Goodbye Hard Rock Park? Maybe not - New Buyer update page 6
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^Yet worse - look at it from the other end!
Every park that has been nice enough to put our domain address on a billboard have ended up bankrupt before the end of the season!
What can't that do to our site's reputation...
Every park that has been nice enough to put our domain address on a billboard have ended up bankrupt before the end of the season!
What can't that do to our site's reputation...
I was thinking about the coaster before and I just dont know what park would want it. Most of the large theme park chains have one and one that is meant to be better. I have not been on it but I have not heard anyone say it was any good.
From what I was reading every theme park in that area has failed, as its been said before had it been built in Orlando for example I am sure it would have worked. The idea was great and the park looked nice, just a shame it failed.
All I ever heard about the park was that it was way over priced for what was there, the advertising was poor and the economy is being blamed but that is not really the problem as other parks have reported great figures and some have had their best years.
As Shockwave said though thanks for all your efforts Brian as it at least allowed people on CF to see how the park was coming on and how great it was to see CF on the adverts. I dont think your time was wasted though as you had a great time doing it and the experience must have been un real.
From what I was reading every theme park in that area has failed, as its been said before had it been built in Orlando for example I am sure it would have worked. The idea was great and the park looked nice, just a shame it failed.
All I ever heard about the park was that it was way over priced for what was there, the advertising was poor and the economy is being blamed but that is not really the problem as other parks have reported great figures and some have had their best years.
As Shockwave said though thanks for all your efforts Brian as it at least allowed people on CF to see how the park was coming on and how great it was to see CF on the adverts. I dont think your time was wasted though as you had a great time doing it and the experience must have been un real.
CedarPoint6
Hyper Poster
^ Oh definitely. The experience will always stay with me. It's been the best amusement related thing I've ever done.
As for other parks in the area, most have been successful for the most part. The two major parks in the area were Myrtle Beach Pavilion and Family Kingdom. Family Kingdom is still operating, and while not a place that'll be packed every day, it's got a nice wooden coaster, little shooting dark ride, and some other cool things. Myrtle Beach Pavilion was by far the larger and more well-entrenched park. The difference, though, was that it was located one block in from the beach, right where the main road into the city met with the road parallel to the beach. As such, the property value was astronomical and somebody offered them a load of money to sell, which they did. That was still a fairly well attended park and it was certainly loved by the locals. That was just a victim of being in a fantastic location and one that somebody was willing to offer a heck of a lot of money to run.
Like it was said before, it certainly was advertising as a main factor, and economy as the other. One of the times I talked to Jon, he mentioned that hotels in Myrtle Beach were reporting up to 40% less occupancies then normal levels at the same time of the year. Myrtle Beach is one of the main destinations for middle class and lower middle class vacationers, the people who were hit the hardest by exponentially rising gas prices. So it's understandable why some places weren't affected, but Myrtle Beach was. I can go on, but I think I've pretty well covered it. If there's any other questions or anything, I can try and give an answer for stuff.
As for other parks in the area, most have been successful for the most part. The two major parks in the area were Myrtle Beach Pavilion and Family Kingdom. Family Kingdom is still operating, and while not a place that'll be packed every day, it's got a nice wooden coaster, little shooting dark ride, and some other cool things. Myrtle Beach Pavilion was by far the larger and more well-entrenched park. The difference, though, was that it was located one block in from the beach, right where the main road into the city met with the road parallel to the beach. As such, the property value was astronomical and somebody offered them a load of money to sell, which they did. That was still a fairly well attended park and it was certainly loved by the locals. That was just a victim of being in a fantastic location and one that somebody was willing to offer a heck of a lot of money to run.
Like it was said before, it certainly was advertising as a main factor, and economy as the other. One of the times I talked to Jon, he mentioned that hotels in Myrtle Beach were reporting up to 40% less occupancies then normal levels at the same time of the year. Myrtle Beach is one of the main destinations for middle class and lower middle class vacationers, the people who were hit the hardest by exponentially rising gas prices. So it's understandable why some places weren't affected, but Myrtle Beach was. I can go on, but I think I've pretty well covered it. If there's any other questions or anything, I can try and give an answer for stuff.
CedarPoint6
Hyper Poster
It may have had a better chance in those places, yes. I think one of the other factors once inside the park was the fact that there wasn't enough for one age group. Sure, there was something for *every* age group (better then most parks), but not enough for one to be satisfied for an entire $50 day out. I think it would have a better chance in a place that's guaranteed to get more people, although I think there would still be a lot of circumstances preventing things from going so well either way.
