Hard Rock / Freestyle Music Park Discussion Thread

[thrillgeek]

SFDK should get something. I wouldn't care which one as long as it was a new ride.

[ebl]

Maybe Led Zeppelin is headed to SFMM as its 2010 coaster!

 

Of course, none of these rides will be worth anything once they're turned into liquid---isn't that what they're doing?

 

Eric

[gnewton34]

I wonder if anything will become of the dark ride

[daveydo5172]

Why would SFMM want a similiar(sit down looper) coaster in Led Zeppelin.....theres no sense in that! It is a shame that the park closed.....now, which one is next?

[Guest]

From what I've been told (from a pretty reliable source), Slippery was actually Hydra Fighter II from Wet n Wild Emerald Point. Premier basically built new vehicles, mechanical systems, and modified some track/supports due to valleying (was told that when Estopped, it wouldn't pick up enough momentum to make it to the next block so it needed to be towed), but it was not a new ride. Did this ride ever even open to the public? I didn't really follow the park specific threads closely but in every TR I read it was down.

 

Because of all that, I could see that one actually being scrapped. The rest of them however, should make nice new for 2010 and 2011 additions for whatever parks they go to.

 

On the one hand, it's always a shame when a park closes. But on the other, as said, some really stupid business decisions were made with it and really was doomed from the start. I don't see why anyone would try to open a 'resort' park with 3+ pricey rides with the economy the way it is. Even if the economy was doing well, I've always been under the impression that you should start off small, perhaps one themed area with 1 or 2 family coasters and more family oriented flatrides than a full blown, turnkey resort. On top of that, when looking at the park on local.live maps, the park seemed very landlocked with almost no expansion room. That makes absolutely no sense to me.

 

Although, these failed parks can be a good thing. Think of how many smaller parks picked up rides cheap from the WWW yardsale.

[astroworldfan1]

What doesn WWW stand for?

 

-Tatum

[Guest]

Wild West World

[astroworldfan1]

Oh. Thanks. It's late where I am, and I seemed to forget what WWW means.

 

-Tatum

[thunderguy345]

I was really looking forward to this park and maybe take a holiday there, but... No I think the problem was too little people and too little marketing. It's too bad

[pianojohn]

That is truly sad but not unexpected news. I am glad I got to visit the park twice in August. I knew it was doomed, however, when I entered the place and maybe saw 40 other people in the whole park. I know you cannot operate a park at a loss for long enough without it killing you.

 

Part of the problem I feel was the upper management and their arrogance. These are the same people who helped develop Islands of Adventure. And for those Orlando folk who were around the first few years, that park struggled as well. I was there on the official opening day of IOA and it was pretty dead. I mentioned this to a ride op at The Hulk, and he said "Well, Disney must have had a coupon in the paper!"

 

I worked at IOA for the first 1 1/2 years, and the park had a hard time identifying itself. The whole Universal Escape campaign was a total bust. Most tourists did not know there were 2 parks there. They would be in line for Twister, see Dueling Dragons off in the distance, and ask where the line for that was. They were then pissed when told it was a separate park with a separate admission.

 

And these are the same people who made the same mistakes with HRP. They assumed (foolishly) that people would flock to the park on name recognition alone. I feel they were too ambitious in opening such a large park and charging way too much in the process. And they failed in advertising it and identifying it as a one of a kind experience.

 

The coasters will probably be moved, but I feel sorry for Night in White Satin. That was a one of a kind ride that will probably be trashed. I will put that on my list of favorite lost dark rides which includes Mr. Toad at The Magic Kingdom, Earthquake and The Pirate Ride at Cedar Point.

RIP Nights in White Satin

[hyyyper]

Toverland, are you reading this. Forget about Building III, there's a B&M with a huge discount waiting for you!

[Sir Reedith]

It's a shame, but I agree completely with pianojohn. The park had enormous potential, but relying on the fact that they're a well-known franchise alone doesn't cut it. I bet half the public just thought another Hard Rock Cafe opened in Myrtle Beach.

 

I'm glad I got to visit the park, but I was finished in two hours. We came back at night for the Bohemian Rhapsody show, which was, in fact, awesome albeit our impression of the park.

 

But a $50 ticket? This, I believe, is where the company got the cockiest. We think the ticket deserved a $25 max.

 

Did this ride [slippery When Wet] ever even open to the public? I didn't really follow the park specific threads closely but in every TR I read it was down.

 

Yes, I rode it twice. Fun and unique, but I wouldn't ride it again.

[BuschSchoe]

Whoever purchases Led Zeppelin could easily make it more exciting by adding floorless or standup trains... and it would be easy to paint it a totally new color since the track is white.

[HEADCHEEZ]

Two words= Epic Fail.

 

The moment I saw this on the front page, I burst out laughing and shouted those two words at my computer. Mainly because this park practically ASKED for this.

 

They put it in Myrtle Beach even though it would of been a hit in Vegas. Plus, they built it 20 minutes from the beach on a spot where TWO entertainment complexes failed in the past. Then they Barely advertised and charged an insane admission fee.

