Codswallop, that's exactly what they're designed for, I have a computer that's been on for 7 years, 24/7, 365 days the only time it's ever been off is when we had a power cut. Most set top DVR boxes never get turned off either, I think ours has been on for a similar time, it's the constant tuyrning on/off each day that does electronics damage, not the other way. If the computers looping animations inside something like Grufallo can't cope, then that's poor design by whoever manufactured it, nothing more, it's not like these animations are VR, they're timed video loops triggered from a sensor, or should be.
Still very different to a domestic or any other environment. I'm not an expert on pure computers and don't pretend to be, but I have worked with tech in attractions and know numerous computer-heavy attractions that have become obsolete or needed significant reverse engineering to keep running.
Your computer running 24/7 will likely be very different to a computer that needs to be E-stopped and reset regularly, turned off at the end of the day, run a large rack of control gear for hours on end, often in a moving ride vehicle, etc.
It's not impossible by any means, but a ride environment is totally different to anything else, and I have not known the UK to accomplish something reliable and long-term when it comes to computers.
Most electronic control is fine, some older rides still run animations or audio off their original solid state electronics, that's been well perfected. The Gruffalo back-end stuff won't be too difficult either I imagine apart from keeping the projectors working - as you know projectors don't have a lamp life of years at a time.
A pneumatic animation needs someone to keep it in time, check for air leaks, repair damage, etc. It can run for years if engineered properly. But a complicated computer based effect does not require any less maintenance, in fact I've only seen them require far more daily maintenance and extremely costly replacement parts.
Then, once parts become obsolete (very quickly), once something fundamental breaks, you have to backwards engineer the whole thing, which results in stuff like Tomb Blaster's awful 2016 laser gun redo, or Lego Racers shutting down prematurely. UK parks do not commit to such things like the US parks do.
I'm not saying one method is better than the other, but just that the idea of VR being easier to maintain in a ride than retro effects is a big mistake. If this sounds ridiculously inefficient or primitive to anyone who knows more about computers than me, then you're not necessarily wrong, but you'd probably be surprised at the real state of back-end control gear in attractions today. They're not built like MI5 computer archive rooms or something... Usually the simpler and more circuitry-based, the better.
the really difficult stuff is the animatronics that were made back in the 90's, now those took proper skills.
Yes these required a lot of prototyping and engineering development. They did the best they could and achieved some fantastic results, but then stopped because - the way the industry changed - it was decided to save costs on development and just work with external companies on trendy tech instead. It's a shame we don't see animatronics and good animations anymore for this reason, and the UK is now extremely far behind Disney and Universal on this.