Barry Island Pleasure Park is an amusement park situated on the coast at Barry Island in the Vale of Glamorgan, about 10 miles south west of the capital city Cardiff, Wales. The park opened annually at weekends from Easter onwards and daily during the school summer holidays, until the first weekend in September.
Barry Island contains shops, bars and restaurants. The Pleasure Park was once famous for its Scenic Railway which dominated half of the site in the mid-20th century, but was partially destroyed in a gale in 1973 before being dismantled. Many of the scenic railway’s beams were used in the building of the Log Flume ride, which was one of the park’s most popular attractions.
The Pleasure Park has over thirty attractions and rides. However lack of investment in the park resulted in the majority of these being removed, notably the Viper rollercoaster and the Log Flume. Park entrance is free of charge.
Several Amusement arcades are located around the pleasure park.
Barry Island Pleasure Park is part owned by Ian Rogers, who ran Welsh discount chain Hypervalue before it ran into financial difficulties. In 2006, Hilco UK Ltd who specialise in dealing with failing retail businesses assumed control of the ailing Hypervalue group and commenced disposing of various Hypervalue stores and settling accounts with the many creditors. Mr Rogers now owns part of the reorganised group, renamed Hypa Xtra. The park was operated by showman Vernon Studt between 2010 and 2014 under a lease from the joint owners.