Hard Rock / Freestyle Music Park Discussion Thread

[jarmor]

 

Most advertising I have ever seen about the park! lol

 

Wow. Did you place that there our was that really lying on the side of the road?

lol as far as I know that is a real picture

[alpengeist04]

NO WAY they reopen under current management. I bet won't be able to buy a styrofoam cup with any kind of credit. Perhaps Blackstone will scoop them up.

 

I would rather Blackstone wait and see what happens with the Busch parks before thinking about acquiring this mess.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

They obviously aren't going to have any money to get any new rides or coasters, so I don't really know how next year will make a difference if it's the same exact park as this year.

 

Well there might be some factors that help the park out next year. The first being new managment. Bring in a crew of executives that can charge the right prices to balance operating cost with profit. They need to find a team that can find the lowest price on admission, merch, and food to still make money. They should also keep their fingers crossed that fuel prices continue to decline. If it's cheaper to travel, then people would start doing it again. I mean it more than sucks that the park is about half a billion dollars in debt after one season, which will make it hard to recover, but if Six Flags can go 9 years of dollar-per-share stock, why can't Hard Rock hang in there?

[Thom25]

Well, I think the best case will be that the park will open as planned next year and then be closed permanently no later than Labor Day and probably by July 4th. The problem in my opinion is the park and it's attractions. HRP has nothing worth traveling for unless you're a credit whore - nothing. There are a tons of FREE substitutes of consumption throughout the market, and on a beautiful summer day, potential guests choose between the beach, free water parks at their hotels, or smaller pay as you go attractions all along the beach.

 

In my opinion, HRP is a "me too", with nothing unique or buzz worthy. The attractions they installed (wet or dry), should be record or news worthy and they built nothing other than the ferris wheel coaster that looks cool, but nothing more than a kiddy ride. How about the world's largest dark ride, or most intense coaster in terms of G's, anything would have worked and there were plenty of options to fit the bill that would cost less than Led Zeppelin.

 

I hope I am wrong and wish HRP the best, but I feel the entire project was ill conceived and doomed to failure.

[kissorkill2night]

They obviously aren't going to have any money to get any new rides or coasters, so I don't really know how next year will make a difference if it's the same exact park as this year.

 

Well there might be some factors that help the park out next year. The first being new managment. Bring in a crew of executives that can charge the right prices to balance operating cost with profit. They need to find a team that can find the lowest price on admission, merch, and food to still make money. They should also keep their fingers crossed that fuel prices continue to decline. If it's cheaper to travel, then people would start doing it again. I mean it more than sucks that the park is about half a billion dollars in debt after one season, which will make it hard to recover, but if Six Flags can go 9 years of dollar-per-share stock, why can't Hard Rock hang in there?

 

True that, but it seems like the park might just have a bad repetition now because of its unsuccessful first season.

[coasterdude5]

Just curious, anybody know if they ever got that travelling coaster that they brought in running?

[Ccron10]

I guess the good news if HRP does fail is that nearly all of the rides can be relocated, even Led Zepplin.

This park could turn out to be a present-day Freedomland.

[sccoasterfan]

Just curious, anybody know if they ever got that travelling coaster that they brought in running?

The only reason that coaster was there was because they needed to have so many up and running by the opening. Since they got slippery when wet up and running two days before opening they didint need it. So they dismantled and sold it. Only 2 people got to ride it and it is the two owners.

[DRWP2005]

You know, as its already been said this park had a lot of problems...

 

No out-of-market marketing.

The loan they took out to operate the park for 4 years, lasted less then 1.

They sold 11,000 season passes. (Way to many)

Gave away another 7,500 season passes.

Only brought in $20 Million through the front gate.

 

Whoever did their feasibility study and said they would bring in 30,000 a day was way off...Partially due in large part I believe to the economy. I'm not saying that all their problems are related to the economy, however a lot of parks this year simply didn't bring in the numbers they were hoping to because of the economy. But they also had a lot of other problems, like not paying their suppliers and other companies, way to many employees, and crazy long operating hours each day.

