In shock news this afternoon Oakwood Theme Park in Wales have published a news article on their site stating the immediate closure of the park for the 2025 season leaving the future uncertain.
In the blog the park’s parent company state:
“It is with much sadness that we have to announce the immediate closure of Oakwood Theme Park and confirm the park will not open for the 2025 season.
Following a strategic review of the business, Aspro Parks, owner and operator of Oakwood Theme Park have reached this difficult decision due to the challenges presented by the current business environment.
All possible avenues have been explored to avoid the closure, and we fully recognise the impact of the closure on the local community and the loss that will be felt as a result.
Aspro Parks has invested over £25M since rescuing the park from being at risk of closure in 2008. Most recently a major refurbishment of Megafobia, the iconic wooden rollercoaster was completed to great success and acclaim from enthusiasts and fans of the park.
Despite the ongoing investment visitor numbers have declined, the financial performance of the park has suffered, making further investment unsustainable.”
This incredibly sad news is a massive blow to the UK Theme Park industry and follows the recent removal of Drenched, an Intamin Mega Splash (with speculation it has been sold) and rumours that their Bounce drop tower has also been removed. (Only yesterday did Digital Dan speculated that Oakwood would be in trouble in his popular Youtube series ‘This Past Week in Theme Parks‘.
Oakwood is a park that I visited once as a child and would love to have found time to go back in the future especially after hearing positive reviews of the refurbished Megafobia and their roller coaster Speed.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen and it’ll be interesting to hear what happens next to the rides in the park and I hope there will be a way to save Megaphobia and see the park re-open in 2026 but it’s never a good sign when a park closes.
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