KIfan73 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I can't believe HRP already came and went. During my several trips to MB over the years, I always thought it would be a great place to build a new amusement park. I caught the special on TV about the building of HRP. Has a park that was opened to the public ever went down so quick? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Yes, Wild West World lasted even less time... That park opened on May 5, 2007 and closed just over two months later on July 9, 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubaman Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 I can't believe HRP already came and went. During my several trips to MB over the years, I always thought it would be a great place to build a new amusement park. I caught the special on TV about the building of HRP. Has a park that was opened to the public ever went down so quick? I just watched the Science Channel special about the park being built on Friday I believe. Well, needless to say, I think it was doomed from the start. There was a segment where the construction crew was assembling the giant guitar at the park. When the crew went to lift the base piece, the crane barely moved. Turns out that the weight of the piece had been estimated 1 ton under what it actually weighed. Not a good omen in my mind. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan73 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 Yes, Wild West World lasted even less time... That park opened on May 5, 2007 and closed just over two months later on July 9, 2007. I'm no expert, but I can't help but think that it may be a long time before anyone opens up a new amusement park in America. I'm also more amazed each day that Kings Island went ahead with plans to install Diamondback. 2009 may be a banner year for KI not just because of DB, but because of the fact that the park still exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 And yet, one of the major investors in Hard Rock Park is looking into investing in a Bible Theme Park near Nashville, as I have previously posted here. Then there's supposedly Wild Escape, near Wheeling, West Virginia. I will believe either or both of those only when I see them actually open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erniebald57 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 It depends...which major investor is starting these new ventures. The death of the park wasn't because of it's quality or design, it was because of it's management. I was there on the last day it was open (thankfully). The park was a ghost town, yet they had a full staff. People from Charleston, just an hour or so south of MB, had no idea that a theme park was opening in Myrtle Beach. There was no real mass marketing campaign to the states containing the 15 million tourists that visit every year, nor was there much of one to the immediate 200 mile radius. It was a colossal management failure. They obviously had no contingency plan, no sense of money management, and they simply gambled a 500 million dollar investment on the whims of beachgoing families who saw one of the dozens of billboard advertisements driving into town. The sad thing is that I enjoyed the park. It did have room to grow, but the design and entertainment value was good, the market was ripe, and the potential was limitless. People talk about sports teams choking, and I call this the great choke of the theme park industry. I really hope a deal is struck by a company like PARC at the midnight hour, because there is huge money to be made here. The price to acquire and reopen the park is chicken feed. Any investors out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 From what I have seen of how PARC is operating its parks, I would hope for Myrtle Beach's sake someone else acquires the property. I wouldn't give PARC as much a chance of succeeding there as I gave Hard Rock...less so, actually. Horror stories abound at the former Six Flags parks that PARC acquired...such as Darien, Elitch's, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erniebald57 Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 True...however, being that PARC just bought a couple of little guys (NASCAR fun park, Myrtle Waves Water Park) in MB, it makes sense that they would look to buy HRP too. Quite honestly, they may be the only hope the park has of not being being stripped and sold piece by piece. Chapter 7 has already happened, but the park as a whole could still be purchased. As far as the old Hard Rock management/marketing goes, anybody with a mind for business can see that it was amateur night....big time. I was hoping that Herschend (Dollywood, Silver Dollar City) would give it a shot, but nobody wants to spend money, banks don't want to loan, and investors are afraid to invest. How I wish I had the money or connections to reopen. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 12, 2009 Author Share Posted January 12, 2009 Where Did That $400 Million Go (Editorial)?: http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/opinion/story/739996.