Photo TR: Oakwood - 24th June 2006

Last edited by Ork1927 on Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:05 pm

On Saturday I travelled up to Oakwood with the 'missus' and two of our friends for a day of coasters, sheep, getting soaked and then camping out and playing cricket with socks.
We left Cardiff at 8.30am and arrived at Oakwood just after opening at 10.00am. The weather was cloudy but fairly warm and most importantly drive and the car park was pretty empty.

We immediately sped across to Speed.

The vertical lift hill rather than the actual ride proved a little daunting for one of our party so she sat out our first go where we pretty much walked straight on. We sat in the front row and despite some initial screaming from my girlfriend, the sensation of the vertical lift hill didn't prove daunting and I was happily swinging my arms around and anticipating the 97 degree drop......... Have to agree with the comments from the recent UK trip, this was a cracking ride, great first drop with a lot of air time over the hill and then down into the loop before some more twisting and turning.

We quickly sung its praises to our absconder and rushed straight round for another go - this time sitting in the back row which proved a more daunting lift hill experience as you have no idea when the car is going to reach the top.

Following a quick go on the small Water Chute ride, we headed over for a couple of goes on Megaphobia. I'd forgotten how long a ride this was and we all enjoyed being thrown around and out of our seats by this great woodie.

Strangely the park didn't seem to be filling up and we walked straight onto the Pirate Ship amusing ourselves by sitting at the back and lifting feet and hands up at the peak of the each turn. A quick ride on Snake River Falls (closed pipe water chutes) wasn't that exciting.

Next up was a quick ride on the Tree-Top coaster which when I first visited Oakwood was it's main ride before we walked straight onto the drop-tower - Bounce. This was fairly tame compared to some drop towers but started with a launch upwards and then a lift to the top and a drop down. I do like the trees all around the ride as it gives you a good sense of height as you rise above them.

Time for another ride on Speed and despite a fairly short queue and an empty park we still had to wait 45 minutes to get on. Only one car was being used but I guess that a further car wouldn't have made a great deal of difference except to speed up loading. This may be a problem during the summer when the park gets busy!

Once again the thought of the lift hill proved too much for Sarah and she once again decided not to ride despite actually sitting in the car. We mocked her unmercifully for the rest of the day.

After a quick food break and a play on some of the scientific games in Techniquest, we took in a round of Crazy Golf in the shadow of Hydro. The timing worked out nicely as Hydro was only open between 2.00 and 5.00 so we finished our round of golf at 2.05 and it was time to get wet.

The girls decided not ride, mainly because the clouds covered the sky and while it wasn't cold there seemed little chance of the sun coming out for a visit. Paul and myself scoffed at the lack of sun and after a brief wait (no real queue but after the accident a few years ago they are very careful in checking all the restraints) we found ourselves at the front of the boat sitting alongside two kids. One of which cheerfully informed us that he had been sick on Speed earlier in the day. When I asked him if he planned on being sick now, he replied no but said it wouldn't matter as the water would get rid of it anyway!!!!

Hydro is a very big no-nonsense water chute and being at the front we were already soaked and blinded by freezing cold water about a second in to the descent (and hopefully not bits of carrot) before the very, very big splash at the end.

Plans for a re-ride went straight out the window as we were completely soaked but we put a brave face on it (i.e., male macho stupidity) as we sloshed around the park looking for a bit of sun to dry us off. Hydro is a great ride but not that friendly on a cloudy Wales day.

Next up was Spooky 3D, Oakwood’s Ghostly dark-ride. Spiderman this was not and the 3D didn't really work but as a Ghost train it wasn't without its charm. Brear Rabbit was closed (well there was no ride-op to be found) despite the photo booth in the shop being manned so we decided to head over to Megaphobia for one last ride.

We managed to grab the two back rows and 'WOW' it was a great if rather painful great final ride as we were thrown around all over the place from the first drop to the last. Great stuff and a good ending to an enjoyable day in a quiet park.

Pictures below - mainly of Speed and Hydro. I was fortunate that I didn't try to take photos on our last ride on Megaphobia as the first drop would have probably seen my camera now in the possession of some sheep.

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:47 am Post subject:

Part the second

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:53 am Post subject:

Man, I really want to go on Speed, it looks awesome! Thanks for these pictures!

You might want to take a few "e"s in the desription of the topic away, because they are making the width of the forum page too wide.

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 12:06 pm Post subject:

ooops I got over-excited!

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 6:40 pm Post subject:

good stuff! Man that picture of Hydro's boat with the OTHR's, never seen that on a flume ride

Posted: Sun Jul 02, 2006 6:56 pm Post subject:

The mats on the shoot the chutes look like gym mats!!

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