Dare you stand on the bridge running over the track when the ride train, they don’t call it a soak zone for nothing. Hydro gets you that wet Oakwood even went to the length of building a changing room just for Hydro customers to get dried out and a change of clothes.

Ive not been fortunate enough to ride Hydro as the day we visited was one of the wettest days I have ever had at a theme park and I certainly wasn’t going to queue up to get even wetter, even my daughter a 12yr old thrill seeker didn’t want to ride.

I have included these photographs as Oakwood is one of the most un photographed parks in the country, I’m not doing any PR for them just basically showing readers that haven’t been to Oakwood what they are missing out on. I have previously wrote a trip report on Oakwood if anyone wants to read it. Oakwood Trip Report.

Hydro Photographs.

Splash down.

The Soak Zone

Ride station and queue area.

Changing Rooms

In this shot you can see the amount of water that get in these boats, look at it pouring out from the rear.

Crazy drop.

Hugely powerful water pumps.

This shot was taken from the soak zone, looking at the drop.

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Having heard nothing but good things about Oakwood we decided to take the 5 hour journey to south wales in the summer of 2006. We visited for the weekend leaving on Friday afternoon with the intention of visiting Oakwood on the Satrurday and Folly Farm on the Sunday. We stayed just outside Tenby in a Travel Lodge which was central to both attractions and cheap.

Unfortunately for us and other visitors to Oakwood this was the wettest day of the year by far and we ended up completely soaked through to the skin within about 1 hour of arriving at the park and we still had another 9 hours until the park was closed.

Location
The park is located a few miles from Tenby just of the a40, its well signposted from Tenby and the M4. its probably no more than 25 minutes from Tenby.

Admission Prices
On the day we visited in the height of summer 2006 standard entry price for over 10′s was £14.75, Junior £13.50 and then various reductions for disabled and family tickets with an after dark (entry after 5:30pm) ticket at £10. The only additional charges in the park are for Vertigo the skycoaster which was about £30 for a single rider. Once you get your tickets you jump on the park train and take this into the park, the train takes about 5 minutes and doesnt really give you a view of anything as most of oakwood is in a valley.

Megafobia
The main reason for my trip to Oakwood was to ride the wooden coaster Megafobia, built by CCI coasters international in 1996 its considered to be the best coaster in the country and always comes out high on the favoured coaster list of many coaster enthusiasts.

From the photo above the lift hill on the right and first drop on the left hand side under the trees. The ride boasts an impressive 2956ft of track with a maximum speed of 48mph and a height of 85ft. This is one of those rides you really have to ride to believe, it is absolutely stunning and a credit to the park. On the day we visited we got to ride it 8 times and its just kept getting better. They also have one of the most entertaining ride ops I have ever met, i didnt catch his name but the guy is nuts.

Speed(new for 2006)
Speed built my Gerstlauer in 2006 is the first ride in the uk to feature a 90 degree lift hill and a 97 degree first drop.

As you can see from the picture above the lift hill is 90 degress and you get the impression you are going to roll back out of your seat as you climb it, in a way you feel like an astronaut in a space shuttle, once at the top of the 115ft tower the car just rolls over the top and you drop. One thing about a coaster with a vertical lift and an over 90 drop is you dont see the track until the last minute, then of course its too late.

This is looking up from the bottom of the first drop. I enjoyed speed this was the first ride on a coaster like this for me and i hope it wont be the last, unfortunately the photographs dont do it justice, the weather was that bad on the day only a couple of speed photographs turned out how I wanted for a more detailed look at speed have a look the 97 degree website

Hydro

Built by Intamin Hydro opened in 2002, its a 121ft plunge ride down a 87 degree drop. According to the offical oakwood website it took 3 weeks to fill the 1 million gallon pool of water at the bottom. Hydro opens at 12:30pm and its the only ride i know which has a changing room you get that wet. I had no intention of riding this but people i know that have ridden it say its some experience, perhaps next year if the weather is a bit better.

Tree Tops Coaster

A family coaster that everyone can enjoy, it doesnt go high and the trip is through a forest.