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigellinus Posted January 12, 2009 Share Posted January 12, 2009 From what I have seen of how PARC is operating its parks, I would hope for Myrtle Beach's sake someone else acquires the property. I wouldn't give PARC as much a chance of succeeding there as I gave Hard Rock...less so, actually. Horror stories abound at the former Six Flags parks that PARC acquired...such as Darien, Elitch's, etc. Granted it was one day, but my trip to Darien Lake last Father's Day was actually one of the more enjoyable experiences of mine for the season!! Likewise, my aunt and cousins (Colo. Springs residents) had good experiences at EG during their two trips in July and August. Just for what it's worth, but I had heard some bad things about DL not present during my visit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 14, 2009 Author Share Posted January 14, 2009 Who keeps the lights on at Hard Rock Park?: http://www.carolinalive.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=246185 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erniebald57 Posted January 14, 2009 Share Posted January 14, 2009 Not quite tall enough I guess... The more I think about the whole Hard Rock Debacle and how fantastically it failed, the more frustrated I become. I've been going to Myrtle Beach since about 1985. I've been there during all times of the year and have seen the town grow astronomically. Ever since the Pavilion closed, it's been more than ripe for a good, large scale theme or amusement park. 300,000 residents live in the metro area and 15 million tourists...mostly families...come to MB every year to spend their hard earned time and money. The weather is nice and the competition is pretty much zero. The market is tailor made for such an operation, and these guys totally screwed the pooch. I'll admit it...I'm being a bit of a hater. I do so because it's a dream of mine to own and operate my own park, and to see such an oppurtunity go up in smoke pains me, especially when it was riddled with issues that could have been prevented or fixed. The fact that the major park companies and so called experts fail to see the potential in Hard Rock blows my mind...pure and simple. Nobody wanted to pony up the 3 million dollar down payment needed to reopen the park (a brand new one nonetheless) for this year, a figure that is far less than many new ride budgets and most operating budgets. Unless someone is really taking their chances with the bankruptcy auction, those with the money are missing out on a golden oppurtunity. If I had such money...or access to it, Hard Rock would open in 2009, and it's critics would be silenced. Oh well...there's always the mega millions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 18, 2009 Author Share Posted January 18, 2009 Not-so-amusing parks: ...Myrtle Beach and surrounding area commonly known as the Grand Strand constitute a huge tourism draw — 10 million visitors a year enjoying 120 golf courses, the Atlantic Ocean and many other major attractions. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot: the year-around average temp is 64 degrees. Water’s not too bad, either.... Even with all the attractive surroundings as a visitor magnet and excellent reviews for Hard Rock, the theme park drew far fewer people than its projected 30,000 a day. Tickets sales from April-September generated about $20 million. Annual interest on Hard Rock’s debt was reported to be $24 million. Cost of operation and small other odds and ends, like payroll, came after that.... ...What’s Myrtle Beach now stuck in the sand with? The community’s Sun News newspaper put it in perspective in an editorial: Hard Rock has turned into a big black eye.... http://www.gaylordheraldtimes.com/articles...eb886848671.txt (also posted in the Main Street America thread, given what is in it...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nhimes90 Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Anything new on HRP?? I couldn't find anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cory Butcher Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Just court proceedings, lots of research on the part of the courts and debtors, and other behind the scenes things that will probably not be released until it is time to do so... That doesn't help a whole lot but that is basically it, as far as I have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Yep. And until something else is released, either by the court, or other interested parties, we likely won`t know how things are progressing with the Chapter 7 proceedings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingMaster Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 Apparently, there's talk of dropping the Hard Rock name from the park completely: http://discovermyrtlebeachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1854 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 Hard Rock Park Buyer Pulled Out Hours Before Signing. MB Online Very interesting that it got this close yet there was no auction after the failure of this buyout. Very interesting article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 What is also interesting is that the article states that a new owner would need to spend millions to bring in new attractions, to make the park a destination worth the admission price. In addition to the fact that the Hard Rock theme would be stripped away, it was stated that they would have to spend money on advertising, which is something that the original operators of Hard Rock Park failed to do by all accounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Still Chance For Buyer To Emerge For Hard Rock Park: http://www.scnow.com/scp/news/local/grand_...r_7_case/31088/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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