Logger's Leap

[BAYDEEUH]

Bring back our ride

[TPGG]

12 minutes ago, BAYDEEUH said:

Bring back our ride

[Matt 236]

Canada Creek (now Old Town) used to be such a lively and atmospheric area of the park, but now its little more than a lifeless, bland and pointless dead zone in the park (with the exception of Fright Nights).

• Loggers Leap rotting away behind a concealed fence, fed fake/incorrect rumours of it returning 
• CCR- station and building abandoned and rotting away (notice the real theme)
• Former Noodle Restaurant left derelict and abandoned
• Quick service kiosks left mothballed for most/all of the year
• Two kiddie rides cheaply ’slapped down’ in poor locations with garish/clashing colour schemes
• Slammer remaining SBNO/mothballed nearby

So much needs to be done in this area to bring it back to life and the way the park have lied about Loggers reopening, when it clearly won’t is hugely disappointing.

[Marley]

20 hours ago, Cedar Creek said:

Canada Creek (now Old Town) used to be such a lively and atmospheric area of the park, but now its little more than a lifeless, bland and pointless dead zone in the park (with the exception of Fright Nights).

• Loggers Leap rotting away behind a concealed fence, fed fake/incorrect rumours of it returning 
• CCR- station and building abandoned and rotting away (notice the real theme)
• Former Noodle Restaurant left derelict and abandoned
• Quick service kiosks left mothballed for most/all of the year
• Two kiddie rides cheaply ’slapped down’ in poor locations with garish/clashing colour schemes
• Slammer remaining SBNO/mothballed nearby

So much needs to be done in this area to bring it back to life and the way the park have lied about Loggers reopening, when it clearly won’t is hugely disappointing.

By the sounds of it, seems like Thorpe are looking to bulldoze the entire area to install something new in the future. Shame they've had to lie for years about the status of Loggers. Obviously I'm just guessing but seeing as it's one of the oldest parts of the park. They must be looking into what can replace the area. There's only Canada Creek and the space behind Swarm that can have developments built upon, (unless Rumba get removed in the near future).

[Mark9]

On 12/9/2018 at 10:23 PM, Wumbamillio said:

The unprofessionalism all round from Thorpe Park is shocking. And no offence but it's pretty embarassing to see a self-appointed theme park 'personality' seemingly using their job at Thorpe Park as self validation for their inflated enthusiast opions.

 

I know many enthusiasts (in the real sense of the word, not this enthusiast "community" cult  ideology) who are extremely hard working and have been in the attraction industry for years. They make it all happen to entertain others, they dont get any wider recognition and they dont seek it either. Whereas this Jordan character trying to get PR attention at any opportunity, the tweets, that dumb enthusiast awards thing and many other enthusiast cliques, seem to be far more interested in themselves than working in entertainment. Or getting their enthusiast friends 'in' behind the scenes so they can boast about themselves too.

Thorpe Park needs to get back to basics, get back in touch with the public (especially if it's wanting to go for families more like it says it does) and offer a good value day out. Not a day in a tarmac car park sponsored by a hundred fads, with signs constantly reminding you you're on "the island" (whoops, you built over most views of the water years ago!), and then getting egotists to tell others why they're wrong online.
 

Theme parks are really just about having a laugh out with friends, with a day of fun.  Isn't that what we all got into it for?

People behind the scenes need to be open minded, less self congratulatory and sort the park out properly. But I guess massively glamorising the 'brand' to the point that it bears no resemblance to the park is what they're better at and all they're interested in currently.

 

Never a greater post on this forum.

[SteveJ]

Thanks! By the way apologies if my language seemed 'personally' attacking, I dont care about what these people are like in person, only their professional involvement with the park and 'enthusiast' influence. I hope the post makes clear the reasons why, Thorpe needs something to save it from the way it's going and the current direction just isnt it.

[Olistjj]

 

Yeah they haven’t done any work whatsoever ?