The only thing being had they opened in Orlando they could have got included on the ticket that lets you in 5 parks, that way people would have gone to it and spent their money in the park.
The only problem is not many younger people know of the acts that were featured on the rides, yes they have probably heard of them but thats about it. If you get what I mean.
Also would did not help was the slagging off the park got on other sites.
People that went were the lucky ones, I would have liked to have gone.
I suppose though there is no point talking about ifs and buts. It was a good idea just a shame it did not last long, had they been able to keep it going for a few years maybe they could have turned it round.
The only problem is not many younger people know of the acts that were featured on the rides, yes they have probably heard of them but thats about it. If you get what I mean.
Also would did not help was the slagging off the park got on other sites.
People that went were the lucky ones, I would have liked to have gone.
I suppose though there is no point talking about ifs and buts. It was a good idea just a shame it did not last long, had they been able to keep it going for a few years maybe they could have turned it round.
Stone Cold
Mega Poster
Most of the articles I read pointed to the fact that Myrtle Beach simply doesn't draw enough tourists to ever have given Hard Rock Park the visitor numbers it needed. California and Orlando do get the required numbers visiting the place, and people who visit Orlando are nomally interested in theme parks.
Had HRP opened here, there would have been a ready market of tourists willing to go, better infrastructure to accomodate tourists (large range of hotels, shuttle busses, other supporting attractions) and a knowledgable workforce from which HRP could have easily poached marketing/sales staff if necessary.
The very fact that other major theme parks existed would have allowed it to copy or join their existing schemes (i.e. the 5 park pass) and thus with the same minimal amount of planning, more could have been achieved as so much is already set up and running in Orlando.
It wouldn't have been easy, but they would have had a better chance of success in Florida as it would always have attracted the required visitor numbers to the area, making the job of getting them to the park easier.
Had HRP opened here, there would have been a ready market of tourists willing to go, better infrastructure to accomodate tourists (large range of hotels, shuttle busses, other supporting attractions) and a knowledgable workforce from which HRP could have easily poached marketing/sales staff if necessary.
The very fact that other major theme parks existed would have allowed it to copy or join their existing schemes (i.e. the 5 park pass) and thus with the same minimal amount of planning, more could have been achieved as so much is already set up and running in Orlando.
It wouldn't have been easy, but they would have had a better chance of success in Florida as it would always have attracted the required visitor numbers to the area, making the job of getting them to the park easier.
Shouldn't this bit of news be put on the main page?
In other news, I have read a few arguments and articles, and it now to me seems like they had expected too much. Advertising was not sufficent at all, while the estimated visitor numbers were way too high. They could have made Myrtle Beach a tourist center on the scale of Orlando, but that would require an extremely strong financial backbone, and the guys sitting in the money bin must have been willing to take some serious risks. And put together with the hard financial times, this was the equivalent of running blindfolded on the motorway. Not necessarily doomed to go wrong, but one heck of a lot of things would have needed to go perfectly well in order for it to work.
In other news, I have read a few arguments and articles, and it now to me seems like they had expected too much. Advertising was not sufficent at all, while the estimated visitor numbers were way too high. They could have made Myrtle Beach a tourist center on the scale of Orlando, but that would require an extremely strong financial backbone, and the guys sitting in the money bin must have been willing to take some serious risks. And put together with the hard financial times, this was the equivalent of running blindfolded on the motorway. Not necessarily doomed to go wrong, but one heck of a lot of things would have needed to go perfectly well in order for it to work.
I think you only have to look at the success of video games like Guitar Hero & Rock Band to see that it could have caught on theme wise. And with the success of the video games comes knowledge of not only who the acts are, but familiarity of their music as well (addressing Marc's comment). You have to keep in mind that younger kids that might not be so familiar are brought to the parks by their parents, who generally grew up listening to this music. This also explains the popularity of the Hard Rock Cafe franchise, which is mostly dedicated to music from past generations.
wash
Mega Poster
LiveForTheLaunch
CF Legend
I really don't think the planning was THAT lacking. It was a new theme park; there aren't many in South Carolina, so I don't know why people there wouldn't go, and it's not like it's that close to Florida where it's I guess you could say overpowered by Disney parks, so its failure is kinda weird to me. No, most people probably wouldn't travel days to go there, but I never would've thought it would be gone within a year.
Whack.
Whack.
Some good new guys, the park has found a buyer.
