If you bought Hard Rock Park, as it is, and could add anything, what would you add to make it better.

I would probably add a GCI wooden coaster, an S&S Space Shot, two kiddie rides, and a new show.

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The last thing that park needs it to spend more money that it doesn't have.

In all honesty, if I had that kind of money, I would reopen the park, lower ticket prices (to about 35 dollars max), expand my marketing and make sure I had a hotel on site with an all year round indoor water park (heavily themed). It would add to the tourism and generate more revenue and have a positive cash flow.

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I think the entertainment is fine for the park. They have plenty of shows but another could not hurt any.

Basically the same things you said and also drop addmission to $35 for NC/SC residents. $40 for everyone else.

Well, first off, I don't think it would be called Hard Rock Park anymore, regardless of who buys it.

Lower Ticket Prices, turn down the music, (that'll attract some of the older people), add more flat rides, and better marketing is a must. For a park of this magnitude, I'd expect to see tv adds as far away as California, and make them good, not the cheap Six Flags knock off ones they had this time around. If you're going to steal a commercial idea, don't steal one from a dying park chain .

And also, I think the theming in the park could use a little bit of help. The themes weren't very cohesive, meaning they didn't work well together, and they didn't complement each other. And they could also make each themed section a little more definded. For example, in rock and roll heaven, you had the gates and all, which was good. But then you got into it a little and all of the sudden you see the Water thing, which was themed like Jamaica. And then, past that, was the, what ever it was, i didn't go into it, but it was the hell thing, or whatever.?

Overall, I think HRP could have had something if it just worked out some fine details. Whoever was in charge of the management here, they need to get a good kick in the rear and sent back to college for some management help!!

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Actually, I never thought about the Hotel/Indoor Water Park or anything else but rides for that matter! Ok, here is what I would actually do:

Lower Prices
Add a Hard Rock Hotel Myrtal Beach
Build a GCI wooden coaster in Country Area
Build S&S Power Space Shot
Build Giant Flume
And add a new outdoor water park (South Carolina: Good Weather!) that is highly themed to Rock 'n' Roll!

Any other sugestions????

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They already have a Hard Rock Cafe in Myrtle Beach. It's over at Broadway on the Beach..

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But they don't have a Hotle with it do they? This isn't a Hard Rock Cafe, it's a hotel, and a hotel alone.

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They have a Holiday Inn

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Looking at the sky shot there doesn't appear to be room for the A hotel/indoor water park or an outdoor water park. They seem to have used most if not all fo the space they bought.

What to say that hasn't already been said.

*Ticket prices need to come down. I like Carowinds idea of 35 for locals and 40 for tourists.
*Better advertising. it needs to be at lest East cost wide. possibly some larger markets west. The adds need to me more appealing. Closer to a Disney/universal add.
*Move some attraction: The water play area should be under the Slippery when wet ride. like mentioned better define the themes.
*Add a couple flats right off the bat. Rock and Roll Matterhorn(R&R heaven) and 2 indoor light show scramblers(one entrance) woudl only cost about 2-2.5 million.

Other things:

The park looks to have no park games. Add a few themed midway game Maybe an Arcade.

Do they have a place you can record your own Cd's? would work great. maybe an upgrade to a DVD video and a combo package.

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Michael C

Here are my suggestions, some have already been stated.
1. Lower ticket price to $29.99
2. Cut back operating hours. Park would open daily at 1:00PM and close between 9-1:00AM.
3. Drastically reduce both seasonal and full time staff.
4. Offer a one-day, two-park ticket promotion with Myrtle Waves waterpark.
5. Purchase 1-3 used water rides; likely from SF or Cypress Gardens.
6. Increase out of state marketing and in park special events.
7. Look into offering a free or minimal fare shuttle service between the park and the beach as well as major hotels.
8. Only renew Hard Rock licensing if it can be obtained for no more than $150k per year for up to ten years.

I'd say the biggest thing would be advertising. Until I joined this site, I didn't even know there was such a thing as Hard Rock Park. I live in Ohio and travel extensively, including at least one week a year in Florida. I see ads for Disney World, Universal Studios, even Busch Gardens here in Ohio and never once heard a peep about HRP and never saw any billboards or other ads for it while driving through SC on our way home from Florida. Lots of ads for Myrtle Beach and even the HGTV "Green Home" though! It can't live on reputation alone (like Disneyland, Six Flags as a whole, or even Cedar Point, where people in Tennessee are familiar with it) so they should be doing more to promote themselves.

