13 Theme Parks This Year - 7: Oakwood (After Dark)

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Tom’s 13 So Let’s Try to Do 13 Theme Parks this Year
7: Oakwood (After Dark)
Saturday 4th August 2018

The Index is here

If you have been keeping up with the updates on the index for this trippy, you may have noticed that Oakwood wasn’t on our radar as a choice for one of our 13 parks to visit. I’d been there once as a child (pre-Megaphobia) and didn’t have much of an opinion on it either way.

However, Rich had been doing some research, knew that Megaphobia was well thought-of in the Coaster community, and then came across the “After Dark” event happening on Wednesdays and Saturdays in August. He had mentioned it the weekend before and we’d spent Sunday afternoon watching various Vlogs from the 2016 and 2107 Roller Coaster Club events and knew that we wanted to give it a try.

As Oakwood is a fair trek for us, and with the park open from 10am to 10pm, we knew it was going to be a long day. I do have family in South Wales, but we haven’t seen them for a while and it didn’t feel right ringing to tell them that we would be rocking up at Midnight, covered in paint and most likely too knackered to be any decent company on the Sunday.

We looked about for hotels either near the park on en-route back, but there was nothing available in our price range and we really didn’t fancy camping, so we geared ourselves up for a hard-core long day – leaving at 6am and being home around 2am.

On the day, Rich and I were up at 5am, falling into our usual routine of me making the packed lunch and Rich popping out to get diesel and drinks. We were doubling up on the packed lunch today, with tuna sandwiches plus various pastry goods and using a cool bag, as we’d read that food options in the park weren’t great and we needed to cover lunch and tea. We also packed a couple of changes of clothes – 1 set to wear for the water rides and white t-shirts for the Colour Dash party.

We got Tom up at 5:45 and we were on the road by 6 – with Tom pretty much going straight back to sleep.

The drive was long but uneventful and “easy” according to Rich (i.e. no roadworks or 50mph zones). We stopped at Cardiff Gate services to use the loo, and I got myself a cappuccino from Starbucks (over £3 and not as good as a Maccys IMO). I realised back at the car that I’d left my sunglasses in my car, so today’s selfies were going to be very squinty.

We stopped again at a services somewhere near Neath (I think) and decided to have a Maccy’s breakfast to set us up for the day. The boys had McBacon Rolls and I had a Sausage & Egg McMuffin Meal as Tom fancied an OJ (about £10-£11ish)...

We were soon back on the road for the final stretch of the journey.

I think it was about 9:45am when we arrived – the carpark was fairly empty and there were only a couple of families ahead of us in the queue...

Rich had paid for our tickets online (£72 + £1.50 booking fee), and we were given festival-style wristbands that we could use to return for £10 entry (or £12 for Halloween)...

We decided to walk rather than wait for the train – Drenched looked fantastic, but wouldn’t be open untill 2pm, so would have to wait for later.

We headed for the Halloween themed area first, walking straight onto The Creepy Crawler coaster, which was quite intense for a junior coaster.

This pic was taken later in the day...

Next up was Spooky 3D...

There were only a couple of families waiting for this, but we suspected that there was only one, or possibly two, cars running as it was a very slow loader. The operator was very friendly though, explaining that if the ride stopped for any reason to stay seated and he’d come to get us. He had very cool long dreadlocks too.

The ride itself was ok, with some good 3D paint effects, but I wouldn’t fancy waiting any longer that the 5-or-so minutes that we did.

We carried on around to the main part of the park next and headed for Megaphobia...

This was also an almost walk-on (as were most rides for the whole of the day) – we only had to wait for 1 train to go.

As we walked up to the gates for our “almost back row”, Rich pointed out that Lee Wood (who sometimes joins Shawn in the Theme Park Worldwide Vlogs that we watch) was sat in the seat in the row that we were about to get on. There were a few other people on the training wearing Go Pro chest harnesses, so we assumed that they were Vloggers too – we didn’t say anything though.

The ride itself was very good – really fast, a great first drop and loads of airtime hills. We all talked about where it ranked in our top Woodies as we walked off: Tom and I weren’t sure if it was better than Stampida or not and said we’d need another ride to be sure. Rich isn’t a Stampida fan, so put Megaphobia way ahead. I do think that Wicker Man probably pips them both though, because of the fantastic theming.

As we came off we saw another Vlogger, Chris Franklin. Again, he was with more people wearing Go Pros, so we guessed that this year’s Roller Coaster Club event was probably happening this weekend.

We all needed a drink, so we grabbed a large Coke to share (£2.65), which was very refreshing.

We queued for Bob Sleigh next, which was our only real queue of the day, about 20 mins or so, due to it being a mainly solo-ride and a slow-loader.

