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Logger's Leap


Garyy

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Bit of closure at last for a few on here. The way they closed and deliberately misled people over the last three years is the real story here. I made my peace with Loggers closure years back and I think my favourite memory of this ride will always be riding it for 7 hours for charity back in 2004. 

 

It will forever be one of my favourite log flumes for its short and snappy ride length, decent drops and surprising level of wetness. Whilst there are technically more superior log flumes these days, Loggers was a classic. The way Thorpe treated this ride towards the end of its life with its historical significance was pretty shameful IMO.

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40 minutes ago, Ivsetti said:

The park's own response:

image.png.ffc45fcfbe53f6add66e756efe6ba814.png

I personally can't wait to see what will be replacing it.

"Many years in advance". As Coaster said, "They've had 3 years". Speculation time?

I think what’s interesting about this response is not loggers or development related and that’s the fact for the first time they’ve properly mentioned about their 40th birthday and the fact they have some sort of ‘unmissable experiences’ this year. So be interesting to see what it is they are actually not telling us yet.

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1 hour ago, Ivsetti said:

image.png.ffc45fcfbe53f6add66e756efe6ba814.png

Couple more interesting responses from the park (I'll try and screenshot them in later if I can be bothered)...

 

Quote

Hi Danielle, Unfortunately as with all things plans can change We hope those who loved going on the ride remember it as fondly as we do, but we think now is the time for us to cherish those memories and look forward at how we continue to make Thorpe Park Resort the UK’s most thrilling destination. - James

Interesting they're keeping the "thrilling destination" line - very much still points to being the young adult market. Maybe not the most sensible direction to be promoting given the loss of a family ride.

Quote

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! - Josh

Now, I don't doubt that Thorpe had plans to reopen Loggers Leap. In fact, in an alternate universe, it may have even reopened this year. It's closure came at a time when Merlin were tightening their own H&S policies, and log flumes required a lot of work to fall in line with that (no doubt Loggers moreso due to its location over a lake). The money wasn't around, but maybe they hoped it would be.

 

The thing is though, the communication has been appalling. From just quietly removing it from the website, to cheap fences to hide the ride, to just saying they hope it may return it. And then, 3 years later, to announce what they really should have done 3 years ago feels very much like a 'oh s#!t, we can't afford to fix it up and everyone keeps mentioning it, what do we do??'. It's rather jarring.

 

It's a situation where they're damned if they did and damned if they didn't, but it's one they put themselves in. One can only hope that whatever they offer over the next couple of years can help improve the overall resort offering and create a new, decent, family attraction

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3 minutes ago, Ivsetti said:

Seeing as it's not in their MTDP but rather in their LTDP I'm guessing so.

Just to be more clear: strictly speaking, there's no 'MTDP' nor 'LTDP'. These are more terms for things which are submitted to councils / revealed to local authorities.

 

More accurately, the parks will work on a rolling 5 year plan. Obviously, they'll have the most detailed plan for the current / following year, and it becomes vaguer and less determined as you look further into the future. Those plans will be based on hitting certain targets, and choosing developments which will help them get there. When Thorpe submitted their MTDP to the council, it is fair to say, though, that it would give a rough indication of what their 5 year plan was at the time.

 

Outside of that, they'll have a longer term idea. Again, something based more on hitting targets rather than certain attractions, but they'll be aware of certain rides reaching the life expectancy / needing major work done, areas which could be redeveloped, etc

 

What Thorpe are saying on their social media, about working many years in advance, means very little. They may have a plan set in place for 2 years' time. Maybe 5 years. Maybe they don't. They'll just say it so it sounds like they're doing something. So I wouldn't read into it too much.

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Is this just an amazing coincidence given the timing this was posted on Instagram, or are Liseberg being proper trolls to Thorpe right now?

 

Either way, I love it! :lol:

 

20190220_203636.thumb.jpg.6e87dfdb1d7369edd2c6ce6cfcf7edbd.jpg

 

And just to remind everyone, Liseberg's FlumeRide is now 46 years old and still looks and runs better than any remaining log flume left in Britain......

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A terrible decision.

 

Loggers Leap was, as has been said previously, a very popular family ride which filled a much-needed gap at Thorpe.  It was of a far superior quality to the likes of Storm Surge and had a much higher throughput to match.  The loss of this ride further displays Thorpe's absolute lack of direction, when they prioritise IP attractions over maintaining key staple attractions you know there is something wrong.

 

Furthermore, the communication on social media regarding this over the last 3 years has been absolutely unacceptable.  Saying it's closed for maintenance (at the very first stage), then that it'll make a splashback, saying the area was under redevelopment (looks like that's gone well... 3 years?!).  It's a joke.