[Hethetheth]

No work on Loggers?!

 

 

Shocking.

[JoshC.]

What sort of pillock breaks into a theme park and records themselves, including their face? 

[Coaster]

What an absolute disgrace.

 

By that I mean both the state of the ride and the person breaking in.

[Matt A]

Interesting to see some areas that Thorpe clearly don't want the public to see, strange that they keep the lighting on if no work is being done ? Also highlights once again that Thorpe has a security problem, you'd think they'd sort it out after the break ins and people scaling Stealth (although the guy did say he filmed that video a few months ago).

[Marc]

Abit stupid - im sure the park will deal with it mind with their face / name all over the video.

 

As for the state of the ride it don’t really look any different to what I’d expect, cut down some trees, clear the leaves out and fill it with water and it wouldn’t look any different to it did on its last day of operation.. fingers crossed we get a firm answer on its future either way next season.

[Matt 236]

The state of Loggers from those videos is exactly what I expected, I couldn’t see anything finer from such a company!

 

Anyhow, at leas the railway trains are in adequate condition otherwise anyone who hasn’t been to the place might think it’s one of those abandoned theme parks. Like Nara Dreamland or Six Flags New Orleans.

 

I'm so assured it’s reopening, that I thought I’d show my reaction for it’s opening day!

Better than nothing I suppose!

 

 

[Hethetheth]

It was a very fun log flume. It was (at its peak) themed well and just a good laugh. In a park full of 'extreme' thrills it was the light-hearted bit of joy which the park now lacks.

[Coaster]

It was a fantastic log flume with a dark section (before the tunnel was removed), decent theming and the last drop was just incredible.

 

It added something that everyone in the family could enjoy, which is vital for theme parks, and it had one of the highest throughputs at Thorpe.

[SteveJ]

4 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

As someone that's never ridden the ride what was the ride like that makes it so special (or is it just sentimental value)?

It was one of the most entertaining attractions on park and the park's best family attraction.

Not intense like the coasters, but definitely one of the most all-round entertaining, probably my favourite log flume in the UK after Dragon Falls had all its theme destroyed. It took a really good route round a part the park you never see now and had two thrilling drops.

Also regardless of what us think as young adult enthusiasts, it was a big part of Thorpe's family line up which they are now desperate for. And trying to hide that a ride has been removed from the lineup the way they did with Loggers and Alton Towers did with Charlie, by saying it is 'being redeveloped' is clearly very bad practice.

[Matt 236]

Even still to this day, Loggers is/was my favourite UK Flume Ride. It’s (originally) indoor drop and tunnel, ‘double’ drop amongst it’s lake/vegetational landscaping made for a lovely experience (as simplistic it may be). The ride’s ‘wellrounded’ appeal and historical value (with Royals).

 

The way the whole attraction has been supposedly ‘covered’ up, is worse than a lazy student losing their coursework.

 

 

[Marhelorpe]

At least from that video we now know the fate of the missing native American figure which used to be on Rocky Express until sometime earlier this calendar year! xD

But yeah, hardly surprising seeing the state of what Loggers Leap has become looking at that video. About what was expected really. The fact the lighting for the tunnel, lift hills and the security system in the control cabin was still running is odd though. As a whole I've noticed that during closed seasons quite a few things across all the Merlin parks remain on, presumably for security reasons.

[Vince800]

Interesting video. Superficially it isn't looking too bad and if the leaves were cleared out, it wouldn't look much different to how it did when it was running in recent years.

 

We don't know however what it is like structurally and it doesn't have any of the mods which were made to Dragon Falls some years back. It still has for example the crude (for the present day) evacuation steps on the lift hill (which he partially walks down in the video). On Dragon Falls, these were replaced with the much more sturdy and safe metal steps as well as evacuation platforms throughout the ride. I think it's no coincidence that Loggers & the Flume closed around the same time that Dragon Falls had these mods done to it being as they are the same type of flume. In the case of the flume they were going to be removing it anyway and with Loggers, I guess they're just not sure what the plans are at the moment.

