Old Town Demolition Roundup
Sunday 15th January 2023
With Thorpe Park doing such a great job at documenting the demolition of Old Town there aren't many changes around the area that we haven't seen on social media from the park's Facebook group.
With the loggers leap station now gone and condensed into a pile of rubble views of the surrounding area are crazy! From monks walk you can now see fully into the area and see the spinning blades of saw.
Now the loggers leap station is gone we can see a few more sections of the ride being removed. Which hasn't been documented on the park's facebook yet. The tunnel on the first lift hill of Loggers Leap is slowly being removed, lots of trees have been removed and are being cut down, and some tiles on the roof of the old train shed have been removed / been damaged in tree clearing.
With Rocky Express now confirmed to be leaving the park and never returning this might also be our last glimpse of the ride. All the cars and water tower ar enow clearly visible from monks walk now the walls of the station have been removed. Some of the train carriages that where previously parked down the old train route towards the farm have now been collected. And the last loggers leap boat has been moved out of Old Town! Previously this boat was used as a planter for the Princess Diana memorial.
This could be our last-ever post with a photo of the loggers leap drop and the old Canada Creek Railway station!
Loggers Leap Station Fully Demolished
Wednesday 11th January 2023
Loggers Leap is gone! Tonights update in the Thorpe Park Passholder group shows videos and photos of the ride station / scare maze building being demolished!
Rest in piece Loggers Leap you served us well.
Loggers Leap Station Demolition Begins
Tuesday 10th January 2023
The Loggers Leap station and Creek Freak Massacre maze is no more! Work on demolishing the station and queue line has begun, photos shared on Thorpe Park Passholder Group show the roof of the covered queue line being ripped off by a digger.
"Although a sad moment for us and many fans, it also makes the start of a new chapter for THORPE PARK Resort as we begin construction of the UK’s tallest rollercoaster"
Project Exodus Ride Foundation Footers Delivered
Monday 9th January 2023
The first part of Project Exodus has been delivered to Thorpe Park and in an exclusive post on the new Facebook Thorpe Park Annual Pass group the park has given us a sneak peek!
This will be the first step of building the new rollercoaster, drilling into the ground and pouring concrete to create bases for new foundations for supports to sit on.
Very exciting times at Thorpe Park!
"We're thrilled to announce the very first parts of Project Exodus have arrived in a secret location at THORPE PARK
These are the ground pins the supports will be connected to and are the first new rollercoaster parts to arrive on the island since the construction of THE SWARM in 2011
IT'S HAPPENING PEOPLE!"
Clearance in Old Town Picks Up
Friday 6th January 2023
Work on demolishing Old Town continues. It won't be long until this area is totally unrecognisable.
Thorpe Park Old Town Demolition Begins
Thursday 29th December 2022
Work on Project Exodus has begun, the demolition of Old Town has officially started and it's the beginning of the end for the area! This closed-season update is the beginning of an exciting few months ahead for Thorpe Park and the skyline of the park. When completed this rollercoaster will drastically change the skyline of the park.
Looking across the lake we can see the sections of track removed from Colossus, Vortex is still undergoing its winter checks, Mr Monkeys Banana Boat Ride is under scaffolding, the teacups have been removed and the second train of Nemesis Inferno can be seen on the brake run with its seats removed.
Back to the exciting part of today's update, the old Canada Creek Railway train shed has received more work. Over the past few weeks, rails and sleepers have been removed from the shed, it shouldn't be long until we see the tent dismantled and this space be left empty for the next few years, in our opinion this space is perfect for a new scare maze? Tracks and sleeps that used to be in the tent can be seen stacked up down monks walk near the old carriages for the ride.
However, inside Old Town is where things are starting to really heat up! Large heavy-duty machines have moved in to demolish rocky express and other buildings within the area. Rocky Express has now been removed with ride cars and the central piece of theming is now sitting on the side waiting to be moved. Hopefully, this ride is put into storage or relocated to another park!
The first building to be removed appears to be the old ice cream unit to the left of the timber tug boat entrance, this place has been more recently used as the buckwheats storage area/recruitment area and the gun collection point for Zombie Hunt. The food unit that previously sold Curly Fries / The Mill Grill is currently being removed, heavy machinery can be seen parked in front of the unit.
Around the rest of the construction site, skips can be seen full of rubbish and buildings that once stood in the area. Fences that stopped access to loggers leap when the attraction closed area are slowly being removed. It won't be long until Loggers Leap is completely gone. This could be the last time we ever see Loggers Leap! Signs for Creek Freak have been removed from the building, along with extraction fans which could previously be seen from monks' walk.