Rich said he’d go first, Tom in the middle and me last. My run was pretty fast as I barely used the break, but Rich had a young kid in-front of him, so was forced to go slow. It was a fun and unique ride, not really worth the queue (there was a queue every time we passed for the rest of the day), but nice to try something different (even though I had done it with my sister back in the day).

The Moon Slide was just up the hill, and on the way to Speed No Limits, so we headed there next. The boys didn’t fancy it at all, but I was up for it so took off my shoes, grabbed a mat and headed up. I was sat right on the edge when I lost my nerve – I think I would’ve done it, but a family had just walked in and I felt really self-conscious doing it in front of strangers, so I bottled it and took the stairs back down, saying that I’d try again later.

We walked around to Speed No Limits next, which is the park’s “other” big coaster, and one of only 2 Gerstlaur Eurofighters in the country (Saw at Thorpe park is the other one, and this one gets better reviews)...

It must’ve been just before 11am, as they were sending round a couple of test trains.

Chris Franklin was just ahead of us in the queue and was telling some other guests all about the Roller Coaster Club event and how they get the extra ride time this evening and tomorrow morning. We also heard him call out to another Chris, who was at the side of the ride taking photos – we later found out that this second Chris is @backseat_blackout, and he took this fantastic photo of the ride which turned out to have us in it (he very kindly emailed me the original when I mentioned it on Twitter on Insta)...

Zoom in if you can - our faces are brilliant 😂😂😂

This is probably the best on-ride photo we will EVER get!

🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢

We were on the 2nd train of the day and it was a brilliant ride – really fast, loads of forces and some great air-time and hangtime. I took loads of pics of the ride too...

Treetops was next – another almost walk-on and we were near the back of the train (which is very long) – this is a great family coaster and the setting of it running between the trees is really good. I did slide around quite a bit in my seat though, so had to hang on rather than having my arms up.

We walked around to the Pirate Ship next (another walk on)...

We were on the back row and were coming right up out of our seats for some brilliant airtime on the downward swing 😊

We mooched slowly around the lake back towards Megaphobia – we couldn’t see it running though, and when we got around the entrance the ride operators were turning guests away, saying that it was having technical difficulties.

It was about 12:30pm by now, and the morning had really warmed up, so we decided to head back to the car for some lunch and a quick change. The entrance queues were really busy as we were coming out. We looked about to see if there was anyone stamping hands for re-entry but couldn’t see anything, so we took our chances.

Back at the car, we discreetly changed into our “quicker to dry-off” outfits and sat in the car enjoying half of our pic-nic. Rich gets the most amazing pork pies and pastries from work, which we were allowing ourselves as a treat due to the amount of walking we’d be doing today...

We chilled in the car until about 1ish and made our way back into the park..

We headed for the Neverland area which is where the first of our water-rides was...

First though, we wet on Tinkerbelle Flyer. Rich and Tom went on together and I went solo...

I really enjoyed this ride and so did Tom – it was fast for a kiddy ride and if you whipped the steering round at the right time, quite forceful. As usual with spinny rides, Rich came off declaring in “not for me” 😊!

The Skull Log Flume was next – it’s only a little flume, but this was a nostalgia ride for me as I had ridden it waaaaay back in the day when it was at Camelot (which we used to walk to in the summer holidays when I was about 10). If you had asked me to describe it the week before, I’d have never been able to tell you, but seeing and riding it brought back all the memories...

It has a funky little pirate themed dark section before climbing up for the drop, and a fairly decent splash.

The ride also intertwines with the queue for the kiddy Crocodile Coaster – we didn’t bother with this though.

The park is really lovely...

We walked around to Waterfall next, which is a waterslide that you do on a plastic mat – with a very strong chance of falling in at the end (I think I did this on my childhood visit). Tom passed (which was handy as he could hold my bum-bag and our phones). As it was just me and Rich, we got to race down and I actually won! – we didn’t fall in either 😊

<<<pics here>>>

Round to Snake River Falls next – Tom was up for this one, as it was a dinghy rather than a plastic sledge type boat on Waterfall. We all went for the open slides and it was good fun.

Now for the big one – Drenched! We queued about 15 minutes for this and experienced the most polite kid in the queue. First, he asked if it was ok if he went to his friend who was just ahead of us, then he asked Rich if he minded if he went to the loo and came back, and then when some more of their friends joined the queue (about 10 behind us), they both went back to join them!

We also spotted a big group of Vloggers ahead of us in the queue, including the 2 Chris’s.

Once it was our turn to ride, the operators were very thorough in checking the seatbelts and overhead restraints (there was a tragic accident on this ride back in 2004). The lift hill was massive, but we were soon hurtling down the steep drop, experiencing the biggest splash on a water ride ever! It just kept coming – we were absolutely drenched 💦💦💦...