I'd also agree with the on-site resort/indoor water park. These are popular with families and don't necessarily have to be ON site - look at Great Wolf Lodge's proximity to Cedar Point. It's at least a mile away but sits amongst many other hotels that cater to the park's crowds. And Kalahari is even further away. Castaway Bay is there on the peninsula, but it's not the only option, and many prefer to be a little further from the traffic and noise of the park and almost all hotels in Sandusky offer complimentary shuttle service to the park. It could be advertised hand-in-hand with the park, "stay at HRP's Resort and get complimentary tickets to the park!" or some such. A lot of people hear "free tickets" and don't think about the higher price of the hotel room, or they like the convenience of package deals. Just look at how successful Disney's on-site resorts are for proof of that.

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05.16, 05.17, 05.18, 06.05, 06.06: Cedar Point
05.25.09-06.01.09: KD, SFA, BGE, SFGAdv, Morey's & More!
06.18.09: Holiday World
2009 Diamondback laps: 41

Since this Is What Would You Do and Not What They Should Do, In 5,4,3,2,1


- Get rid of Anything that Says Hard Rock on It (Save 5-8 Million A Year)
- Paint Over that Rocker/ Jesus painting that You walk under after the Entrance
- Lower Admission from 46 to 30 Dollars
- Lower Kids Admission to like 19 Dollars
- Lower Parking to 7 Dollars
- Lower the Season Pass ($150 IMO IS TOO MUCH, I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE!!!!!!!!!)
- Remove some of the Dumb Attractions
- The Goal For A Kids Area is to have mascots THE KIDS KNOW (Name 2 Banana Splitz Songs... I Rest My Case)
- Offer A Few Flat Rides to a few Areas
- Heavily EXPAND THE KIDS AREA
- Get Rid of the Drug Theme for Moody Blues (Whose Idea was That?)
- Tone Down the Drug/ Adult Theme of the Park (Yeah, Family Friendly.. Who's Family, The Osbourne Family?!)



- Retheme the Park to An Island Tropic Paradise Theme*****


Retheming Ideas
- Rename All Access Entry Plaza to "Paradise Plaza"
- Rename Rock N Roll Heaven to "Pirates Bay"
- Rename and Retheme British Invasion to "Boardwalk"
- Rename Lost in the 70s to "Atlantis"
- Rename Born in the USA to "Happy Harbor"
- Rename Cool Country to "The Grand Southwest"
- Rename Banana Splitzville to "Sandcastle Shores"

- Remove Colossal Guitar Fountain, London Calling, One World Place, Phonehenge, Gibson Guitar, Kids Rock! State Park, RC Cars, RoCow Billy, and Thundering Hog

All Access Entry Plaza
- Rename All Access Merchandise to "Washed Ashore"
- Rename Amp'd Up Coffee Shop to "Caribbean Coffee"
- Rename I Want Candy to "Saltwater Candy"
- Rename In Through The Out Store to "Sandy Souvenirs"
- Rename The Whammy Bar to "Picnic Basket"

Rock & Roll Heaven
- Rename LZ The Ride to "Blackbeard"
- Rename Reggae River Falls to "SS Kids Cove"
- Rename Cloud 9 Provisions to "Stolen Goods"
- Rename Irie Crafts Kiosk to "Queen Boat Shopping Area"
- Rename The Kitchen Below to "The Captains Cafe"
- Rename Taste Of Paradise Grille to "Today's Catch"
- Rework the Malibu Beach Party show into "Pirates Of Paradise Island"
- Rename RC Boats to "Boating School"
- Rename The Island to "Lighthouse Point"

British Invasion
- Rename Maximum RPM to "Tourist Trap"
- Rename All The Kings Horses to "Carousel"
- Rename London Cab Ride to "Rodeo"
- Rename Magic Mushroom Garden to "Gator Bait"
- Rename Moody Blues to "Dream Flight"
- Rename Carnaby Street Cafe to "The Diner"
- Rename Codpiece Fish & Chips to "Fish & Chips"
- Rename Liberty Kiosk to "Nooks And Crannies"
- Rename Kings Head Pub to "Over 21 Crowd"
- Rename Underground Souvenirs to "Shipwreck Souvenirs"
- Rename The English Faire to "Kids Kingdom"
- Rename The Punk Pit to "Club Keylime"
- Rename Roadies Stunt Show to "Atlantic Theater"

Lost in the 70s
- Rename Alice's Restaurant to "Mediterranean Café"
- Rename Kings Road Boutique to "Treasure Chest"
- Rename Phantom Crystal Skull to "Lost Findings"
- Rename Pinball Wizard to "The Bermuda Triange"

