-on pretty much all afternoon meant that we could just stay in the seats without walking round, or go to another row if there was someone behind our airgates. I must credit Oakwood for this, they are very good with allowing re-rides in a fair and efficient manner.
Speed was still good, however the ride is in absolutely appalling condition. The track is peeling off, and the car was making some very concerning noises as it went round the track that it never used to make. The track is rusty in places and the flaking track (not just the paintwork, the actual lining of the track) meant that it didn't ride as well as it used to, even since last year it has seriously deteriorated and the car "grinds" it's way around the track now rather than flowing the way it used to. A real shame, this used to be one of my top coasters but it seems as if very little maintenance has taken place on it recently, and it shows!
It was great to get back on Drenched after it being closed last year due to the cable snap, the drop is very forceful in the back row and it is a much better ride than Tidal Wave at Thorpe IMO.
Bounce was back on form and the launch was quite forceful, whilst it's not hugely thrilling I do enjoy it.
Bobsleigh is a brilliant ride, I really enjoy rides where the rider is in control and in my opinion every park should have one of these, it's brilliant fun and was great to get on it with a short queue.
Spooky 3D is also in very poor condition, lots of effects were broken and it just generally looks like it needs a lot of TLC, also the ride op forgot to gave us glasses the first time!
RIDECOUNT:
Megafobia x14
Speed x6
Bounce x3
Treetops x3
Bobsleigh x3
Drenched x2
Snake River Falls x2 (Running much better than last year, actually got airtime at one point in the tunnel slide!)
Spooky 3D x2
Waterfall x1
Skull Rock x1
Tinkerbell's Flying School x1
Neverland Walkthrough x1
Crocodile Coaster x1
TOTAL: 40
Photos!
Megafobia, without question one of the UK's top coasters;
Speed, still a good coaster and probably my favourite Gerstlauer;
Drenched;
(These photos were taken after the park closed and the water had been switched off)
Finally, a view across Vertigo and the Bobsleigh;
Thanks for reading.