Tom wanted to stand on the bridge after to get splashed even more, so Rich and I stood in the tiny dry spot where we knew he’d be safe. All the Vloggers were waiting to film the splash too, so Tom did a bit of Vlog bombing whilst he was waiting...

So far, we’ve spotted him in @backseat_blackout’s update and @coastersaurus...

On the @coasersaurus vlog you can actually see us getting off the same boat as them, and me waddling off like a very wet penguin 💦🐧💦🐧💦,

We then stood for quite a while at the side of the ride, waiting for the next boat to go so that we could get some pics of the splash. There must have been a technical glitch though as it was about 10 minutes before it went again...

This is where my mobile battery died on me. Luckily I was getting used to this by now and had brought my work phone as a back up 👍.

We didn’t mind being wet as it was very hot now, so we went back to the Halloween themed zone and joined the queue for the Witch Hunt scare maze, which was included in the park entry (usually there is an upcharge for these types of attractions)...

The queue was about 10 minutes / 2 groups, and Tom wasn’t particularly fussed about doing it. We did try to encourage him, but when the operator said all bags had to be left outside we appointed him chief bag and phone holder instead.

The pre-show bit was quite well done, and there were some good actors and effects in the maze, but I always find that hearing other people screaming a few steps ahead of me takes out all of the suspense. Worth a go for free though 👍👍👍.

We had a 15-minute sit down on the grass next, enjoying a bit of shade and sun-spraying up as it was super-hot by now (despite starting the day wearing a hoody). It was so hot that we’d already dried off quite a bit.

We all fancied ice creams, but wanted to ride Speed No Limits again first, so we made our way towards the ride. We had to walk past the Moon Slide again, and Rich suggested I have another try – this time I didn’t wimp out, but it is very steep!

Speed was another walk-on ride and just as good as this morning – definitely my favourite ride in the park 🎢🎢🎢.

There was a refreshment stand nearby so we got a Feast for Rich, a Magnum for Tom and a bottle of Fanta to share (they had run out of Coke) – which came to about £7ish. I decided to wait for my Ice Cream as I’d seen a place doing Carte Dore cones and I really fancied strawberry.

After the boys had eaten their ice-creams, and we’d all made faces about the lack of personal space from the 2 ladies who were stood sooooooo close to our bench, we headed for another go on Treetops, riding at the front this time. I managed to wedge myself in better than this morning, which made for a much more comfortable ride.

Rich and I had another go on Waterfall next, and then it was finally time for me to get my ice-cream. It was something like £2.80 for a single cone or £3 for a double, so I doubled up and it was lovely...

We also got a bottle of Coke to share (£2.60).

We headed back to the car after this, as it was approaching 5pm and we wanted to have a rest to help conserve some energy for the late night and long drive home. We each took it in turns to change in the backseat (thank heavens for blacked-out windows and dry pants), and then finished off our sandwiches from lunch (which were still nice and cold in the cool bag).

The boys mooched on their iPads and I set an alarm for 5:45 (just in case we dropped off) and enjoyed resting with my eyes closed on one of the pillows that Tom had brought with him.

By 5:45 we were heading back into the park, this time waiting for the little train that you can get to take you in (which actually takes longer than walking as it goes the long way around) ...

We rang Mom from the train, to check in and it was a nice little ride.

The park looked gorgeous in the evening light...

We spent about half an hour (and £10) in the arcade...

They had a funky Pac-Man themed air hockey game that was lots of fun, and we managed to get about 250 tokens, which was enough for a cheap paddle ball set (which broke when Tom unwrapped it), a couple of bouncy balls (which the boys enjoyed playing with) and a couple of sweets.

We then headed for another go on Speed No Limits...

We followed this up by 2 goes on Treetops (without having to get off and walk around)...

Tom fancied another go on Snake River Falls. I wasn’t willing to take the chance of getting wet again, so the boys went on together and then Tom went back on for a solo go...

It was starting to get dusky by now (about 7:30ish)...

We could hear Megaphobia doing some test runs, so we made our way around the boating lake and joined the small crowd of waiting guests.

After 5 minutes or so they opened the queue line and we walked around – we initially estimated that we’d be on train 2 or 3, but there were quite a few guests in the fast track queue, and I think they must have sent a train or 2 of just fast trackers. We were lucky to have got in the line when we did as the queue line was pretty full and probably at least an hour from the back, as everyone who had been waiting all day to ride had gone for it now.

Eventually we got on, and there were 3 rows blocked off for fast track. Rich and Tom were on one side of the block and I was on the other side, until an operator realised that we were together and rejigged the blocked off rows so that I could be in front of the boys (a nice touch, I thought).

