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Blackpool Pleasure Beach: General Discussion

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pj said:
How long does it take? Surely they know their own opening day? I can understand older rides breaking down but Icon is a poor show isn’t it?


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Aren’t modern rides MORE likely to break down as the computer systems are so complex? Look at first few weeks of Wickerman. How often does Big Dipper break down with its ancient technology?
 
MakoMania said:
To be fair to the park, they recognised that today was not normal for opening day and were offering full refunds upon request as a result.
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Fair play to them for this. Isn’t that why Wow weekends are half price anyway? Because you can’t guarantee the rides are running well (if at all) and generally you’re not gonna get great weather in Feb? That said, it’s been a very mild week.

Perhaps another year, they could take another month to get everything running well, then do weekends in March before opening fully in April?
 
Dipper_Dave said:
Aren’t modern rides MORE likely to break down as the computer systems are so complex? Look at first few weeks of Wickerman. How often does Big Dipper break down with its ancient technology?
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But this isn’t the first few weeks of Icon.


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Dipper_Dave said:
Aren’t modern rides MORE likely to break down as the computer systems are so complex? Look at first few weeks of Wickerman. How often does Big Dipper break down with its ancient technology?
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In my experience, once you start replacing hardware with software, it's inevitable that sooner or later things will go tits-up.
All galleries in TV studios have a clock. Or at least, they used to. Nowadays real, physical clocks have been replaced with screens that display a computer generated graphic of a clock. Well last week, that computer crashed. It took the engineers most of the day to fix it. In the old days, if a clock failed, all you had to do was replace the battery.

Progress!
 
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You had warning...
 
The Beach has given refunds for first day issues on a number of occasions in the past.
It was better in the days of tickets, one year we got four books of white knuckle tickets because we complained there was only one coaster open...so we still had our original tickets, and an extra set, each.
Felt like millionaires...

And...if you are actually at the park, and not a seasoned armchair whiner, with a season pass, go to guest services and raise your concerns with the staff there...I have done so in the past and have found their responses reasonable, fair, and most worthwhile.
Sometimes, making a fair complaint, in a reasonable manner, at the right place and time, pays dividends.
It all depends on your attitude at the counter.
 
Dipper_Dave said:
Aren’t modern rides MORE likely to break down as the computer systems are so complex? Look at first few weeks of Wickerman. How often does Big Dipper break down with its ancient technology?
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Isn't it just because it's new to their respective parks? After all, there was nothing particularly unique about Wicker Man or Icon.

There will be teething issues and the operators and technical staff lack the experience to diagnose and fix them quickly. I wonder if even the oldest rides caused grief when they first opened?
 
Alsty said:
There will be teething issues and the operators and technical staff lack the experience to diagnose and fix them quickly. I wonder if even the oldest rides caused grief when they first opened?
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I tried asking the ride ops from the early days of the Big Dipper. They didn’t even respond ;)
 
Sorry dippy I was in the loo.
Yes, the Dipper has always had problems on opening day of the season.
On a more honest note...
Going back four decades of visiting on opening weekend, there has always been operational issues, the harder the winter, the harder it is to get going again.
It is like turning the heating back on after a long summer, sometimes things go wrong.
I used to be (very) old plumbers runner for parts when the first cold weather arrived, then I got my boiler serviced for free. He just couldn't cope with the amount of work for those couple of weeks.
Modern boilers are very efficient, but unreliable compared to old fashioned boilers...they had little to go wrong.
What you gain in efficiency, you lose in breakdown, service and repair costs.
I don't think it is much different for coasters.
 
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