A group of fanatical roller-coaster enthusiasts are travelling from Belgium to take part in a special event at Oakwood Theme Park this weekend.
More than 50 members of Rollercoaster Friends are expected at the Pembrokeshire park as part of a whistle-stop visit to Wales.
The decision to come to the park was taken after organisers launched a poll on Facebook to find out which European ride members wanted to visit.
During their visit the group will be given a special behind the scenes tour of Oakwood and allowed exclusive access to some of the rides after the park has officially closed.
Organiser Joris Steppe said: “Our club visited Oakwood back in 2003, as a part of a 10-day UK tour. At that time, everybody just loved the wooden coaster Megafobia.
“A lot of our newer members where asking for a trip to Oakwood for years so we decided to hire a coach and bring them across.
“We started a poll on Facebook, and it seems that most people are looking forward to visiting Oakwood and Megafobia in particular,” he added.
Rollercoaster Friends was founded in 1998 in Belgium as a local answer to the Rollercoaster Club of Great Britain. It now has more than 130 members and organises monthly trips to theme parks both in Europe and the United States.
“This year we have already been to Disneyland Paris and had two weekend trips to German parks. After our UK trip, we’ll go camping in France, travel to Italy for five days of rollercoaster fun and we’ll spend a weekend in Europa Park,” added Joris.
Later this year Oakwood will be playing host to the Rollercoaster Club of Great Britain and the European Coaster Club.
Oakwood Theme Park’s Anthony Crowdie said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming Joris and the other members of Rollercoaster Friends to the park. We are now entering the coaster club ‘season’ and are looking forward to visits from a number of fan clubs and other organisations both from the UK and further afield.”