Our 2nd ride of the day was very good – unfortunately due to it being down for most of the day, we didn’t get the benefit of it getting better as the day goes on, but it’s a very good coaster and one that the park should be really proud of.

It was after 8pm by the time we got off the ride and the UV paint was on sale by now. Loads of people were just chilling on the grass banking and / or having fun throwing the paint powder at each other. It was £3 a bag or 2 for £5. We just went for the one bag to start with (green) and had a fun 5 minutes chucking it at each other...

It was at this point that my 2nd phone's battery died (I definitely need to start bringing the camera to our park days from now on).

Rich did take a couple of pics, but not many...

After about 20 mins or so of just sitting and people watching, I went to get us a Large Coke (£2.65) to share, and then Rich suggested getting another 2 bags of UV powder (I went for prink and orange) and we had more fun covering each other – Rich did manage to get a fully coloured pic of Tom at some point (I think I was probably in the loo, as I would have definitely requested a familie selfie if Id seen the phone out...

@backseat_blackout also got us in one of his pics too, which we found on Twitter – we are sat under the W...

At 9pm the Colour Dash party started, which was basically some DJs on stage and a fenced off dance area where you could throw more paint powder at strangers. We didn’t bother with this, but it looked good seeing the clouds of powder in the dusky air, I also did a bit of embarrassing mom-dancing, and the more Tom tried to get me to stop, the more embarrassing my moves got 😊.

We watched for a couple of minutes and decided to go for a final sunset ride on Speed No Limits. Unfortunately, when we got there we had missed the last train of the day, which was a shame as we’d incorrectly thought we could ride until just before the Fireworks at 10pm. Treetops had also just closed 😓. It turned out that the “opening times” sign we had seen at the entrance was for the gift / photo shops, not the rides themselves.

Never mind, we slowly mooched our way back to the grassy area, and got a good spot near the top of the mound, where we had a good view of the OAKWOOD projector screens.

At about 9:45 a girl came on stage to start the Karaoke. She explained that the colour of our wristband (ours were green) related to the parts of the songs we should sing along to. However, those of us that were singing just sang everything. We did Let it Go, What About Us (Pink) and This Is Me (Kealla Settle) – I have to admit I was proper belting them out 😃😃😃.

The final song was Firework (Katy Perry), and although the singer’s voice did let her down a bit on this one (she was fab on all the others), there was a great touch of Fireworks going off behind the stage every time she sang the chorus.

This led perfectly into the Fireworks themselves – unfortunately though, I think there must’ve been a technical error as we only had a coupe of Fireworks and lots of music and projections. There was a bit of crowd shouting at the end, but then they started the music and projections again, and this time the Fireworks worked and the whole effect was fantastic. You could definitely tell they were influenced by Illuminations at EPCOT, but for a relatively small park, doing these twice a week was a brilliant achievement.

I actually follow the composer @nickhutsonmusic on Insta and Twitter (since watching the Vlogs from the previous year’s event the weekend before our trip), and he has done a great job collaborating with the park on this 👏👏👏.

The Fireworks finished at about 10:10pm and (via a quick loo stop) we were in the car just after quarter past – we spend a few minutes changing out of our paint covered clothes and wiping as much off our faces as possible and were pulling out of the carpark less than 5 minutes after that.

Luckily there was no traffic on the lanes, and the SAT Nav said we’d be home by 2am – we knew we’d have to make a couple of stop though to keep us alert (I promised to stay awake to keep talking to Rich).

We all fancied a Maccy Ds (yes, our 2nd of the day), and luckily there was one just as we pulled into Swansea services. We woke up Tom and had Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meals all round, with Coke for the boys and a Cappuccino for me...

I definitely preferred this one to the Starbucks earlier!

I did have to laugh when I popped to the ladies to see this reflection...

The staff and customers must’ve thought we were weird, as we were a good hour’s drive from the park by now 😂😂😂.

Back in the car, Tom was straight back off to sleep 😴, and Rich and I talked a lot about our day and future plans. By the time we got to Cardiff Gate services, he was flagging a bit, so we pulled in to get him a can of Monster, which perked him up.

After that, we took it slow and steady, pulling into lay-bys for fresh air (and a smoke), each time he was starting to flag. As a result, is was almost 3:30am by the time we got home – so a 5-hour drive, including stops.

We had an absolutely brilliant day and we’d definitely go again but would probably plan a bit more in advance and book somewhere to stay next time. Bluestone is right next door, so maybe we’ll check that out at some point.

Thanks for reading along with such a long day

[El Duderino]

Great report. Megaphobia is definitely a coaster I want to try at some point

[Guest]

What a FAB day!

Your picture of Treetops made me think of a coaster (Hexenbesen) in Germany where you lie down [like a witch on a broomstick] and "fly" prone through the trees!

I want to ride that one.