If you're heading to Barry Island this weekend, you certainly won't miss the newest attraction that's just arrived at the famous pleasure park. To be honest, you're probably not going to miss it wherever you are.
An enormous new ride that is one of the highest in Europe is opening at the park in the coming days. Seating 32 people at a time, Henry Danter's AEROSPACE will swing riders up and down reaching heights of 214ft above the ground and speeds of up to 75mph.
At £3m, the huge rollercoaster is the most expensive ride to open on Barry Island and took nearly two years to build. Get the latest What's On news from across Wales sent straight to your inbox by signing up to our newsletters.
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Having been developed at the KMG Ride factory in the Netherlands since 2020, the ride was finally shipped to Wales earlier this month before being assembled at the park. While pictures show the ride is now up and running, it won't be open to the public until the weekend.
Park owner Henry Danter, who has poured millions into the iconic funfair since taking it over in 2015, described his newest attraction as a "ride you will never forget," and admitted it was a coup for Barry Island to now be home to a ride that he says is the biggest of its type in the world. At twice the height of the park's famous big wheel, he is expecting AEROSPACE to draw in thrill seekers from far and wide.
"It's the greatest thrill ride ever invented," he said. "It's the biggest of its type in the world and it's up there with the top thrill rides, so it's amazing to have it here. I've got great love and passion for Barry, and I think having a ride like this here is fantastic news for the park, people will have dreamed about this.
"You may forget your trip to Barry," he added. "But you will never forget the thrill of this ride. It goes at speeds of up to 120km/h and the G force has to be around four or five. Thrillseekers, brave boys and girls, will have an experience that they'll take to the grave, and they need look no further than Barry Island because we've got it."
Having waited eagerly for the ride to be built, delivered and assembled, Mr Danter is now hoping to open it to the public at the weekend. He is confident that his record investment into the park will prove to be another success, having arrived in Barry seven years ago determined to return the funfair to its glory days.
"It's a rare beast of a machine," he continued. "It has cost us millions, it's probably the most expensive ride that KMG have ever made. It's taken two years to make and we went to go and see it at the factory out in Holland where we learned how to assemble it.
"To have it here now is fantastic and we're looking forward to welcoming thrill seekers very soon. We have done an awful lot to the park from where we started and we still have a little bit more to do, but this is a great moment for us and I know that people will go home from here with an experience that they will never forget."
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