One of other the biggest changes is that the old Canada Creek Railway trains have been moved! They are no longer parked down monks' walk, our suspicions are that they've been sold off or are returning to the original manufacturer Severn Lamb for a refurbishment to then be sold again.
The Island is about to change!
Thorpe Park 2022/2023 Closed Season Insight
Sunday 13th November 2022
The closed season only started a few days ago but work at Thorpe Park is already well underway with the island becoming a hive of activity with rides being stripped down and inspected. With the public footpath monks walk running around the park you can get a great view of the park laying dormant.
Looking across the lake with the help of a long lens we can see the backs of the seats on Vortex have been removed ready to be inspected. A large cherry picker is sat outside Rush for high-level access, we don't think the top of Rush will come off this year, from memory it will be next year that happens again. Fright Nights is still set up across the park with the Terminal shipping containers still in place and Legacy poking through the trees. All of the lights, screen and effects have been removed but the metal structure remains. Scarezone information boards can be seen down by pizza pasta.
Walking further down monks walk, all of the Rumba Rapids boats have been removed and covered over ready for winter. If you look closely, you can see the train for Nemesis Inferno sitting in the station. Two large nitrogen gas canisters from Stealth can be seen sitting down monks walk waiting to be collected. With Wet Wet Wet removed at the start of the 2022 season the old water slide has been nowhere to be seen, however, the sign for the attraction can be seen sitting down the maintenance road next to monks walk.
We all know you've skipped straight to the section about Project Exodus and what's changed! It would appear Thorpe Park is currently hard at work replacing old fences down monks walk, a large section has already been replaced down Old Town / Canada Creek. A big improvement on what was there before! The first big step is renovating the area has begun, with the removal of the old Canada Creek Railway trains from the old train shed, which have laid dormant since the attraction closed in 2011 these trains haven't run in many years and with the rails for the train dug up for Platform 15 we expect it wasn't an easy job moving them. You can see on the wheels of some of the trains that they've been dragged through the mud to get them there. The wheels for the carriages have been removed to make them easier to transport. The fronts for the trains can be seen in one of the carriages. The old trains and carriages have been removed and put further down monks' walk, it's currently unknown if they have been sold or just relocated. If the park didn't move them now they would have been trapped forever! The train shed now lays empty with nothing left inside but some Big Top themed walls.
Looking at the old Canada Creek Railway trains and carriages, all of the doors have been cable-tied shut so they can't swing open whilst being transported. Looking at the engines, you can see the old Thorpe Park logo on them, this is the last time you ever see the old Thorpe Park logo! Your notice there are 3 old Canada Creek Railway trains and an older shunter train which was previously used for treasure island. The history of these trains goes far back!
Back to Project Exodus's construction, it won't be long until we see more heavy machinery move into the area. We expect the first building to be removed will be the Canada Creek Railway station as that will block access to the site. Rocky Express remains standing for now... but for how long! Signage for Creek Freak Massacre remains up in the entrance to the area, we expect over the next few weeks the maze will have anything worth saving removed.
It's going to be a busy closed season for Thorpe Park!
Goodbye Old Town Heavy Machinery Moves In
Monday 7th November 2022
Old Town at Thorpe Park is about to change as we know it, Loggers Leap and the rest of the area over the next few months will be bulldozed and the site prepared for something huge and exciting! The UK's newest and tallest rollercoaster, code-named Project Exodus.
6th November 2022 was the last operational day for Creek Freak Massacre and signals the end for the Fright Nights attraction and the old Loggers Leap ride station. This will perhaps be our last time walking inside this area until the new rollercoaster opens over the next few years.
With planning permission granted last week, a bulldozer can already be seen within the area waiting for work to begin! This is our last look at Old Town before it's totally transformed.
Canada Creek Railway, Rocky Express and Loggers Leap... it's been fun! (we won't count Lumber Jump or Timber Tug)
Project Exodus Given Full Approval
Tuesday 1st November 2022
Project Exodus has been given full approval!
“The Secretary of State has decided not to call in this application. He is content that it should be determined by the local planning authority.”
Thorpe Park Project Exodus Approved... Kinda
Wednesday 5th October 2022
Big news is coming in tonight about Project Exodus, plans for the new rollercoaster were sent to a planning community at Runnymede Borough Council tonight at 6:30pm UK time and it has been announced that plans have been given the green light!
Project Exodus has been approved!
The council's website is yet to be updated but we wonder when we will see some actual marketing from Thorpe Park about this new rollercoaster! It was rumoured that there was space left on the white construction walls ready for new marketing materials to be installed.
EDIT: The local council has approved it but its pending the final sign off
https://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=322455&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING
