Megafobia

Megafobia
Megafobia
Oakwood Theme Park
LocationOakwood Theme Park
Coordinates51°46′51″N 4°48′20″W / 51.7807°N 4.8056°W / 51.7807; -4.8056
StatusOperating
Opening date30 April 1996
General statistics
TypeWood
ManufacturerCustom Coasters International
DesignerJohn Wardley, Dennis McNulty, Larry Bill
Track layoutTwister
Height85 ft (26 m)
Length2,956 ft (901 m)
Speed48 mph (77 km/h)
Inversions0
Duration1:40
Max vertical angle55°
Acceleration+2.75g (25 m/s)
G-force2.75
Height restriction120 cm (3 ft 11 in)
Megafobia at RCDB

Megafobia is a wooden roller coaster located at Oakwood Theme Park, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom. It opened on 30 April 1996 and was built by Custom Coasters International, who wanted a ride to showcase their company in Europe. Megafobia features a twister style layout.

Megafobia was the first major attraction to be installed at Oakwood Theme Park (then Oakwood Leisure Park) in West Wales and transformed the park's fortunes from a small family leisure park to a major UK theme park. Until the construction of Wicker Man commenced at Alton Towers in 2017, it was also the most recent wooden roller coaster to be built in the UK. On 30 April 2016 it celebrated 20 years at Oakwood. The standard speed of Megafobia is 48 mph.

Ride experience

Out of the station, trains make a left turn and small dip before climbing the 85 foot tall lift hill. At the top, the track makes a 180 degree left turn, before diving down the first drop. The first drop passes through the structure, and is followed by a sweeping left curve and an airtime hill crossing over the lift hill. After this airtime hill, the track hits a 180 degree left turn, to face back towards the lift hill. The camera is situated at the exit of this turn. The track heads back towards the lift hill, passing over an airtime hill and drop that cross under the lift hill and over the first drop. The track then makes a three-quarter right turn that passes through the lift hill's structure. Leaving the lift hill structure, the train passes through an airtime hill and crosses over the exit from the first turnaround before turning around on a 180 degree right turn and drop. The track weaves under itself and traces back along the earlier pass through the lift hill structure before making a drop and turn to the right. After passing under the second hill, the track makes another right turn and then makes another drop before hitting the final brake run. Trains then pass through the transfer track and storage area before returning to the station.

2023 Refurbishment

On 27 January 2023, the park announced that Megafobia would undergo a $2M replacement of its track by The Gravity Group, a project that replaced around 40% of the track and re-profiled certain elements of the layout including the first drop, which became steeper.[1] The updated ride re-opened to the public on 17 July 2023.[2]

Awards

Megafobia has consistently been rated among the top wooden coasters in the Golden Ticket Awards. The roller-coaster did not feature in the awards in 2020.

Golden Ticket Awards: Top wood Roller Coasters
Year 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Ranking 5[3] 10[4] 9[5] 10[6] 9[7] 9[8] 14[9] 13[10] 24[11] 25[12] 22[13] 25[14] 30[15] 20[16] 27[17] 30[18] 33[19] 27[20] 35[21] –[22] 46[23] 44[24]

References

  1. ^ "We've got some MEGA news…". Oakwood Theme Park. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  2. ^ "It's MEGA Monday". Oakwood Theme Park Twitter Account. Twitter. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  3. ^ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 6B. August 1998.
  4. ^ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 6B. August 1999.
  5. ^ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. August 2000.
  6. ^ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 6B. August 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  7. ^ "Top 25 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 6B. September 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  8. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 10–11B. September 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  9. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 14–15B. September 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 3, 2007.
  10. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 22–23B. September 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  11. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today: 30–31B. September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  12. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 11 (6.2): 42–43. September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  13. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 12 (6.2): 42–43. September 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  14. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 13 (6.2): 38–39. September 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  15. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 14 (6.2): 38–39. September 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  16. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 15 (6.2): 46–47. September 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  17. ^ "Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 16 (6.2): 46–47. September 2012.
  18. ^ "2013 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 17 (6.2): 40–41. September 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 19, 2013.
  19. ^ "2014 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 18 (6.2): 38–39. September 2014.
  20. ^ "2015 Top 50 wood Roller Coasters" (PDF). Amusement Today. 19 (6.2): 45–46. September 2015.
  21. ^ "2016 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2016.
  22. ^ "2017 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2017.
  23. ^ "2018 Top 50 Wooden Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2018.
  24. ^ "2019 Top 50 Wood Coasters". Golden Ticket Awards. Amusement Today. September 2019.

External links

  • Megafobia at Oakwood's website
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