Thorpe Park Resort

[Swarm Chris]

So they seem to be removing a lot of things this season.

Confirmed:
Loggers Leap
Colossus Water Theming

All-but confirmed:
I'm a Celebrity

Reasonably probable:
Sticky Sisters
Old Town Burger King
Old Town Random Food Outlet by Rocky Express

Completely made up:
The rest of Colossus :sus:

As of yet, nothing notable having been added, but there have been reasonably substantial maintenance work on Inferno and to a lesser extent The Swarm. Plus The Dome appears to have had some work. Also they promised last year that a new parking system would be in place this year to prevent the 2 hour queues to get out on a weekend, so I'm sure they've done that too... :-k

Hopefully this means the focus has been on making sure what they have works well. Reliability seemed fairly good last year when compared to the previous year (excluding DBGT), so hopefully that continues.

Will also be interesting to see what the Old Town area is like now. Could it be a bit of a construction site this year? Or just a lot of empty units?

[Swarm Chris]

Not surprising at all. Every year left abandoned pushed the restoration cost up further. I wonder what the real cause for it to be closed in the first place was?

Strange that whilst everyone else is leading into the season talking about new and exciting things, Thorpe make a big song and dance about removing a seemingly condemned ride. Would have been great for them to have said, we're removing this, because we're building this. But at least we have some form of construction movement going on at the park again, because they have to be finally removing it now for a reason.

It was a great ride. As a very small kid it terrified me more than Dragon River (Tiger Rock), but as a teenager it was brilliant fun. Very slight amount of airtime on the double drop, whilst a relaxed ride through a little Canadian scene in the back end of the ride. The interaction with Hudson River Rafts was also fun, going really far back in the parks history!

[Dom]

Don't forget Timber Tug, Rocky Express and Lumber Jump are still in Old Town at the moment and there has been no word on them. If they are to remain open, Old Town would need to remain open. 

[abigsmurf]

Really sad this is gone, it really was a classic log flume.

Not sure why Merlin are so insistent on clearing out 'whole family' rides like this. It's increasingly difficult bringing family to theme parks because they get to the end of the day and realize they've only been on 3-4 different rides. Too old for rides aimed at small children, not confident enough for white knuckles.

[Matt80302]

Logger’s Leap is confirmed closed guys: link.  

That's a pretty big area to work with now if Project 2020 is to go there.

[lewis97]

Well I mean reportedly DBGT cost up to £31,000,000 overall and the time difference between The Swarm and DBGT is 4 years so if they can make that money in that time then 2016-2020 is just the right time frame to be able to afford something big like a B&M hyper/ giga coaster! Maybe a B&M giga like Fury 325 or Millenium Force would go nicely in the Old Town area if they cleared it properly.

Whatever the cost of DBGT was, that shouldn't be taken as meaning Thorpe generated the equivalent amount in profits in the years between the opening of The Swarm and DBGT.

[GregH94]

Was a great log flume and it certainly will be missed - but now's an opportunity for the next new coaster to go there and use the woodland to its advantage.

As for reasons why it originally closed - any truth to the rumour of it not passing its fire safety inspection way back at the end of 2015 (that would explain the extensive SBNO period)? I've heard one of water quality being thrown around as well, but the Rapids are still operating. 

[Wickerwoman]

I don’t know if anybody has seen, but on the FAQ on Thorpe website with regards to Loggers it states that this area is now part of their long term development plan.

[Justin]

Was a great log flume and it certainly will be missed - but now's an opportunity for the next new coaster to go there and use the woodland to its advantage.

As for reasons why it originally closed - any truth to the rumour of it not passing its fire safety inspection way back at the end of 2015 (that would explain the extensive SBNO period)? I've heard one of water quality being thrown around as well, but the Rapids are still operating. 

I believe new regulations came in a couple of years ago which meant that additional evacuation platforms would have to be installed.

With regards to the area as a whole, there have been rumours that Old Town will disappear, along with The Slammer site, Sticky Sisters tent and Burger King to make way for a new ride. It was suggested that the station would be located around The Slammer too.

[lewis97]

I don’t know if anybody has seen, but on the FAQ on Thorpe website with regards to Loggers it states that this area is now part of their long term development plan.

Technically any area of the Resort could be considered possible for development in the long term.

The fact they can't hint at anything meaningful in terms of a possible future attraction on the site doesn't fill me with much optimism that there's any substantiated plans for the area in the next couple of years. Of course that could just be to avoid having to answer this sort of question again:

Why did your website and social media channels keep promising ‘news’?