 

I's a shame too. It was a very nice park. Anything that has "Free air guitars" is awesome in my book. What killed it was it's location. R.I.P. Hard Rock Park and once again= Epic Fail.

[KDCOASTERFAN]

I figured no one would shell out the money to buy the park whole. I guess next time they should plan to build a theme park in places where they can actually make money, like Orlando, Ohio, or Cali and not on top of former entertainment venues that failed.

 

Better luck next time.

 

Ohio isn't exactly a tourist market...anyone remember what happened to GL this time last year?

[no_brain_er]

I went with my dad in June, and I have to say, it was a bit of a letdown. Led Zeppelin was fun, and Nights in White Satin was awesome, but there were more cons than pros. The ticket price was rediculous ($50)! If they had started off at a lower ticket price, like $25, my whole family would have gone, and there were 7 of us down there at the time! Basically, instead of earning $100 from two of us, they would have gotten $175 from 7 of us, increasing their profit (slightly) and their attendance. Heck, any profit increase is at least an increase! They just didn't think things out too well.

 

The park was also very large for the amount of attractions they had. If they had started off smaller and expanded, they could have potentially had more rides, more guests and better success. Also, there were NO shady spots except for restaurants and queue lines. Not very nice to be there on a super-hot June afternoon.

 

I just hope that someone saves Nights In White Satin. That's one of the few rides worth saving.

[sushirocks13]

I'm just glad I got to go the one year it ever existed b/c honestly, it was a GREAT park. I'm sad to see it go though b/c it was the only REALLY exciting thing in Myrtle Beach since the Pavillion closed.

and with MB being my yearly vacation spot, I'm definately going to be saddened everytime I ride by the site to and from the beach in years to come.

[coolhandluke]

I'm sad to see it go though b/c it was the only REALLY exciting thing in Myrtle Beach since the Pavillion closed.

Why is MB your yearly vacation spot if you don't find the beach really exciting... . Sounds like maybe you should try Orlando out instead.

 

I'm bummed I didn't get to try it out, but I kind of realized by mid-June that its days were very numbered. Hope to see its rides in the future, though. How about Holiday World picking up LZ and theming it to the 4th of July section, blaring "Stars and Stripes Forever" on-board?

 

--Luke

[BrownStreak]

Okay, so here's my opinion...Hard Rock Cafes have opened in far too many places for them to still be considered "cool" and a "destination." There are two of them in Toronto and one on both sides of the border in Niagara Falls- thats four of them within 100 miles. That's more coverage than TGI Fridays has in some markets. And lets not overlook the fact that NF,NY is pretty much a dump and there's one there. I certainly wouldn't trek all the way across a red state to visit Appleby's Wonderland.

 

The other thing I have to say about both HRP and WWW is that they both looked like RCT parks with coasters and rides plopped down on a flat piece of land with bits of scenery thrown in like they were waiting for the trees to grow to fill in the rest- which just as in RCT never happens.

[cgodsey]

This is what I think will be sold:

 

Led Zepplin- Cedar Fair or Six Flags (CF already made a bid of 1.5 million)

Fast Lane- Six Flags or a small park (would make a GREAT family coaster with some minimal theming)

Roller Skater- Same as above

RPM- SCRAP METAL (No one will want to work with that lift. Not much track at all).

Slippery- SCRAP METAL (Its half good, half old coaster anyways)

 

Flats- Cedar Fair (already made a bid on several of them)

Dark Ride- Ride system might be purchased but I dont think the themeing will work anywhere except HRP.

[crazydaveh]

We all know it failed for many reasons, but the bottom line it failed, no one went. Maybe it's the fact that I didn't want to drive from Orlando to Myrtle Beach to ride a B&M that's very similar to Kraken (not floorless of course) or a mine train that's a clone from other parks with an Eagles song playing. The RPM had a cool look to it with the concept art, but in the pictures, it just didn't measure up.

 

I never had the urge to go there. It's only a six or seven hour drive, but I just didn't have that feeling to. Saying this, I flew up to Cleveland and hit Cedar Point for a few days and made my wife come with me last year. It's just all about the marketing, and there was non, the park just didn't draw my attention or my money to it. I mean think about it, when we want to go somewhere these days, we check it out online... Even their website lacked cool stuff that Wild Adventures in Valdosta GA has!

 

Anyways, that's by two cents. I can see the coasters, especially the B&M, maybe going to Wild Adventures or even Old Town here in Orlando (land size permitting of course) but who knows. Dubai investors could take them pretty quick with all the parks going up over there!

[montezooma]

I think they should sell the rides to Granite Park in Fresno, CA

[Jds03]

If Cedar Fair is bidding on Zeppelin, I could easily see it becomeing the B&M Carrowinds has been promised for so long. Think about it, they would barley have to move it, and it's barley been around long enough for the general public to recoginze it's layout!

[gisco]

I think they should sell the rides to Granite Park in Fresno, CA

 

lol

[DATman]

If Cedar Fair buys it, I think Michigan Adventure is the park with the most need for a unique coaster.