The once popular Oakwood Theme Park has recently been labelled the worst theme park in the UK – with social media users now telling their followers to ‘avoid’ it
Oakwood Theme Park may once have been considered iconic by those growing up in Wales, but those days appear to be long behind the Pembrokeshire park, which has now been labelled the “worst theme park in the UK.”
Many social media influencers have since been using the attraction for content to humour audience members, and the theme park, which currently has well over 1000 negative reviews on TripAdvisor alongside a three star rating, is considered by some as a place to “avoid at all costs!”
Reoccurring complaints around value for money, poor maintenance and hit-and-miss availability of rides were the most common of the critiques faced by the Welsh attraction.
However, that isn’t to say that is unanimous. You need only go to the park and see hundreds of screaming children having the time of their lives and people are rightfully protective of the largest Welsh park for nostalgic reasons.
In 2021, WalesOnline reporter Rhodri Harrison headed to Oakwood to review the park. And this is what he found: “It is in dire need of some TLC, it just feels to me like it is running off the past with old music blaring across the park and a number of rides being closed, its a disappointing sight to see when paying a reasonably expensive fee.
“It feels neglected and it would be great to see some of the old rides return and new to enter the park, the last rollercoaster was in 2017 and it is aimed at the younger audience. I don’t agree with the negative reviews and calling it the ‘UK’s worst theme park’ but that is the harsh reality it faces today and it needs to act upon the feedback.”
Writing at the time, Rhodri shared that when he arrived at the park, one of its most iconic rides – Megaphobia, a wooden rollercoaster, was closed for the weekend. While water rollercoaster Drenched would only be open from 2pm.
Other rides also needed some TLC, with Rhodri writing: “I decided to try out an old favourite of mine the ‘Bob Sleigh’, a sledge that you control to ride down the hill, the only difficulty is getting up there.
“You start at the bottom of the hill and get pulled up at an uncomfortable angle, holding on to the lever as you sit down and hope you don’t fall off.
“It is a bit worse for wear as I got stuck on the way up, as did many other people, and the lever is a bit questionable sometimes not braking.”
He continued: “Moving onto the pedalos, another sign of worse for wear, the lake or pond isn’t in the best condition and neither is the big red pedalo.
“The pedal boat almost feels like you’re sinking at times, taking on water if you try and go too fast and progressively getting harder to navigate through the greenery in the water.”
There were also a couple of attractions that required extra payment. One of these being Vertigo, a ride in which thrill-seekers are thrown into the air, which despite the £25 extra is still one of the park’s most popular attractions.
However, while Oakwood might have its best days behind it, Rhodri argues that it’s still not deserving of the ‘worst theme park in the UK’ title, and can still make for a good day out.
