Winter Wonderland closed on 2nd day

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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 7:16 pm

I remember when Gomerpyle had a hand in closing one down in the south of England a few years ago.

This one was closed due to lots of complaints.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-25390071

Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 9:08 pm

^ Gomer really got stuck-in on that case.

You can read the whole sordid tale HERE about Lapland New Forest if you have the time.

Gomer steps into the fray around page 10. Wink

Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2013 11:58 pm

They seem to be a recipe for disaster. I remember the first one well, it was horrible and a lot of people seem to have been left out of pocket. This one at least has recognised that it's gone belly-up and has at least promised to arrange refunds instead of spinning things out for the purposes of overt thievery.

It's not helped by this year's rather warm December, it's just soggy and cold, not really wintery at all.

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:23 am

^
Why on earth do they try and do things like this year after year in the UK ? It never works and when we actually get more than 3" of snow the whole bloody country goes into lockdown and nobody then can near these places anyway, not as they are much to write home about from what I have read. Smile

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 9:41 am

I remember the Lapland New Forest one generated the best line I ever saw on the BBC News' website: "There were lots of people arguing and an elf got punched in the face" Laughing

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:16 am

We can ship you the snow from here, but it would probably melt in Customs.

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 11:46 am

^ Indeed...

http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=s05e25_the_white_box_of_great_bardfield

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 12:58 pm

They were just talking to some angry visitors and sponsors of this event, on the radio. The organizer is being presented as someone who bit off more than he chew rather than it being any out-and-out scam attempt.

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 2:40 pm

Quote:

The Winter Wonderland was closed after one day and branded "a disgrace".

Quote:

"When we arrived we were told Santa wouldn't be there until after 4pm. We were told we could walk through the woodland, which turned out to be a tent with some statues"

Quote:

Santa's Grotto was said to be staffed by young, thin men and an ice rink was described as "a few plastic sheets".

Quote:

One mother writing on a parents' blog site said her family had paid £42 to book tickets only to find "men dressed in Santa outfits from Poundland".

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:35 pm

Captain Pugwash wrote:

You can read the whole sordid tale HERE about Lapland New Forest if you have the time.

cynical-lady, on page 22, wrote:

I admire Gomer because of his obvious knowledge of where and how to glean information,and his willingness to act on it even though he is not personally or financially affected.

Having moved onto reading this after Team Shorty's recent updates, I think this made me spit some coffee...

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2013 3:56 pm

Captain Pugwash wrote:

They were just talking to some angry visitors and sponsors of this event, on the radio. The organizer is being presented as someone who bit off more than he chew rather than it being any out-and-out scam attempt.

I got that feeling as well - I've seen quite a few events like this where a well-meaning but inept organiser set something in motion before figuring out all of the important details. Most of my experiences have been related to medium sized arts events or music festivals by people who have never done anything of the sort before & just don't realise what all is needed.

In this case, it looks like the real problems were related to sourcing enough old fat dudes to play Santa (the one time of year when we are in great demand!!), and getting "better" decorative and interactive elements. In other words, having a better sense of what parents may expect when taking their kids to a paid Christmas experience. After all, everything is magnified at Christmas, especially disappointment and rage.

PS I had the same feeling after parting with £12.50 at Kew Gardens
"illuminated trail through our enchanting winter landscape" recently.

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 5:52 am

That ice rink picture is one of the funniest things I've ever seen... Shocked

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:02 am

Looks like Jade Rabbit wasn't that impressed either

"THIS Winter Wonderland theme park has been blatantly mis-sold to me by the Chinese lunar program."

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/features/chinese-moon-rover-jade-rabbits-blog-2013121782097

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 2:52 pm

Here is a pic of the "thin young man" playing Santa in his "Poundland outfit". (Hold onto your Hats!) Laughing

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/the-disastrous-winter-wonderland-in-milton-keynes-got-christmas-spot-on-9008607.html

Fryer wrote:

That ice rink picture...

Any chance of a link to the pic? Thanks.

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:10 pm

the ice rink photo appears in the BBC link in the OP.
But very much worth appreciating here:

It is slightly larger than a bathtub I think.

Posted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 3:13 pm

The Monsignor wrote:

Here is a pic of the "thin young man" playing Santa in his "Poundland outfit".

So that is where Slightly has been hiding the last few days.

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:39 am

You may not be aware of how it ended or all the background but eventually those behind it were prosecuted and convicted. However, it was then 'discovered' that a member of the jury had been passing comments by some electronic method, that somehow the defence got to know about, and the conviction was overturned.

It became apparent that such a result was as inevitable as it was unbelievable.

For legal reasons, I'll say no more. Wink

As regards this event

Quote:

.... the charity partner of the event, the Papworth Trust .....

For the benefit of non-UK eater members this is a major UK and highly respected charity. Shocked

Quote:

Milton Keynes South MP Iain Stewart, who was due to attend the attraction....

For the benefit of non-UK eater members MP's aren't highly respected. Shocked

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 10:03 am

Fryer wrote:

That ice rink picture is one of the funniest things I've ever seen... Shocked

Best laugh I had for the last few months. Laughing

This made me laugh too... "Meet Santa and his Reindeer"...

By the way, I don't think Slightly was posing as Santa, due to this quote from the article:

Quote:

the Santas were described as being young, thin men in Santa suits.

That pretty much rules out the squirrel...

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:39 am

Their website seems to have attracted more interest than it could cope with.

http://wwmk.co.uk/

Quote:

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded

The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 11:56 am

Well I'm not giving up all hope of a jolly Christmas just yet.

Quote:

Domain name:
wwmk.co.uk

Quote:

Relevant dates:
Registered on: 22-Apr-2013
Expiry date: 22-Apr-2015
Last updated: 15-Dec-2013

There's no Bah Humbugs on me. Smile

Posted: Fri Dec 20, 2013 12:42 pm

Did someone say young, thin men in Santa suits?

From Jwoods 2011 Santa Mugu thread

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