 

In my opinion, if Dragon Falls was not so central to the park and such a substantial ride for Chessington (not to mention planning issues), this probably would have closed around the same time too. 

 

As for the lights being left on and the cameras, it's likely that this is part of a central system and not specific to the ride it's self. The camera DVRs may have other cameras from the old town area going back to those boxes as it's as good a place as any to store this equipment, I'm very surprised that it's all left unlocked though and seemingly easily accessible as the video shows. 

[SteveJ]

6 hours ago, Vince800 said:

it doesn't have any of the mods which were made to Dragon Falls some years back. It still has for example the crude (for the present day) evacuation steps on the lift hill (which he partially walks down in the video). On Dragon Falls, these were replaced with the much more sturdy and safe metal steps as well as evacuation platforms throughout the ride. I think it's no coincidence that Loggers & the Flume closed around the same time that Dragon Falls had these mods done to it being as they are the same type of flume. In the case of the flume they were going to be removing it anyway and with Loggers, I guess they're just not sure what the plans are at the moment.

How about all the other Mack log flumes around the world that don't have these modifications? They're still able to keep operating fine.

The evac steps on Falls were mostly done because evacuations became so frequent on that ride (because it was knackared, through years of dodgy maintenance all adding up) that it gave a terrible impression to guests and were not suited to regular evac use. The original steps were clearly designed more for general access. That's also why the gantry was added to where boats stack coming back to the station, because so many guests were needing to 'boat hop'.

Merlin would rather brush as much under the carpet as they can, and only when they fear a video going online of 'OMG evacd from wooden steps up 100ft on dangerous water ride!!!!' will they spend money like that. Loggers could have had the cash granted to make any adaptions they thought necessary, but it got mothballed instead.

[Vince800]

Quote

How about all the other Mack log flumes around the world that don't have these modifications? They're still able to keep operating fine.

 

Yes, I did notice on Youtube how other Mack log flumes from the same time period still have the original set up. I always assumed it was just a Merlin wide thing these modifications though as well as the new evac steps\platforms there was some structural work done around the trough in various places too.

 

Quote

The evac steps on Falls were mostly done because evacuations became so frequent on that ride (because it was knackared, through years of dodgy maintenance all adding up) that it gave a terrible impression to guests and were not suited to regular evac use. The original steps were clearly designed more for general access. That's also why the gantry was added to where boats stack coming back to the station, because so many guests were needing to 'boat hop'.

 

I never realised that Dragon Falls was in such a bad way. Admittedly I don't go to the parks much but the times I do, any evacs or estops were usually caused by people fooling around standing up etc.  

 

It's ridiculous really, the other Mack log Flumes around the world seem to go on without issue. As for lack of attention to detail with Merlin, a really obvious comparison is to look at the cosmetic state of Vampire compared with the other Arrows suspended coasters still running around the world too. 

[Martin Doyle]

 

*When Thorpe Park are asked if Loggers Leap will return.

[Vince800]

Thing is, any water ride placed where Loggers Leap currently is would require a closed, filtered water system. I'm not sure how feasible that would be in the location that loggers is in.

[JoshC.]

Have ridden Speed at Energylandia (effectively a clone of Divertical, just with the MCBR somehow removed), I wouldn't mind something like that at Thorpe actually. I feel like I'm in the minority of enthusiasts who really enjoy it, it's a solid queue eater and just really good fun. 

 

I don't think the Loggers location would work for it (as explained above). And I'd be surprised if Thorpe would ever invest in something like it.

 

The Loggers location would still be perfect for a flyer in my opinion, as was originally planned before Saw became a thing. Interactions with the lake and trees would be it a great, fun ride. And with Vekoma getting back into the flyer game, that could be a very interesting option to pursue..

[RobF]

We all knew it but NOOO!