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Hard Rock / Freestyle Music Park Discussion Thread


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Ok Seeing that i live across the street from HRP and i go about 2 times a week i know a few reasons why the park is struggling.

 

1) Obvious bad advertising! The first add campaign before the park opened was terrible and created nearly no buzz about the park. The second one was cheezy and features pictures and commercials of an old guy doing Gene Simmons impressions which was just a bad idea. Now they have little flyers and posters around town and a bunch of billboards, thats about it. Rarely see a commercial (i've probably seen 3 or so)

 

Something i'm surprised they haven't done is have discount coupons in local fast food restaurants. When i lived in San Diego we would always go to Carls Jr or something like it and get half price coupons and then decide to go just cause we could get in for cheaper (this was before my enthusiast days)

 

2) Types of Myrtle Beach Visitors! Rednecks!!! and Redneck families! They come here to relax on the beach and eat at restaurants not named McDonalds. They don't want to spend that much money to take the whole family which could be from 4-8 people a theme park.

 

The next biggest crowd is golfers and they couldn't care less about the park.

 

3) Ticket Prices! They have tried to fix this but it isn't enough. They have a local discount and kids discount but they don't really offer many coupons or promotions to get in for anything but prices at the gate.

 

4) Heat! Its hot here, and there is a SERIOUS lack of water rides. Early indication is that next year that is what the park will be looking to build a log style ride, obviously themed to music though. But for now Slippery when wet isn't enough to keep people cooled off.

 

5) Ride Selection! other than the no water ride problem rides like Maximum RPM are just a bad idea. Too short, boring, problematic, delayed opening, early closures, audio often doesn't work, and low capacity make for a very poor investment. And the flat ride selection is pretty much 3 or 4 rides that do the same thing as one another, and no real thrill flat ride. Problems aside, most people like the rides, the shows and the mini concerts throughout the day so that isn't as much of a problem with why people aren't coming but maybe why they aren't coming back.

 

6) Superstition! i'm starting to think that land is cursed for anything entertainment. There have been malls, an outdoor show, a movie theater(closed for mold) and multiple theater shows... all which have come and gone for various reasons. Now 2 churches and a Medieval times inhabit the land, Medieval times does ok and the churches do very well. But there is something weird about that piece of land.

 

7) Lack of local support! HRP made the locals mad by high ticket prices and expensive season passes. It took a couple months before a local discount was offered. And during the preview days almost nothing was open, most people were initialy annoyed but they are starting to like it again.

 

I think the park is great, and there is a lot to do if you aren't just going for roller coasters. i have a great time everytime i go and i think they did a good job a creating something unique and fun for everyone. I really hope it stays open not only cause i'm a local, but because it has such potential and room to expand. i get so bummed when i drive by the parking lot and its almost empty because i know its so much better than the other attractions in Myrtle Beach.

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a) Where is it "just in?"

b) According to the website, there is no mention of the park closing early

c) Layed off? Should be laid off. Sorry.

 

Just like some more facts and details rather than speculation or rumor.

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I'm sure that when/if the economy rebounds the parks numbers will increase, but 30,000 a day? That's a bit much. From what I've seen here in California, the most populated state in the country, Disneyland is the only park that hits those kind of numbers on a daily basis. Knott's can do it toward the end of Haunt, but that's it. I agree with the author that HRP just set their goals too high. I'm not saying it's too late for them to make adjustments, they just need to be more realistic with their goals and expectations. A boost from this sloping economy wouldn't hurt either.

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I've never been to the park, but I can't say I'm surprised.

 

I called their info line about 1-1.5 months ago to ask what months they would be operating in 2009 and they had no idea-- literally no idea at that point if they were going to be a year-round park or a seasonal park.

 

Sure it's the first season and maybe they wanted to see how it goes, but I would think that when you are creating a brand new park you would have planned for it to be either seasonal or year-round operation. It's kind of an important thing for a business to know not just future guests trying to make plans, but for staffing, budgets, etc.

 

I hope they can pull through.

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Never really liked the idea of Hard Rock Park anyways.

Hard Rock Cafes suck! IMHO.

Why make a freakin' park?!

 

Although I'm not really a fan of the restaurants, I'd rather see a rock themed park than another movie park.

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Reading the comments below the first story was really interesting. One comment said,

"I'm not surprised, The locals all read about it on Griags list. How it was built on Blood money. No local would go there if they knew that. I have No intetions of going and plan on telling tourist NOT to waste their money on it either. "

Does anyone know what this person is talking about? At first it sounds like a strange conspiracy nut. But reading the comments of people from around the park, it seems that they really hate the place. If the locals won't go and they are also bad-mouthing the place to tourists, things could go bad really fast.

Does anyone else see the similarity between this park and the MGM park? When MGM opened they were in EVERY newspaper and news show in the country. That is how they advertised the place. But when you got to the park it was just dead. I know that most people on here would love to have a park all to themselves but the GP probably thinks they are in a place that must suck because nobody is there.

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b) According to the website, there is no mention of the park closing early

 

I think what was meant was the park is cutting back on operating hours by closing earlier each day.

 

"Instead of staying open until 1 a.m. through the summer as originally planned, the park has been closing at 11 p.m. since at least mid-July. It will close at 10 p.m. in August and at 7 p.m. after Labor Day. And at this point it plans to open four days a week instead of five in the off-season."

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Oh well. I was confused as to how a park in SC was going to be a year round attraction anyways.

 

Ha, you guys think the park is dead now, just wait until winter when not a sole is on the beaches. Them staying open over the winter is a stupid idea in my opinion. It's summer when kids are not in school, college kids are home, and families are on vacation. That doesn't happen in the winter. Im surprised this hasn't came up as often. They have to lose a lot more money in the winter then they are now.

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To be honest, I was suspicious when they first was talking about Hard Rock Park. I think they need to close the park until they can get some good coasters beside Led Zeppelin- The Ride. Once they can get their head out of the clouds and realize that most of their coasters suck and are able to get a good wooden ride, and sell the Eagles ride and get a better ride, I think people will be more inclined to give it a visit and give it good reviews.

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^^Yes, that is true, I completely overlooked that, thanks for pointing that out. They could close it from late fall-early spring and improve.

 

^ I do realize too, but coasters is the only thing HRP is really missing. From what I read, it has a good atmosphere to it and good theming. So from reading that the only thing HRP needs is BETTER COASTERS!!!!

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On April 15th, I was on the first Led Zeppelin ride with Steve Goodwin, the CEO of HRP, and his excitement, the excitement of the first ride and the first day of soft opening the park was awesome. However, I too wondered even then about the price point, the attendance and the potential of what is really "only" a nice mid-range park in Myrtle Beach (especially considering its prices). I'm pulling for them, but I don't see a happy ending.

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