 

However I think that after the restructuring, they do have potential to turn out being a pretty decent park, putting up some pretty good numbers...I really hope things work out for them.

[Bolliger&Mabillard]

This park is doomed, but that doesn't mean that it can't go out in class. Make a gameplan for ought-nine and make the next move the best move...because it could be the last move.

[Philrad71]

The park initially sounded great with the announcements and looking at the construction of the Led Zeppelin coaster. I thought what a lot of other people thought - that they pushed to open it too early before they actually made it into a complete family park. One half decent B&M is not enough to draw people at $50 a pop...

 

Like some other folks on here have said, a park near a beach with sunny, warm weather and no water rides?? WTF??

 

Sorry to see this park fail though...I would have loved to have seen an entire ride area dedicated to Pink Floyd!

 

 

RIP - Richard Wright

[palmerleeberry]

robbalvey wrote:

 

The only model I can see even standing a chance is free or miminal entry fee with a pay-per-ride or wristband option. At least get people on site, in the park, etc, and even if they don't ride anything maybe they will spend money on food, games, or other random crap.

 

Holy (enter your favorite expression here), I guess that's why the other parks in the Myrtle Beach area have managed to survived for this long. I was there on vacation in mid July and I visited Hard Rock Park and wondered where in the (enter another favorite expression here) were the crowds. All the rides were walk up to them and ride. But I went there on a Monday, so I didn't think much about it - I just got on and rode the rides.

 

However, when visiting other parks (such as Family Kingdom and the new Pavilion Nostalgic park located in Broadway at the Beach), I saw those places were crowded (I mean - tons of people)! So here's a question to ponder: why was Hard Rock Park, that had all these neat rides, didn't have the crowds while the other small parks, that didn't offer much in new rides, were swamped with people? I think robbalvey may have answered that question for me If you forgot what he said, then scroll up to the beginning of this post.

 

Such a pity. I remember another park that was located south of Myrtle Beach that was called "Magic Harbor". That park is no more.

 

No signature on this post - I'm too (gasp!) choked up.

[HowieP]

Mark Shapiro, are you watching? Exit Hard Rock Park; enter Six Flags Myrtle Beach! Just kidding! No but that's bad. The same thing happened to Race World in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. They had the wooden coaster called Thunder Eagle, which is now sitting in storage in Mexico somewhere waiting to be put back up because Race World was only opened for one year. I hope that doesn't happen to HRP.

[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

Edited November 25, 2011 by larrygator

[DiSab]

Huh, too bad. Hopefully a buyer is found, 'cause I would really like to visit at some point. Even if it's not the greatest park around, it certainly seems like it would be a fun place to spend a day.

[mightypotato]

Is anyone actually surprised by this? Every trip report I saw this year made me think that this was going to be an inevitability. I'm just sad that a B&M multilooper is going to go to waste.

[ginzo]

Is anyone actually surprised by this? Every trip report I saw this year made me think that this was going to be an inevitability. I'm just sad that a B&M multilooper is going to go to waste.

 

Why would it go to waste? If the park never opens again, chances are someone will be happy to take it off their hands in the fire sale.

[coasterdude5]

I wonder if PARC or Blackstone would pick it up. Maybe even Parque Reunidos would be interested. I hate to see this park go to waste...

[robbalvey]

^ NO!!! No park company should buy this place. The park was built on a FAILED ENTERTAINMENT COMPLEX!

 

And then the park FAILED.

 

There is a reason why TWO entertainment venues in the same location both failed. It's a poor location and a bad idea.

 

Anyone who would buy this park OTHER than to purchase all the rides cheap and distribute them to other parks is a fool.