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/b ... 79327.html
Hard Rock Park may not be quiet for much longer.
According to bankruptcy court documents filed today, the rock 'n' roll theme park has found a buyer, willing to pay $25 million for the property, as is. The park's purchaser, FPI MB Entertainment, has put down a $2.3 million down payment and is hoping to close the sale quickly, by Feb. 20 if possible.
According to the asset purchase agreement, the price will go down $1 million if the sale isn't completed by Feb. 20 and will continue to drop $50,000 for each day after Feb. 20 until the sale is closed.
By Tom Murray / tmurray@thesunnews.com
Hard Rock Park Timeline
Read the motion to sell Hard Rock Park
Full coverage of Hard Rock Park
The new buyers are hoping to reopen the park quickly. The reason for the quick sale, according to the court documents, is that the buyers are hoping to reopen the park's gates in a soft opening prior to Memorial Day -- with a full opening that weekend.
The sale must still be approved by the bankruptcy court at a sale approval hearing Feb. 17.
Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said a group of individuals were behind FPI, though she declined to say whether any were local or whether she knew any of them prior to the court documents being filed.
The corporation was created on Feb. 4 in Delaware, according to the Web site of that state's division of corporations. It is registered to The Corporation Trust Co. in Wilmington, Del., a firm that helps businesses legally form corporations.
Gilland said she did not know all the people involved in the corporation and declined to say whether any had prior theme park management experience.
Gilland also said there had been informal discussions regarding assistance from the county and the state, though there had been no formal request so far. She said the county did not play a role in locating the buyers.
"Because of the economy, this is even going to be better news than it would have been without the economy being so bad," Gilland said. "I feel like this will be a shot -- just a real boost from a whole lot of perspectives. And that's everything from jobs to tourism and all the related businesses."
Gilland said she was confident the company would learn from the mistakes of the previous managers and make the park successful financially. She said it would have been dreadful had the park remained closed and its assets been sold off piecemeal.
"That is a real negative for the word to get out that maybe Myrtle Beach couldn't sustain a theme park, which would discourage anybody for years to come," she said. "To come back in and bring back to life what has died such an untimely, early death in a sense would be just tremendous PR for the beach as well as a huge boost for tourism."
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/news/b ... 79327.html
Hard Rock Park may not be quiet for much longer.
According to bankruptcy court documents filed today, the rock 'n' roll theme park has found a buyer, willing to pay $25 million for the property, as is. The park's purchaser, FPI MB Entertainment, has put down a $2.3 million down payment and is hoping to close the sale quickly, by Feb. 20 if possible.
According to the asset purchase agreement, the price will go down $1 million if the sale isn't completed by Feb. 20 and will continue to drop $50,000 for each day after Feb. 20 until the sale is closed.
By Tom Murray / tmurray@thesunnews.com
Hard Rock Park Timeline
Read the motion to sell Hard Rock Park
Full coverage of Hard Rock Park
The new buyers are hoping to reopen the park quickly. The reason for the quick sale, according to the court documents, is that the buyers are hoping to reopen the park's gates in a soft opening prior to Memorial Day -- with a full opening that weekend.
The sale must still be approved by the bankruptcy court at a sale approval hearing Feb. 17.
Horry County Council Chairwoman Liz Gilland said a group of individuals were behind FPI, though she declined to say whether any were local or whether she knew any of them prior to the court documents being filed.
The corporation was created on Feb. 4 in Delaware, according to the Web site of that state's division of corporations. It is registered to The Corporation Trust Co. in Wilmington, Del., a firm that helps businesses legally form corporations.
Gilland said she did not know all the people involved in the corporation and declined to say whether any had prior theme park management experience.
Gilland also said there had been informal discussions regarding assistance from the county and the state, though there had been no formal request so far. She said the county did not play a role in locating the buyers.
"Because of the economy, this is even going to be better news than it would have been without the economy being so bad," Gilland said. "I feel like this will be a shot -- just a real boost from a whole lot of perspectives. And that's everything from jobs to tourism and all the related businesses."
Gilland said she was confident the company would learn from the mistakes of the previous managers and make the park successful financially. She said it would have been dreadful had the park remained closed and its assets been sold off piecemeal.
"That is a real negative for the word to get out that maybe Myrtle Beach couldn't sustain a theme park, which would discourage anybody for years to come," she said. "To come back in and bring back to life what has died such an untimely, early death in a sense would be just tremendous PR for the beach as well as a huge boost for tourism."