themeparkguy27

According to this link: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/l ... 51785.html Hard Rock ride ends The 55-acre, $400 million theme park, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September, wants to sell itself by the end of 2008, according to court papers filed this week. It also has asked a judge to allow it to make severance payments of a total of almost a quarter of a million dollars to nine of its top executives, according to court papers filed this week. The roughly 75 of the 2,000 employees kept on at the park after it declared bankruptcy are still there, park spokesman Jim Olecki said. The park will not reopen in 2009 if it does not find a buyer, he said. Creditors have until Nov. 13 to file objections, and a judge is set to rule on the issue on Nov. 20, according to court papers. Olecki said he could not say whether the park is in talks with buyers or what the price tag is. The park still aims to reopen, albeit under new ownership, in 2009, he said. ``I believe there's confidence, some level of confidence, that a buyer will be found,'' he said. There was mixed opinion among some in the amusement industry whether the park would be able to find a buyer. ``There's always people looking to buy, if the price is right,'' said Jerry Aldrich, general manager of Amusement Industry Consulting. ``You or I would, if the deal is good enough.'' But it could be tough these days to find someone willing and able to make a purchase, said Gary Slade, editor and publisher of Amusement Today. ``I don't know, with the economy right now, it's not the right time to be selling a theme park,'' he said. ``Burroughs & Chapin has no interest in purchasing Hard Rock Park,'' Lei Gainer, a spokeswoman for the company, wrote in an e-mail. ``The park represents a substantial investment in our community, and we are hopeful that it will re-open in 2009 with great success.'' The park is asking a bankruptcy judge for permission to pay about $223,000 to nine of its top executives. The park also stated in the filing that the executives are contractually owed up to $270,835 each, though it said the law only allows them to potentially receive up to 10 times what a nonmanagement employee made. Employees not in management got an average severance payment of $2,483, according to an affidavit from Steven Goodwin, the park's chief executive officer. ``Certain of the debtors management employees have understandably expressed concern regarding their future employment,'' the court filing states. ``The contractual severance payments, and indeed the severance program generally, are intended to mitigate these concerns and prevent employee attrition during this critical period in the debtors bankruptcy cases.'' In Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a judge must approve all transactions. The park, which opened in April, entered bankruptcy protection in September after a disappointing debut season. The park said in its filings that attendance never met its mark because of general economic conditions, as well as the park's lack of funding for marketing. Here is a list of the severance pay the executives had written into their contracts, not including money for unused vacation days, according to the court filing: chief creative officer | $270,835 chief executive officer and chief financial officer | $270,835 president and chief operating officer | $270,835 senior vice president and general counsel | $125,000 senior vice president of finance | $43,750 senior vice president of park operations | $37,500 vice president, human resources | $32,500 vice president, park operations | $28,750 vice president, revenue operations | $10,834

Keep it up in '09. Entertaining and informative TR's!

Great update!! Anyway, what's up with the Chicago Wolves hockey jersey? They are kind of a random jersey for a guy from NJ to be wearing.

Definitely! Some funny stuff. I enjoy these different kinds of TR's

voted! Good Luck!

Went to the park from open till 4pm. The park looks REALLY good, definitely decorated extremely well this year. Some notes: > They are pushing the $69.99 2009 pass heavily. Signs everywhere. > Buccaneer Battle is promoted at the Pass Processing center. Some of the employees there are wearing eye patches and pirate hats. > The line for the first 3:15 Love at First Fright was HUGE! Capacity crowd. Great show as usual. Some cast changes, with Sarah Palin, Brett Favre and even Edward Cullen jokes. This is a very popular show, been there for 18 years. > Dead Mans Party moves to the Snowshoe Revue next to Mooseburger. > Area 51 scare zone is in the front, with Cell Block A under SSA. Costs $5, free with Season Pass. > Progress being made on Buccaneer Battle site. Some ground movement. > Scareactors come out at 3pm, with the Freak Parade > Necropolis opens at 2pm. Didn't go thru yet. Onto some pictures: Cell Block A, under SSA Pass Processing Center Crowds were not too bad, yet. VERY cool display, in front of RicoSLAY Construction Predator aka IRON WOLF Not open yet. New location for Dead Mans Party Looks like this whole area is coming down...was closed all year. New Sign for The Birds (Condor) Great detail Love at First Fright Opening Show line Quite long...this show is extremely popular. Mayor Slayer Glad to see the tags are current. Cockroach asking you to eat a different kinda bug. This years Vampires.... Troll Just a note to those attending...the shows are VERY popular. Get to the doors at least 30 min prior.

