A CLOSED theme park that has hoped to reopen has revealed plans have now been scrapped.
Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales, closed back in March last year due to declining visitor numbers and since has been left to rot.
Oakwood Theme Park in Wales closed last year after declining visitor numbers[/caption]
Hopes were then raised when another company planned to take over the site[/caption]
Yet in May 2025, hopes were reignited after a new leisure company called Richens Leisure Projects (RLP) stepped in to not only save the attraction but also make it bigger through a £250million project.
Those hopes were short-lived, though, as the entire project was scrapped just a few weeks later and more recently owners, Aspro Parks, revealed they had no intentions of selling the site.
When plans were rejected back in June, Richens Leisure Parks stated on X: “We have stayed professional throughout the process of the proposal.
“Now we know the outcome, we have to announce this devastating outcome.
“What could have been a new exciting park withers away.”
According to the South Wales Argus, RLP claimed that the project would create 800 new jobs and make Oakwood Theme Park ” bigger, faster and stronger than ever”.
And the park was set to be “something bold, exciting, and built to last. This isn’t just revival. It’s reinvention”.
At the time of closure, one regular visitor commented: “Been here over 100 times in my life. So sad at the closure.
“Back in the late 90s and early 2000 this place would be buzzing every summer and made a great day out.”
Another added: “Gutted, had hoped to get back to try the newly renovated megaphobia!
“This place holds many childhood memories for me.”
A third commented: “Loved it in the 90s with my mates, and even with my own kids in recent years, very sad to see it close.”
Another pleaded: “Please reopen Oakwood Theme Park because it’s my favourite theme park in the UK.”
The family attraction first opened back in the 1980s as Wales’ biggest family adventure, according to TripAdvisor, with just BMXs, a wooden fort and a 3D-cinema experience.
Yet, by the time it closed last year, the 90acre park had 35 rides and attractions.
However, these plans were scrapped after just a few weeks[/caption]
Over its 38-year lifespan, the park developed itself into a major destination with four thrill rides opening between 1996 and 2006 – Megafobia, Vertigo, Drenched and Speed.
Megafobia, the park’s flagship attraction, was a wooden rollercoaster with many twists and turns and was noted by many visitors and fans as one of the best wooden rollercoasters in the world.
Meanwhile, Speed – as the name suggests – climbs to speeds of 59miles-per-hour and even held the title of the world’s steepest rollercoaster between April 2006 and July 2008.
On Vertigo, visitors would climb to nearly 50metres before the swing then dropped.
Other attractions at the site included water rides, such as Drenched, which used to be the tallest water ride in Europe and featured a 35metre drop and Snake River Falls, a set of dinghy slides.
And more recently, the current owners have said they do not plan to sell the site[/caption]
Little kids weren’t forgotten about either, as they could become a pirate on the Jolly Roger ship ride or enjoy a spinning teacup ride called Witches’ Brew.
One of the most well-known rides at the park was Nutty Jake’s Gold Mine dark ride, which opened a year after the attraction originally opened.
Riders would journey through a gold mine tunnel in a themed area of the park known as Jake’s Town.
However, the ride sadly closed in 1999 and later rethemed in 2001 to Brer Rabbit’s Burrow.
In addition to rides and attractions, the park was well-known for its events including ‘after dark’ openings, where visitors could go on the rides during the dark whilst they are lit by glowing multi-coloured lights.
The theme park used to be home to four thrill rides, and a number of other attractions[/caption]
In 2000, Oakwood also launched ‘Eerie Evening’ with the brand-new Voodoo Mansion.
Despite the event being scrapped a few years later, the park created several Halloween events over the years including a ‘Halloween Spectacular’ five-day event in 2013, with live actors, scare mazes and a ghost show.
The different ‘lands’ and areas where rides and attractions could be found changed over the years as well, with visitor favourites including the Peter Pan-themed ‘Neverland’ and ‘Dahland’, centred on the famous author Roald Dahl and including a James and the Giant Peach themed rollercoaster.
However, the latter land was quickly abandoned after the Roald Dahl estate sued for copyright infringements.
Abandoned theme parks in the UK
THERE are a number of abandoned theme parks across the UK, either left with hopes of reopening or to rot away.
Here are just some of the abandoned theme parks in the UK.
Frontierland, Morecambe
The Lancashire amusement area was left to rot in 2000 and has been an eyesore to townspeople ever since.
The abandoned theme park had a rich history of over 90 years in service, but sadly had to shut down permanently at the beginning of the millennia.
The site lays bare and empty, with the local council now trying to revive it back to its glory days.
Pleasure Island, Cleethorpes
The Lincolnshire park has been shut since 2016.
Dwindling visitor numbers led to the park’s decline and eventual closure with rides being sold off.
Another abandoned theme park, which closed eight years ago, has been reclaimed by nature with eerie photos showing ghostly disused Pleasure Island.
And back in June, plans to transform another abandoned UK theme park were unveiled – 13 years after iconic site was left to rot.
As of current, it is unclear what will happen to the 90acre site[/caption]