Spooky 3D

Spooky 3D is a Ghost train type of ride that uses 3D models to enhance the experience, for me this didnt work as you are made to hold the 3d glass up to your eyes for the trip, it would have been allot better if you had goggles like every other 3d ride, but the kids enjoyed it.

The Bounce

The ride starts by shooting you up 160ft, then it bounces about a bit and you drop to the ground, just as you think the ride has stopped you are hoisted up again slowly this time and the ride eventually drops you after a few second wait, I enjoyed this and im normally not a fan.

Vertigo

Vertigo is a sky coaster, you strap yourself into what looks like a sleeping bag, get hoisted backwards and then dropped on cables, it looks great but theres no chance i would do it. Apologies for the picture quality.

Bobsleigh

This was a very enjoyable ride, you sit in a bob that hoisted to the top of a hill on cable and then its freefall down the channelled track until you get back to the ride station, on the day we visited the ride ops were encouraging everyone to use the brakes due to the track been wet as it does pick up speed quickly.

The final straight back into the ride station.

Snake River Falls

This is pretty good, collect your dinghy and choose one of four ways down, two routes are covered. Some of these boats come down really quick and it was quite common for some to stop by hitting the barriers were onlookers were stood, quite funny for the spectators to watch but probably terryfying for the riders.

Waterfall

Another water ride similar to Snake River Falls but more like a huge slide, guaranteed to get you wet.

Pirate Ship

Not much different from any other pirate ship, but i like the idea that every hour or so they run the ride at half height so the younger kids can have a go, this is a really nice touch i wish other parks thought about younger visitors this way. well done Oakwood !!

Brer Rabbit

The Brer Rabbit ride is an enjoyable journey on a train through Brer Rabbits hideaway, its a nice leisurely trip and the youngsters that rode with us really enjoyed it, some of the scenes are quite funny.

Plane Crazy

Oakwoods newest family ride is plane crazy, climb aboard and the ride spins round, you can control the height of the ride using the sail or rudder.

The park also has a mini golf game and a boating lake.

Kidzworld

Kidzworld is an area especially for the younger children, they have about 7 outdoor rides including a ferris wheel, mini coaster, carousel and tractor ride.

Wacky Factory

Also part of kidzworld is Wacky factory, this is a themed ball park that is huge, you can quite easily loose kids for an hour in this place.

I think they have a couple of slides a waterfall and an area set aside for even younger children.

Techniquest

Techniquest is a science discovery attraction also in Kidzworld, it features lots of hands on activities for kids including how to piece together a human body and various puzzles and games, they also have really helpful staff who walk around the area getting involved with the kids.

After Dark

After dark is an event which is run for a month each year, for 2007 the dates are 1st August through to the 31st, this involves the rides staying open later and some entertainment provided in the theatre near Brer Rabbit, the shows are pretty good but dont last that long, by the time you have a pint and your settled its over. I think they do a couple of shows a night up to about 9:45 when everything is then taken outside for a water fountain display, outdoor live show and a firework display. 2006′s firework display was pretty good. They also have Matt the magic man at the park for 2007 i havent seen him so cant comment, for all events take a look at the parks website

Food and Drink

Theres a large cafe just as you get off the train to enter the main body of the park serving meals like fish and chips they also have more healthy foods on offer which are all good quality a meal for 4 with a drink is about £25 which is good value. The park also has various outlets offering fast food and a nice cafe in Kidzworld. If im honest the food as Oakwood was some of the best ive had at a park this year.

Staff

Considering the amount of rain that fell on the day we visited I found all the staff extremely friendly, approachable and happy. It cant be a nice job when its pouring with rain and your having to check restraints on rides over and over again.

Conclusion

Im my opinion one of the best days out of the year, me and my family thoroughly enjoyed it, even though it rained all day and we all ended up soaking wet for most of it, even after a change of clothes at 5pm we were wet again for 7pm.

Ive visted lots of parks in 2006 and if your reading this thinking is it worth a visit the answer is a definate YES. Its an ideal break for a weekend especially if you visit the wonderful indoor fairground at folly farm.