 

--Robb

[SharkTums]

The best part about the article is the executives asking for more money!! HAHAHA!!!! At least with all the recent economy stuff and executives everywhere giving themselves bonuses while the government bails them out I hope that they will not be given a dime!!!!

 

How many times does it have to be written that this is not a good park and it is not in a good location. Many of the management there didn't see that or believe it. They thought they were gods gift to theme parks and now look what happened to them!

 

Now where should I start the bidding for the magnets, pins, and shirts I bought from the park!?!? (Seriously, I never buy park crap but I knew this park was going to close so I bought a decent amount of stuff!!!)

 

LOL!!!!

[cfc]

^Yep--time to put my "Nights in White Satin: The Trip" shirt and official park kitchen magnet on E-bay.

[robbalvey]

How many times does it have to be written that this is not a good park and it is not in a good location. Many of the management there didn't see that or believe it. They thought they were gods gift to theme parks and now look what happened to them!

This was basically my impression from some of the people we spoke with at the park. We asked them questions like "What makes you think your venue will succeed in a location where others failed?" and the response was "We know what we are doing."

 

And I had heard that after our update was posted the park was a little annoyed with us (I personally think our update was actually favorable) but we did mention that it seemed like the park was missing something and just didn't seem like the best idea.

 

Now where should I start the bidding for the magnets, pins, and shirts I bought from the park!?!? (Seriously, I never buy park crap but I knew this park was going to close so I bought a decent amount of stuff!!!)

 

Seriously, before we left the park Elissa and I were like "we should buy a good amount of stuff...this place isn't going to be around long." And after seeing the cocky attitude many people there had, it really doesn't surprise me that A. the park is closing and B. they are asking for HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS as severance for the mistake they made.

 

I think what pisses me off more than anything is that the park would have perhaps had a chance if in an area like Las Vegas or even in Orlando if built as a third gate for Universal. (attached to their Hard Rock Hotel property and pitched as their 'adult oriented' park as Epcot competition)

 

But this park may ruin the chances of an 'adult oriented' park ever happening in an area where it could survive as I could see developers siting it as an example of why NOT to build a park. (I wouldn't blame them!)

 

IMO, if Las Vegas were to get a theme park, this would be EXACTLY what they should get. But Myrtle Beach? WTF were they thinking? I guess they weren't thinking because so many OBVIOUS mistakes were made that this park wouldn't have survived as a scenario in Roller Coaster Tycoon.

 

--Robb

 

ps. I could totally see Cedar Fair buying this place only to have new rides for their parks for the next couple of years! Start the guessing now....which park would get Zeppelin? Which park would get the mine train? Which park would get the...um.....hmmm.... yeah.... then again... maybe Cedar Fair wouldn't bother!

[mightypotato]

There is a reason why TWO entertainment venues in the same location both failed. It's a poor location and a bad idea.

 

Exactly. My parents were in Myrtle Beach this summer and wanted to check out Hard Rock Park while in town. They were shocked as to how poor the location of the park was. That, and the price didn't exactly sit well with them either. In the end, they didn't even go to the park...probably proof of what everyone has been saying.

[coasterdude5]

OBVIOUS mistakes were made that this park wouldn't have survived as a scenario in Roller Coaster Tycoon.

This made me laugh... I see what you're saying though. This might have even done better in Nashville, Cleveland, or Memphis. Las Vegas would have been a prime location as well.

[ginzo]

The best part about the article is the executives asking for more money!! HAHAHA!!!! At least with all the recent economy stuff and executives everywhere giving themselves bonuses while the government bails them out I hope that they will not be given a dime!!!!

 

Yeah, it's really bizarre how they talk about "lack of funding for marketing" when it was their job to make sure they had money left in the budget to buy ads. Seriously, who builds a $400 million theme park and doesn't leave money over to properly promote it? Retards that don't deserve to be third shift managers at McDonald's. Plenty of smaller parks that could never afford to buy a B&M manage to buy a few billboards and TV spots.