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BREAKING: Hard Rock Park Bankrupt: Files Chapter 7


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^^The Wiki page claimed that recently the river rapids ride was finally getting demolished, AND that while open, it was perhaps the best rapids ride in the US!?!

The Opryland Wiki entry is an interesting read, indeed, but it does seem a little biased in that it gives the closing some validity (i.e. making it a year-round park was a failure, and they were landlocked).

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Yes Grizzly River Rampage and the former park managment building were the only remaining signs that a park existed, but with the expansion of the Opryland Hotel they have leveled these remains. The Opry Plaza still exists which leads to the Roy Acuf theater. Oddly this has not changed since the park closed.

Grizzly River Rampage was a great ride, much faster than most rapid rides around today and the tunnels/caves were excelent, especially with the Bear sound effects. Very cool ride. The pumps and other hardware from the ride ended up at SFKK as part of the Penguine Blizzard River. The rafts are now in opperation at Six Flags Over Texas I believe.

Also the park was home to Chaos which was the only Vekoma Illusion coaster in the US. Very awesome ride, that rotted away at Old Indiana along with many of the other rides.

Why the wiki article has some interesting points about the closing of Opry Land by Gaylord, there is one key piece of info left out. Gaylord no longer wanted to be in the theme park business. As a matter of fact when the old managment steped down at Gaylord during restructuring the new management found no reasson for the closure of Opryland.

"In 2004, Gaylord Entertainment made a statement in a Tennessean article that claimed current company executives had found no evidence that former decision-makers even had a business plan for Opryland USA theme park, let alone any strategic analysis that led to closing it, and that no compelling reasons had been found for the park's closure. Most of the Opryland-era executives left Gaylord Entertainment early in the decade when the company restructured itself. The Tennessean is a dominant daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

Nashville tourism has never recovered from the closure of Opryland and Shoprymills does not bring anywhere near the tourism it was thought to.

Here is some classic footage of Opryland rides, but also the Grizzly River Rampage

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Spoke to a few former PKI co-workers this week who moved to Myrtle Beach to work at the Hard Rock. All former KI employees have been laid-off from Har Rock. Everyone is looking for work. Many of them have leases on homes/apartments though through the spring. Sad situation for so many folks that made the move.

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Hard Rock Park sets Floor at $35 million:

http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/loca...ory/670998.html

Note also:

....Also this week, the park withdrew its request to pay its top executives severance, though it may resubmit the request....

So, as earlier stated, the park HAD requested severance pay for its top execs, no matter what a park spokesperson supposedly told Lance Hart.

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If the right people came in HRP could be successful, but it will cost more than the $35 Millon floor. I could envision the Hard Rock droped as cost savings.

How about the New OpryLand, the musical theme is a perfect fit, but Gaylord would not license it. Led Zep could become the Wabash Cannonball, Nights in White Satin could become Chaos Redux, and so on. I know it wont happen nor could it be anything like Opryland, but there is some existing brand equity there that would definately draw folks, especially if the entertainment was top nothch.

Sorry just me wanting something to come back that never will... Should be interesting to see how this shakes out.

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I hate seeing what is happening to this park, I thought the park even though it was small, was very nice, the architecture was great, and the Zep and Life in the Fast Lane were great coasters, but the highlight for me was the Fireworks display and the Nights in White Satin ride. I absolutely hate to see this ride demolished, I wish it had been put in a very busy park where alot more people could have experienced this gem. The one thing I can say is that we people who go to Myrtle Beach six , seven times a year and have been doing this for their entire life, could have told you not much business will make it out in that area, for one, everyone tries to avoid that road for all the traffic congestion. Two, we had the pavilion at the beach for years and Family Kingdom, you did not have to pay to get into these parks and if you were walking the strip you could just walk in and enjoy the parks for a couple of hours and move on. Three, if they could have built this park around Broadway at the Beach or near Barefoot Landing, I think it would have been alot more successful. If the Burroughs and Chapin company were smart now is the time to put together a complete amusement park at the Broadway just like the one they had downtown. People enjoy the rides at the beach, but they like the carnival feel more than they accept a theme park.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You think incorrectly. Regardless of what the website says, the park is in bankruptcy. The park will be offered for sale tomorrow. If an acceptable bid is received, it will be sold. At that time, it will be up to the buyer, not current management, what happens next. That could be anything from reopening the park to redeveloping the property to be anything from a grocery store to condos to you name it.

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Kinda sad....They just picked the wrong spot to put the park...

That is really a large mistake to make.

Marketing also was a reason for HRP failing, as it is said, Cook good food and promote like mad.

HRP didn't promote their dinner offerings, so few people savored the park.

Cory, who is getting back to writing his final exam, a literary masterpiece (I wish) for his Business Ethics course...

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Besides the lack of marketing that resulted in bad attendance at Hard Rock Park, it seems that the park opened in one of the worst years possible as far as the economy goes.

It will certainly be interesting to see what the fate of that park is. It would be ashame for the park to be redeveloped or sold off in pieces, both of which are possibilities.

Speaking of redevelopment, has anything ever been developed on the old Myrtle Beach Pavilion site?

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I visited Myrtle Beach with some friends this summer, and there is still nothing developed on that site. There are no visible signs of the pavilion, which is kind of sad if you ask me. Only a few trees rest on the site. I always thought the pavilion was a great place to go for the evening when you wanted your classic beach side amusement park atmosphere. In my opinion, when they took out the pavilion, it started the demise of the downtown area. Cheers to the swamp fox and the Family Kingdom.

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Myrtle Beach Online

Reflective article on how HRP effected the local economy and also that the local governement was lucky to have not lent any funds to the park.

Victim or Boondoggle?

The park's management team approached members of the Horry County Council in 2005 to gauge whether they could get between $25 million and $30 million in public bonds to help with financing. But when council members said the process would have to be transparent and public, the park abandoned the idea.
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Well that article mentions several interesting bits of information. First, that PARC management was interested in the property, although apparently not interested enough to submit a formal bid on Hard Rock Park.

Secondly, we may know the potential new owner of Hard Rock Park on Thursday or Friday. It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, acquired this property and if they intend on opening up the property as a theme park in 2009.

The thing I find slightly odd is how the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce will be proceeding with marketing plans as usual for the 2009, despite the fact that they do not know if the park will operate in 2009, and if it does, what the name of the park will be. Granted, the Chamber of Commerce is not a Convention and Visitors Bureau and is not meant to lure meetings and tourists to the Myrtle Beach area. But still seems a little odd.

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Right. But that assumes that there were bidders in the auction. And even if we find out who successfully won the bid for the Hard Rock Park, we may not know what their intentions are for the park. Ie, they may be a developer who has no interest in running the place as an amusement park, but is instead interested in the property for its real estate/development value. Or, it could be an operator looking to score some cheap (and relatively new rides) that can be relocated to other parks for a relatively cheap price compared to buying all new rides.

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