To see the rest of the pictures from this visit, take a look at the ridemad Gallery

If you want to use any pictures in this article or have any comments good or bad please email me on paul@ridemad.com

http://www.ridemad.com is an independant website not affiliated to any theme parks or fairgrounds, the view expressed are my opinions.

Thanks for reading.

For anyone with an interest in vintage fairground rides a trip to Folly Farm is really a must. Not only is the farm packed with Animals it also houses the UK largest indoor traditional fun fair. The rides date back to the 1920′s and have all been lovingly restored and updated at the farm to meet current health and safety requirements.
Folly Farm is located in Pembrokeshire a short journey from Tenby and about 30 minutes drive from Oakwood.This article takes a quick look at some of the stunning attractions on offer at the farm and also looks at some of the history behind certain rides. I have got some of the history from a souvenir guide written by Brian Steptoe a leading fairground historian and the author of 2 books on the subject.

All the photographs are taken by me, but unfortunately I forgot to take a tripod, hence some of the pictures may be a little dark or over exposed. one problem with old fairground rides and the vast amount of lights is they play havoc with modern digital camera sensors ok so thats my excuse.

Chair-o-planes

The folly farm chair-o-plane was built by German firm Gotha in the 1920′s. The first british owner was Jimmy Bond. Sam Manning travelled with them from 1962 through to 1985 when they were sold to David Smart and Barry Yeats before coming over to Folly Farm. The pictures dont do the ride justice as the lighting display is really stunning.

Coronation Speedway.

These rides were once called Arks as they originally had painted animals to sit on, this was altered in the 30′s and the name speedway come from the addition of the wooden motorbikes.

I remember been petrified of these as a child, i would hang on for dear life as the gaff lads would sit on the railing smoking and looking really cool, this is a beautiful example of the ride. no modern day plastics here.

Here’s a close up of the bikes.

The ride was built in 1937 by the famous ride builders Orton and Spooner of Burton on Trent and is called the Coronation speedway in honour of the coronation of King George IV, the queen mother took a ride on this speedway and a symbol showing the extact bike is still on the ride today. The last owner before the ride came to Folly Farm was Harry Wigfield who travelled with the ride from 1977 to 1997.

A beautiful example of a Carousel. The set at Folly Farm were the last 3 a breast ride built by Savages and were delivered in 1922 to their first owner the showman Chris Johnson. This ride travelled until the start of world war two and was acquired by Billy Smart the famous Circus operator.

The ride was brought to Folly Farm in 1999. All the animals except one are carved out of wood.

Latin skid

The skid is a variant on the “whip” ride invented by Williams Mangels who was based near Coney Island in New York. This ride was built in the 1930′s and orginally belonged to William Nicholas, eventually after changing hands a few times it ended up with Peter Manning and at first the ride travelled, in 1984 it was placed in an amusement park in Southend-on-Sea and still travelled every year for the goose fair. You can still see the Mannings name on the pay box in the above photograph.

The Caterpillar Ride.

The Caterpillar ride was built in the 1950s for showman Henry Armstrong, originally this ride started life as a Toboggan ride with the sides of the cars shaped like toboggans. The ride was converted to a caterpillar style in 1955.

In 1974 it was owned by Jimmy Manning and he operated the ride until 2000 which at the time was themed on a dragon before coming to Folly Farm.

So what else is at Folly Farm.

Heres a few of my photographs showing the rest of attractions and rides at Folly Farm.

Lovely helter skelter, it was getting refurbished on my last visit.

The Eli-Bridge big Wheel.

Hurricane Jets

I dont remember them going that high

The Ghost Train, (1964)

Camper than a row of tents, but great fun

I loved these as a child

Cakewalk, Stuning, the colours on this ride are outstanding

Scrambler type ride. still popular today

Mr Dibnah would have loved this.

I remember when this was 10p

loads of slot machines in the fun fair and the majority are still working.

If you enjoyed these pictures I have quite a few more on the ridemad.com gallery

If you want any photos please get in touch, dont steal them, I purposely didnt watermark these so you wouldnt have the web site name all over them, i have High resolution versions of all the photographs and will be more than happy to share. please contact me at paul@ridemad.com