Now the Rabbit Place is Really Crazy
Last year I went on a trip to Oakwood, probably the least accessible of all the UK’s parks for the majority of the population (unless you are a sheep).
With it being positioned in such a remote location, you’d have thought it unlikely that a London boy like me would be making a repeat visit for a few years. Wrong. I’d have been back this year purely because it is a brilliant park with a fantastic atmosphere. And it has Megafobia. Good enough reason then for me to go back down to Wales last weekend to visit Tom and Oakwood.
This year Oakwood has another new addition: Speed, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter. Speed is one of the craziest coasters I’ve encountered. Take a vertical lift, add a 97 degree (yes, that’s beyond vertical) first drop immediately followed by an airtime hill barely half the height of the lift and a near-circular loop and you’ll get the idea. Physics and instinct tell you this ride shouldn’t be possible, Oakwood proves it is.
Just like Cobra, Gerstlauer’s other UK installation this year which I rode in March, Speed is smooth through most of its run with just a hint of bumpiness through the inversions. Again, the magnetic brakes show the proper way to stop a coaster car.
Speed - more photos here
Megafobia: still world class
Bounce: not too bad - I quite like this (but don’t tell anyone)
Forget Spooky 3D, this is Oakwood’s real scary ride
Being in Wales and a theme park it of course had to rain. Did I say rain? I meant Hydro-style wet across the entire park. Just as well I wasn’t stuck on Plane Crazy as it started to bucket it down, because that would have been uncomfortable. Apart from I was and it was.
Even in the rain, Oakwood is a very special place (does it ever not rain there?) Speed seems to be a great hit, with people re-riding over and over again. Park attendance is well up on expectation: we joined 1300 people on Saturday when they were expecting 900 to turn up. Hopefully these are real signs that Oakwood has recovered from the