Great stories! But, how dare you guys stick Big Mike in the corner? Nobody puts Big Mike in the corner!

Pretty cool to hang out with an MLB player, the same day he pitches! Sweet report.

Just got in..DEJA VU

Great update! Love the scooter rental sign. A polite refusal for "the drunks."

LOL, 10 minute draft. I was kinda bummed. Ideally a 12 team league is nice, but a 10 will do. I have never seen a 6 team league ever. Lame.

I went on an hour before...but then I noticed it was only 6 teams. I really can't believe we only got 6 teams. That's when I bailed on the draft. I pre - ranked all my players. Was disappointed to not get the one guy I really wanted in Marion Barber. Oh well, got LT.

Marion Barber will be the #2 or #3 best fantasy RB this season. Do you know what number you are drafting ? Keeper league?

This was exactly why I posted it here..hoping to save some hoping to get a credit or two some money. Glad to be of service.

When I heard there was going to be an indoor Legoland relatively close to my home (30 minutes away), I was pretty excited. Last week, I had gotten a buy one, get one coupon at a Baskin Robbins, so we headed out in the family truckster to check out the place. Legoland is located in the Streets of Woodfield, in Schaumburg. Its directly behind the huge mall known as Woodfield. Upon entering, you need to pay your admission. The prices are NOT cheap. Here is the map. Some lego models in the entrance area: Once you pay ($55 for 2 adults, 3 kids with the buy one, get one coupons saving us $30) you "Start your Tour" in the Mini Land. This is a huge replica of downtown Chicago. Truthfully, after seeing this I was impressed and thought this place might be pretty cool. Unfortunately, this was ultimately the highlight of the whole place for me. It was extremely detailed and just fun to look at. Here are a bunch of pictures of the Mini Land. After looking at the Mini area for about 15 minutes, you go on the "Adventure Trail". There is a hugely unenthusiastic host that explains you need to look for certain items. The trail takes less than 5 minutes to walk through. You see a few monkeys, hippos, spiders, and Indiana Jones. Here are the pictures: After exiting the Trail, you enter the Legoland Hall of Fame, which consists of huge lifesize lego made Batman, Harry Potter, Hagrid, and Darth Vader. Next up is the start attraction, the Dragon Ride. I was hoping it was a coaster, but it was a slow moving dark ride. No photo or video allowed on this ride. This is how they show the Dragon Ride. From the pic, I was hoping for a coaster. This was the loading area. Its stays on the floor moving along very slowly. Next, you move upstairs to do the other attractions. First up was the LEGO Factory Tour. I thought it might be interesting. I was wrong. Its one small room, with a host who shows you how things are made. They are shown on TV screens, and some stuff happens in front of you. It was about 3 minutes. We were the only ones in here at the time. Next to the Factory Tour is the 4D movie, Spellbreaker 4D. It was a cute 12 minute movie. The 3D effects were pretty good. The 4D consisted of a dragon sneezing at you, and some bubble snow blowing in the room. This was actually a pretty well done attraction. It was enjoyable. Upstairs, there is also a small Cafe that serves sandwiches and hot dogs. Next to the Cafe, there is a build and test area, where kids built cars and rode them down large ramps. There is also a slide soft play area similar to a Chuck E Cheese. Overall, we were done here in just over 2 hours, and that was stretching it. There are only 4 attractions, and they just don't justify the admission price. Its more like a small kids museum, which locally charge $7 - 8 a kid.

I'd take the under. Some in our society make me cringe sometimes.

Thillens is a sweet little league stadium. I ALWAYS wanted to play there as a little leaguer, unfortunately, our league didn't have an agreement with Thillens, so we never did. I was so jealous of my cousin, who got to play there every year with in his league.

I am in...DEJA VU

"THIS IS A NON DUCKY REPORT" Great report Big Mike! It looks like your having a great time there.

Great contest. I'm coming up with 9.

Thanks for the pics from the park. Very sad to see it rotting away there.

Exactly how I felt. I really felt like the whole plot made more sense the 2nd time. Great movie.

Does the waiter / waitress bring Remy the rat from table to table? Or is it at one table? That looks really cool.

Great pictures and report. I love the first pic, looking down from outside the tower.

True. The key is getting in and out at the correct times. I purchased many Matt LaPorta Draft Chromes out of the gate, then sold all of them 2 weeks ago when he got dealt. Made a bit on them. I am sure if I held till he made his debut they would go up, but I am happy with the profit.