As with many things, situations can change and as plans develop they often move in different directions. We’ll always look back fondly on Logger’s Leap but now it’s time to look ahead to the future. Keep an eye out on our website and social channels over the coming weeks as we will be revealing our exciting 2019 plans very soon!

Of course, as with many of Merlin’s ride closures of the last few years, it was never shuttered with the primary purpose of refurbishing or enhancing them. That was a ‘nice to have’ touted by the park to try to alleviate some of the negativity.

This section of the press release seems almost laughable:

To honor the memory of Logger’s Leap and in celebration of the Resort’s 40th birthday this year, Thorpe Park Resort is asking fans of the ride to help them create a memory mosaic; consisting of photos showcasing Logger’s Leap memories from families and friends who have enjoyed the ride over the years. Fans are invited to share their nostalgic pictures from the ride by posting on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, tagging Thorpe Park Resort and using #OneLastLeap.

Clearly a better way to honor the memory of Logger’s Leap and celebrate the Resort’s 40th birthday would have been to reopen the ride, after giving it the attention that three years of closure would have allowed.

[Swarm Chris]

There is a surprisingly large amount of information on that FAQ. They even put together a full press release, which is the first press release since 2016 to have been about something other than Fight Nights. Makes me start to think that there is rebuilding going on behind the scenes at the park and perhaps everything is not doom and gloom there.

Some other pieces from the FAQ:

Q: Why have you decided not to re-open the Logger’s Leap ride?

Sadly in recent years, the ride lost some of its magic and we feel now is the time to bid farewell to the Logs and look ahead at how we continue to create new and exciting experiences for families in the future.

A rare mention of families in Thorpe Park literature. Although, slightly further down it also mentions being the nation's thrill park.

Q: Why did your website and social media channels keep promising ‘news’?

As with many things, situations can change and as plans develop they often move in different directions. We’ll always look back fondly on Logger’s Leap but now it’s time to look ahead to the future. Keep an eye out on our website and social channels over the coming weeks as we will be revealing our exciting 2019 plans very soon!

An acknowledgement that things were perhaps not handled the best they could have been with Loggers, which the park could have simply just ignored. Talking about the future makes me think that this is perhaps the new mantra of the park: draw a line at where they were and make a new more positive start.

Makes me wonder if this closure notice has deeper meaning within the park and is more symbolic of fresh starts?

Edit: As didn't see Lewis' post when submitting. Here we have two very different ways of looking at the same stuff. :lol

[Sozzy40]

I know Thorpe Park want to be a thrill park and only install attractions which appeal to teenagers. However, not all their guests are 16-year-old McDonalds workers,and there are plenty of families who don't want to be terrified on TWD:TR. The ride really hasn't lost much of its magic, but still, bring on the RMC/B&M Giga/

[Swarm Chris]

I'm fairly sure those 3 rides will remain open, but it seems like they could be even more isolated now. The section between Inferno and Saw seems like it could have nothing in it.

Plus in Merlin advert news, received the latest advert for exciting things in 2019. It's too long to post, but it lists with big flashy adverts:

Alton Towers Dungeon
Legoland Haunted House
Chessington Room on the Broom
Warwick Castle The Falconer's Quest, bird of prey show.

And at the bottom, a generic picture of Stealth with the promise of unforgettable Island memories.

At least Merlin remembered Thorpe exist this time. :lol

[Dan]

I’m disappointed, but not at all surprised by this.

Given how Loggers has essentially been left to rot, it would have taken time and money to restore it to an operational state, resources which Merlin clearly weren’t willing to allocate to the attraction.

RIP Loggers

[PhNx Survivor]

With Robin Hood at Walibi Holland being converted to RMC.. Merlin have to realise that with the success of Wicker Man for one, and with the re-opening of Colossus at Heide Park (is that right?) Then either another GCI in Loggers place, or to really up the game, RMC.

With the competition of other parks now coming through, Merlin really need to step their game up with new concepts from across the pond.

EDIT: If not an RMC, then a B&M Hyper coaster. Ideally with the removal of all the structures and rides in that area, I'm edging towards the idea of an RMC.

[Wagstaff04]

https://twitter.com/THORPEPARK/status/1 ... 0238900226

[Justin]

It wouldn't surprise me if they reopened Zombie Hunt with either Fortnite characters or CoD.

[Swarm Chris]

Is that the new graphic that will appear in the queue times listing when DBGT goes above 90 minutes?

Edit: The graphic from above



Source

[Swarm Chris]

Infinite double posts!

We've seen this symbol being cryptically used at Thorpe before.



Expectations aren't massively high, but a 2020 announcement is still possible.

[Liam.W]

Coincidence? I think not!