Barry Island Pleasure Park Review

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Guest's Review of Barry Island Pleasure Park

15th Feb 2008

Overall Rating

1.5 stars
  • Value for money
    0 stars
  • Date of visit (month/year)
    Not Set! Not Set!
  • Other info / Tips?
    Not supplied
Good Points

If you're looking for a day trip idea which isn't too thrilling or far from Cardiff, Barry Island is a nice idea. There are several amusement arcades near the main gates to the pleasure park, A Mini Golf course and Chip Shops.
The park itself is an unofficial historic icon for leisure and tourism in South Wales.
One of the oldest and most well-known rides that the park has to offer is the Log Flume, which has stayed the same for many years, except for the recent 'animalised' boats and a multicoloured coat of paint.
Other major attractions include The Viper, a slightly amusing steel coaster in which riders sit in single cars rather than the usual long train, The Haunted Mine (ghost train), a Magic Carpet which I haven't seen in operation for ten years, Evolution (a cross between an Enterprise and Gyro Swing), a Pirate Ship, Waltzers and what everyone loves: A traditional Merry-Go-Round.


Bad Points

One mid-summer afternoon in 2006, I visited Barry Island. The pleasure park was open, but only four of the children's rides were open and all of the others, especially larger ones like "Viper" (roller coaster) and "Evolution" were all covered up and closed. The most noticeable thing from that visit was the Log Flume, which was full of algae and was, too, closed.
Also note that if you love the idea of heading to Barry Island and declaring war on your friends on the dodgems, please look out for the "No Bumping" signs. This I find mind boggling, seeing the main purpose of BUMPER CARS is to BUMP into each other.
Another major factor is the recognisable wear and tear of the park. Although they've added colourful picnic tables and tried to spruce the place up.


General Comments

Back in the days when Butlins was the biggest UK holiday destination (Barry Butlins used to be right behind the pleasure park), Barry Island was a number 1 spot for leisure in South Wales 3 decades ago. Nowadays it's pretty-much a fairground in the middle of a housing estate. Over the past few years, rumours have gone around that Barry Island pleasure park is going to close down, resulting in Barry Island as a whole area completly disappearing to nothing but just a beach and a name. I do believe this due to the re-developments around the park and I reckon the pleasure park will all be gone before 2010 unless new management and a number of changes to improve the park is done.
If I were in charge and was given £900,000, I'd probably turn Barry Island Pleasure Park into a thriving out of town hotspot once again.
If you're after a nice afternoon outside Cardiff in the summer holidays, go for a stroll around Barry Island while it's still standing, but don't expect many of the rides to be open. If you're after a fun-filled outing with bigger rides and more family choice and you wouldn't mind travelling a bit further, head to Oakwood.

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Members' Comments onGuest's Review

  • Seaside Loverq on 15th May 2009

    £900k would not go far in a pleasure park. I believe the pleasure park has had to struggle with tourism since Butlins was sold.
    As well as the fact that travelling abroad has now become almost as cheap as travelling the country for a family holiday. Who's going to want to sun themselves on a beach in their own country when they can travel abroad? If you travel to almost every seaside resort across the country you will spot the same pattern. It's the lack of support from the local community and councils that are not helping these struggling seaside resorts.

  • funfairmanager on 9th Aug 2009

    I do not agree with this review you say if you had £900,000.00 you could make it a thriving place again but im affraid to tell you that you would be wrong see people dont know what it takes to run a fun fair and people dont know what it costs there are several things rides have to go through to make sure they can open for the public and this is at heavey costing i dont exspect people to understand this....
    It also dont help with the weather as this damages things we do to the park and we dont get many vistors when the weather is bad so we find it hard at times people find it easy to judge but as normal people dont know what happens behind the scenes.