 

Thorpe is in a dire state and this further highlights that.  3 years to announce that it'll never return, that's 3 years that they could've been refurbishing it or rebuilding its replacement.  Also, remind me why we have to have one-in, one-out with things like this?  Like, Wicker Man at Alton is great but now the park only has two water rides (one of which is broken, the other has only worth doing on the hottest of days).  Why not build a new coaster, and keep the water ride?

 

--

 

In other news, Pleasurewood Hills have announced today that their Rattlesnake roller coaster (closed in 2016) will reopen this year.  Isn't that nice.

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34 minutes ago, Marhelorpe said:

Is this just an amazing coincidence given the timing this was posted on Instagram, or are Liseberg being proper trolls to Thorpe right now?

 

Either way, I love it! :lol:

 

20190220_203636.thumb.jpg.6e87dfdb1d7369edd2c6ce6cfcf7edbd.jpg

 

And just to remind everyone, Liseberg's FlumeRide is now 46 years old and still looks and runs better than any remaining log flume left in Britain......

Goes to show how different things could have been. A true shame. 

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So a “help” section has been created - maybe if they’d maintained the ride it wouldn’t of lost its magic?

 

https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002574552-Will-Loggers-Leap-be-re-opening-

 

Quote

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.

 

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1 hour ago, Coaster said:

A terrible decision.

 

Loggers Leap was, as has been said previously, a very popular family ride which filled a much-needed gap at Thorpe.  It was of a far superior quality to the likes of Storm Surge and had a much higher throughput to match.  The loss of this ride further displays Thorpe's absolute lack of direction, when they prioritise IP attractions over maintaining key staple attractions you know there is something wrong.

I think in its current state it would of been a lost cause trying to bring it back anyway, I think in its current state its just better to bulldoze it and start from scratch.

The park letting it get to that state in the first place though is wrong and the ride certainly was a true classic that Merlin decided to write off as it probably needed a bit more upkeep than Rumba or Storm Trash.

Loggers was easily one of the best log flumes in the UK and in no world was it "losing its magic", I think what Thorpe really mean is "we were losing money"..

 

Unlike Rattlesnake I don't think Loggers in its current state was in anyway salvageable, its so derelict honestly I would agree with Thorpe just bulldozing it for something new.

I think the sad thing we probably won't see a replacement for a long time because Thorpe don't seem so sure on what they want to do with the Loggers space.

At least with Wickerman we knew from 2016 that Flume was being removed for a new roller coaster, it was also heavily rumored beforehand too so we knew that space was gonna become SW8.

With Loggers we just got 3 years of vague statements..

 

 

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28 minutes ago, Ringo said:

So a “help” section has been created - maybe if they’d maintained the ride it wouldn’t of lost its magic?

 

https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002574552-Will-Loggers-Leap-be-re-opening-

 

 

That's a disgrace.  The only reason it lost its magic is because they left it to rot and didn't maintain it properly!

 

Even now they still show complete disrespect to their customers by saying things like this.

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10 hours ago, StevenVig said:

To all those enthusiasts who were like OMFG THE LIFT HILL LIGHTZ R ON, ITZ COMING BACK 4 2019!!!! You must feel like idiots now ?

 

Wonder how long this will be SBNO before it's *actually* removed, just like Slammer

 

 

This. It'll still be there for another couple of years for sure. Just like Slammer. Because cost cutting.

 

Pains me seeing Slammer SBNO :(

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Interesting it refers to creating new experiences for families. "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."


Families one minute, thrill seekers the next. Maybe the next new development will be that Wacky Worm or a smaller scale coaster/ride, far from the RMC, thrilling GCI or Hyper everyone wants so much.

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I don't know why everyone thinks an RMC is gonna happen over Loggers Leap. We forget the 5 golden rules with any new permanent Thorpe attraction these days:

1) Must have an IP and world-first.

2) Must be a dark theme.
3) Must be a short-term investment.

4) Must involve actors.

5) Must be naff.

An RMC or hyper-coaster would break most, if not all these rules; stuff Thorpe clearly doesn't dare want to compromise on!

:rolleyes:

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2 hours ago, Ringo said:

So a “help” section has been created - maybe if they’d maintained the ride it wouldn’t of lost its magic?

 

https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002574552-Will-Loggers-Leap-be-re-opening-

 

 

That help section is so full of bulls**t. Why not be just honest for a change and say it was too expensive to refurbish because years of neglect had taken its toll. Losing its magic indeed, give me strength.

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