Born in the USA
- Rename Slippery When Wet to "Tidal Wave"
- Rename Gibson Store to "Gifts For Girls & Boys"
- Rename Great Meals Diner to "Southport Pizza"
- Rename Love Shack Snacks to "Seaport Snacks"
- Rename Main Street Gas & Gifts to "Gas & Gifts Store"
- Rename Bohamian Rhapsody To "The Beach Blast!!!"
- Rename Funkytown Midway to "Fun, Fun, Fun Games"
- Rename Garage Jam to "Fun Junction"
- Rename HRP Live Amphitheater to "Tangerine Theater"

Cool Country
- Rename Eagles to "Coyote Coaster"
- Rename Just A Swinging to "Gunslinger"
- Rename Mudding Monster Race to "Bigfoot"
- Rename CC Trading Co. to "Gold Rush Gifts"
- Rename Rockabilly BBQ to "Big Bison BBQ"
- Rename Wheel House Canteen to "South Of the Border"
- Rename Cool Country Stage to "Silver Bullet Stage"
- Rename Country On the Rocks to "Tumbleweed Theater"
- Rename The Garden Party Stage to "Rocking Quarry"
- Rename Heavy Metal Graveyard to "Wild West Walkway" (Get Rid of the Metal Sculptures)

Banana SplitzVille
- Rename Shake Rattle, N Roller Coaster to "Pineapple Coaster"
- Rename Jump Around to "Dune Buggies"
- Rename Rio Grande Train to "South Padre Express"


If You Made it this Far and You Read all of this, Thanks From the Bottom of My Heart.

I like the rock theme, they just need to give the park some more time. 2008 was bad everywhere, it just sucked that it was their opening year.

They should advertise this park to the rock scene, not families. They should advertise at stadium size rock concerts, have promotions and free giveaways, and give bonuses to Hard Rock Hotel guests.

That crowd might be a little hard to handle though.

Would have been helpful if I saw an ad here in Philadelphia on 95, our rock stations, and in the stadiums/arenas like Citizens Bank Park the least. I think of SFSTL with their ads in Cardinal's Busch Stadium all the time.

I like the Hard Rock brand so I would keep the liscense.

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The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
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I agree 110% with GAmfanboy... with the exception of some of the ride names.

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I think the music theme is Viable. I think you could drop Hard Rick and still have a music themed park. The themed area Rock and Roll Heaven might work. or a slightly Generic Rock and Roll Adventure park. the Hark rock Naming rights are 2.5 million. That is a lot of money to make up every year. I don't think it could be talked down to 150K.

Gameboy you have some great ideas. But the themes of the park don't fit your new name. So any money you could save on the naming right you would loose in retheming the park.

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Michael C

The best thing they could do is lower admission prices and advertise more.

As for the rides, they probably do need a couple more flat rides.

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I'm very disappointed that this park did not make it (at least, that's how it looks right now), I was planning a trip there this past year and am sorry I was unable to make it.

As far as what I would do to the park as it stands now-it would take a lot of money, but I feel like it could pay off:

Keep all existing themes, add the following rides:

-Flume ride of some kind
-Second water ride of some kind (rapids, water coaster, something); both water rides would be family friendly but have some unique hook to them related to the theme
-GCI wooden twister coaster (which I think would have been a much better selection for the park than Max RPM was)
-a few flat rides, Huss has a Top Spin with a guitar theming package that would likely work out well, and if you have the water interaction as most of them do, this would add another level of interactivity for non riders (those not riding can watch from the midway and get splashed) and maybe one of the large Screamin Swing rides from S&S
-I have heard that Led Zep has some rough spots, would have B&M come in and fix that and make it one of the smoothest ever made.

As the park has the height limit, would likely pass on anything like a drop tower.

For future expansions, would stick with B&M or Mack for any steel coasters; I think a compact B&M inverted or flying coaster would nicely balance the "thrill" coasters, and you could do a really good flyer or invert with 4-5 inversions and stay within the 150' height zoning limit. Would also want to add another family coaster, perhaps a compact Mack spinning coaster. Both of these-flyer and/or invert and family coaster-would be added in stages depending on guest surveys, etc. and what demographic park seems to be catering to the most.

Build Hard Rock Hotel on the property and make it more of a resort than a tourist attraction. Consider adding a rock themed water park in between the hotel and the park somewhere. Add a parking structure to free up space if need be and connect it to the park with a free City Walk type experience with live music venues, etc. Make HRP the talk of Myrtle Beach, with shuttles from every hotel/resort.

