It’s been a funny old year here at Back to the Movies with the introduction of more theme park coverage on the site.
Much research has gone into discovering lesser-known parks and attractions from around the country and Oakwood popped up on my radar as a must-visit.
Based in Pembrokeshire, Wales and built in the 1980s this little gem has some real stand-out attractions.
The UK’s no.1 wooden rollercoaster Megaphobia, An insane water ride by the name of Drenched and finally a Gerstlauer Eurofighter by the name of Speed: No Limits which is in the top 10 tallest coasters in the country at a peak height of 115ft.
Right without further ado let’s take a look at my Oakwood Theme Park review:
Online Reviews
When you scroll through various reviews online they’re a very mixed bag indeed.
Reports of the harness’s not being checked, food quality, rude staff members and more.
We were a little hesitant to even book when reading the most recent reviews.
The second we left the park though however we had no idea what a large majority of people were complaining about but it wasn’t all plain sailing.
First Impressions
The park is visually stunning, there’s a nice bit of room to stretch out without anything feeling cramped.
We went during the children’s summer holidays so naturally, it was busier than usual.
Many reviews stating that there were queues on top of queues and that does ring true.
We got to the park, waited an hour to ride a toboggan ride and decided enough was enough.
We went and purchased a fast pass for £30 each and never had to queue again all day.
Naturally, not everyone can afford an extra £30 (for unlimited rides) on top of the £30.50 entry price to get front of line access so for those reviewers we sympathise.
If you come on a busy day and can afford the Fastpass it’s a worthy investment, we never had to queue longer than a minute for any given ride.
We went on a ride, walked back around and straight on it again. Superb!
Staff / Food
Other reviews as stated mentioned rude staff. During our day we only encountered two rude members of staff.
One gentleman literally grunted at me when I asked him where the fast pass queue was and another lady on Megaphobia was a little rude with us when we asked about a front seat POV to record to promote the park.
No one sat down in the front, so we jumped in and she moved us without explanation then clocked off.
Thankfully, we got off went back around and a lovely chap let us in the front to record some footage instead.
The reviews that mention food quality are absolutely correct. I had a burger that was inedible and for £8 it was a waste of money.
Thankfully we dropped into a lovely pub local to the park and had a proper meal a few hours after.
Oakwood Theme Park Review: The Rides
Without further ado let’s take a look at some of the main rides that Oakwood has to offer.
Speed: No Limits
Built-in 2006, this Eurofighter coaster consists of yet another famous vertical lift like Saw: the Ride and The Smiler.
But this vertical lift is the tallest Eurofighter in the country, a slow climb sends you into a beyond vertical drop and over some intense airtime hills.
A loop, a roll and a helix later you’re back at the station.
It’s an intense ride. We managed to ride it from and back and it doesn’t whip you around as much as enthusiasts claim.
I thought it was smoother than Saw: the Ride and it’s an older coaster!
Once again another staff member saw I had a camera and let us on the front row to record the above footage. The queue all day for Speed: No Limits was very small thou. The park was mainly full of children so the big boy ride of the park was walk-on all day!
Megaphobia
Built-in 1996 Megaphobia is promoted as the UK’s no.1 wooden coaster. My feelings on this 85ft woodie (hehe) are mixed.
The first ‘holy shit’ drop is absolutely incredible. You are literally standing up in your seat as you fly down but the rest of the ride (no matter how long) is tame in comparison.
The intensity of the ride is in the first drop and the first drop alone. The Wicker Man, however, is intense all the way through making it my favourite wooden rollercoaster in the UK by far.
Drenched
Originally called Hydro, this Intamin ride stands at 121ft tall and catapults you into a tidal wave of insane proportions.
We were advised to get a poncho and left this ride until the end of the day. It was a true test of seeing whether or not this camera was waterproof and thankfully it stayed alive!
Compared to Valhalla at Blackpool Pleasure Beach which was the wettest UK ride I’ve been on this one was on another level entirely.
The almost vertical drop down into the river was sheer insanity.
The ride attendant spotted I had a camera and saved us front row seats to record the above footage. That was above and beyond, exceptional customer service.
Creepy Crawler
A rough and rusty ride, Creepy Crawler is a steel ride that was initially located at M&D’s Scotland theme park before being moved to Oakwood.
It has been around since 1999 and it certainly feels like it. Bumpy, rough and a nice little neck jerker!
Toboggan Ride
The Toboggan ride was a slow wait. 60 minutes of standing around due to the limited number of people allowed on the track.
As for the ride experience, well, you’ll see what happens.
Always make sure you pay attention to the safety notices which I didn’t… whoops.
Not worth the wait for most people but for me getting this hilarious footage, it was worth every second.
A staff member came to check up on me when I reached the end which was a nice touch. Wonderful customer service but I absolutely loved it, even after my ‘wobble’.
Treetops
A children’s coaster that had a rollback when we arrived got parents a little worried.
The ride was evacuated we jumped on the front row and then our lap bar started playing up on the ride.
We held it down and we were big enough to stay in the cart but for anyone smaller, this may have been an uneasy ride.
Log Flume
The tamest ride we had all day was the log flume. Not a scratch on Drenched but a cool little water ride for little ones.
The ride is short and sweet and the drop and splash are rather impressive. Can’t complain.
This ride brought out the inner child in me, but for anyone who knows me, that doesn’t take much.
Overall
I hope you guys enjoyed my Oakwood Theme Park review.
The park is a lovely little Welsh gem. With three top quality coasters, fun for all the family and not to mention the Halloween scare-mazes we haven’t even covered in this review there’s so much to see and do.
Oakwood is one hell of a park and we left smiling from ear to ear.
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