Pembrokeshire’s Oakwood Theme Park is giving its famous Megafobia rollercoaster a two million dollar re-vamp ahead of the 2023 season.
The iconic wooden ride, first opened in 1996, will be benefiting from the latest in roller coaster technology that will make it ‘not only as good as new but even better’, according to its fans.
Under the headline 'We’ve got some MEGA news…', the park gave an update on the Megafobia project on its website yesterday, Friday January 27.
The scheme got underway last summer, before the October incident on the park’s Treetops small rollercoaster which led to a man being airlifted to hospital and a young girl slightly injured.
An investigation into the incident is still in the hands of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
The organisation said earlier this month that a laboratory inspection of part of the Treetops ride is currently being undertaken in the HSE Science and Research Centre.
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The retrack work on Megafobia is being carried out by American rollercoaster design and construction company The Gravity Group, which began work at its factory in Ohio in September. The team arrived at Oakwood in recent weeks to start the next phase of the scheme.
The park said: "This exciting project will see work carried out on approximately 40 per cent of the coaster, including the first and second drops, where a complete retrack of these areas will see Gravity Group’s award winning Vertical Engineered Track installed in both locations.
"Both drops will also be reprofiled, with the first drop being made steeper as part of this ambitious project.
"Elsewhere on the ride, removal of track steels and laminates is well underway, with the tightest bend on the ride now stripped in preparation for the laying of replacement track in the coming weeks, along with the notorious penultimate bend which will also be reprofiled to add to the exciting and improved design of our much loved coaster.
"We currently expect works to be completed in early May, although this remains reliant on the delivery of materials from both Europe and the USA, which is being both shipped and flown into the UK."
The Roller Coaster Club of Great Britain said: “The fantastic work being carried out on Megafobia will ensure that it is not only as good as new, but even better than when it opened in 1996! The re-tracking work is using the latest on wooden coaster technology will make this classic ride more exciting and thrilling than ever."
The European Coaster Club commented: “It’s fantastic news that the much loved Megafobia is being given such a significant upgrade to become an even more thrilling and exciting wooden coaster that our members are already hyped to ride this summer on our annual club visit!
"The Gravity Group have a global reputation for upgrading wooden coasters and are well known for making the best even better. You can bet families and of course us coaster enthusiasts will love Megafobia 2.0.”
Oakwood will be giving updates on the Megafobia project on its website and media channels.
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