Guys, it's happened...

EDIT:

Dom wrote:

Thorpe Park have announced that Loggers Leap won’t be returning and that parts from the ride will be auctioned off!

Damn, you beat me to it.

So, Merlin only typically auction things off when they're intending on putting something else in it's place very soon.

Just saying...

Swarm Chris wrote:

So, Merlin only typically auction things off when they're intending on putting something else in it's place very soon.

Just saying...

The new 2021/2022 coaster will be going in place of Loggers Leap, spanning some distance of the park with a huge turnaround/new element behind Im A Celeb. 

GLZ wrote:

The new 2021/2022 coaster will be going in place of Loggers Leap, spanning some distance of the park with a huge turnaround/new element behind Im A Celeb. 

Do you have a source for this information?

Let me guess is it an RMC T-Rex giga coaster?

I won’t lie, it’s sad, but not at all surprising. I think I’m more surprised by the fact that it’s been actually announced. I think it’s time that it actually went. Parks have to move on. It was a fun ride but here’s hoping we can get something even better. It will be interesting to see what items they put on Ebay!

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!

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 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.

GregH94 wrote:

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.

Wickerwoman wrote:

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.

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.

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/

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

Anyone find it strange that the ride is still SBNO? They said there would be an auction in May yet there is still no sign of this

Lol, why am I not surprised.

Wickerwoman wrote:

Anyone find it strange that the ride is still SBNO? They said there would be an auction in May yet there is still no sign of this

I don’t find it strange that the ride is still SBNO, neither do I find it strange that the auction hasn’t yet been held.

It’s Thorpe, they don’t seem to know from one day to the next what is going on

Well it's definitely not re-opening.

It would be fairly amazing if the park now quietly forgets about the auction, given the way they made such a big thing about its definite removal and subsequent auction in the run-up to the season starting.

I guess the auction is expected to make a splash-back real soon.