Promote, promote, promote-make it a destination tourist attraction and not an afterthought to see when you're in Myrtle Beach. Run a national ad campaign on MTV, VH1 that is aimed directly at the target market-which seems to be mostly rock fans and their families. Collaborate with restaurant chain or VH1 or both to develop a national sweepstakes including VIP concert access, three nights at the hotel, and all access to the park. Online viral marketing and a highly interactive website.

If that didn't work-I would say pack the entire park up and move it to Las Vegas, where I think it would definitely succeed and have the right target market-and add the ride ideas listed above, especially on the water rides. If nothing else-take all the existing attractions from HRP in Myrtle Beach, move them to Vegas and maybe add in the old water rides from MGM Grand Adventures as well as the flume ride they are supposedly taking out of Circus Circus and start over.....I think the park would do much better there.

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"Strange how laughter looks like crying without sound, and raindrops taste like tears, tears without the pain."

I was looking at the sky shot and there seems to be a large plot of land at the end of the road across the street from medieval times and the church. Might be able to build a hotel of a water park but not both. Also there is a n outdoor water park in the area. If you include family kingdoms there are 2.

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Michael C

Not to be nitpicky or anything, but this isn't completely true--atleast not in the theme park realm of things...a lot of parks (even SF) had pretty decent years in 2008.

I sure don't know what it would take to turn this park around, and speaking from an enthusiasts point of view, I really had no attraction to this park from the very beginning. Whether it was rides or entertainment, there are so many better options, why would I wanna go out of my way to stop at this park?

I will say that's the main problem of this park, there's no "grab," maybe if they added a 4-D or something out of the norm there'd be a reason to stop by.

I'm all for new parks starting up, but really, this place has GOT to have more to do!

If there was a problem with grab I thought that's were the region would come in handy first as in "I'm in Myrtle Beach. Was is there to do?" I thought people could then discover the park that way. A large marketing campaign would have been really handy. Where they expecting to last in a cocoon this year and do it the next?

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
My Draft 10 in '10: El Toro, Afterburn, Phoenix

Not living in Myrtle beach I have to look for the attraction. I see Family Kingdome, An FEC called NASCAR Speedpark. and the myrtle Waves water park. I guess there are other dinner shows like Medieval Times.

The economy was poor but parks did well. The management had much more to do with it's closing.

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Michael C

The road it was near wasn't that a major conduit into Myrtle Beach intersecting both Route 17's? I saw it was on the edge of the Bypass by the airport on the map.

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Thrillnetwork Moderator - Sophomore Original sn: CHILLERLC1
The 2010 TN Coaster Draft: Now Underway Round Three
My Draft 10 in '10: El Toro, Afterburn, Phoenix

I would also try to add an upcharge Skycoaster to the park (it would have to be on the smaller side to fit the height limit). This could bring in some valuable revenue for the park. I'd probably call it RipChord.

If they have a strict Height requirement they would be better off looking to other upcharge attractions. Sky coasters aren't that fun and aren't worth the money. I don't know about down south but Up hear they seem to be dying out. SFNE's is constantly closed LC has one that dose ok but it's inter twined with other attraction and doesn't take over any space.

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Michael C

That would never happen. Led Zeppelin is at the peak of the height restriction. There is, literally, an airport right next door.

When in Myrtle Beach, people would look into the park, but then see there is not a lot to do for $50! The entry price was INSANE for what it offered. I mean, yes, I had an awesome time, but it was too much. You kind of feel a little ripped off.

As for the hotel and water park, I don't know where the park's land goes to. Because there are shops on the interstate, but i don't know if those are the park's or still in operation. In other words, I don't think there is enough room for a water park.

The park is in a GREAT spot, but they need to expand the land somehow. If the park does reopen for 2009 (I hope it does), they need to figure out how to expand the land for future use.

^GL's 100ft tall skycoaster, that is still for sale, is shorter than Led Zeppelin.

What about a Launch Tower or Wooden Roller Coaster?

But they should definately add more thrill rides.

And as for hotel, the hould build one close to the park and have an exclusive entrance for hotel guests like DCA.

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The last thing they need right now is anotehr coaster. the park is mostly coaster as it is right now. they need flats. A tower ride might be a good addition. but they shoudl go for 2 flats over 1 tower. With their attendance they would need 3-4 towers if they go with S&S.

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Michael C

And this right here explains it all.

When LOCALS don't even think it's worth $50 to get into the park, nobody will.