Hard Times at Hard RockGrand Strand's first major theme park singing the blues over low attendance By Brian Hicks (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Melissa Haneline Hard Rock Park Hard Rock ParkPark comparisonCost: $400 million Size: 55 acres Attractions: 50 Ticket prices: $45 for adults, $30 for children ages 4-9 (North and South Carolina residents get in for $39 on Saturdays and Sundays). Adult Ticket Prices: Carowinds: $39.99 Busch Gardens, Va.: $49.95 Universal Studios: $73 Walt Disney World: $75 Past storyHard Rock pricey but 'whole lotta' fun, published 05/22/08 MYRTLE BEACH — For once, the Eagles are playing to an empty house. A concert runs on TVs for folks waiting to ride a roller coaster based on the band's hardest-rocking song. But the wait these days is less than a minute — no time to check out the Hotel California. There is Life in the Fast Lane, but not in the queue line. That's the way it's been all too often during Hard Rock Park's first season. The rides are running, the music's playing, but so far this gig isn't a sellout. South Carolina is not showing the Grand Strand's first major theme park a Whole Lotta Love. Hard Rock finishes its opening season this weekend with scaled-back plans for the fall, and fewer employees than it started the summer with. While Hard Rock is still trying to find its groove, industry watchers question whether a major theme park can rock on in the thrifty, family-friendly environs of Myrtle Beach — a place with a $3 pancake house on every corner, 100 golf courses and the beach at the end of every street. "People go there for the beach and for golf," said Dennis Speigel, president of the Cincinnati-based International Theme Park Services. "Most of the people going there have a theme park in their own back yard." Even if the park is in the right place, it must've been the wrong time. The $400 million theme park opened in the late spring, just as the economy was hitting rock bottom and tourism numbers were far from sold out. "It's a tough tourism summer," said Megan Winnett, public relations manager for the park. "They couldn't have predicted this seven years ago when they started planning this." Kimberly Miles, public relations manager for the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau, said tourists are still coming to town, but they're staying fewer nights and spending less money. When the park opened in the spring — and was getting the most publicity — hotel occupancy was down. Since then, business has picked up to last year's level or higher, but the park apparently hasn't gotten a free ride. Regardless, Hard Rock might be the hippest theme park in the country, a slick 55 acres of rides and attractions where guitar heroes play the role of super heroes. The whole place is like a classic rock radio station come to life, a place where the rides keep time and the music changes instantly as you walk from one part of the park to the next. Life is a series of Cheap Tricks and Moody Blues. But locals have complained about the park's ticket prices, which started at $50 for adults but have been dropped to $45 ($39 on the weekend for "locals"). The state's other theme park, Carowinds, charges $39 for admission. Ultimately, this is a new animal for Myrtle Beach, and Speigel said there's a reason no other theme park has opened there before. This isn't Orlando or Las Vegas. But it's hard to fault the park. Hard Rock's managers took location and customers into account when designing the park, and have tinkered with their prices and schedule since the first day. Earlier in the summer, the park stayed open until 1 a.m. so that folks who spend the day at the beach could come in the evening and still get their money's worth. Even the mix of rides and shows, which throws off some out-of-towners, was done for the locals. Myrtle Beach is a Dixie Stampede, Medieval Times, Legends kind of place. Winnett said the park was built with the Myrtle Beach traveler in mind. "They come in packs — grandparents, mom and dad and the toddlers," she said. "It's designed so that they can stay together." Speigel said one part of the problem might be the shows in place of rides. "People don't go to these parks to see the shows," he said, "they go to ride rides." For the most part, the people who visited the park on the eve of summer's last hurrah gave it high marks. Jeff and Ruby Schelero of Long Island posed with Ruby's mother in front of a mural of Abbey Road, mimicking the famous Beatles album cover shortly after taking a spin on Led Zeppelin — The Ride, the park's signature attraction. "The ride was great," Ruby said. "They have great ideas here. This stuff is awesome." But she couldn't help wonder where the lines were. "I guess it just takes a while to get going," she said. That's a fact of life in the theme park industry. There was early controversy over the park. Some media outlets reported that the park predicted they would get 30,000 visitors a day; park officials say they only said the park would hold 30,000 a day. Either way, it was a bold statement that would have put the park in the company of Disney or Universal Studios, which do that much on a middling day. A well-established theme park, like Six Flags in Atlanta, can bring in more than 20,000 a day. While Hard Rock doesn't release its attendance figures, Speigel said his company estimates the park is getting between 1,000 and 3,000 visitors a day. Theme-park watchers are paying close attention to what comes next. After a couple of dozen workers were laid off, wild rumors about Hard Rock's future circulated on the Internet and blogs, but there are no plans to shut down the park. Winnett said the park will be open three days a week in September and October and after that the schedule is to be determined. A lot of it will depend, she said, on the traffic of winter tourists and locals. The park ultimately would like to be open year-round, but officials say they will have to see what the market dictates. "We've only been open three months," Winnett said. With South Carolina schools back in session, weekday traffic at the park is relegated largely to out-of-state visitors. Patrick and Trish Starzecky said the park doesn't have as many rides or attractions as the theme parks near their home north of Philadelphia. But they enjoyed Hard Rock because they liked the shows, and there weren't as many people there as they find at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania or Six Flags in New Jersey. "It's been good for us," Starzecky said. "We don't have to wait in long lines." That is a decidedly good thing for just about everyone in a theme park — except the owners. |
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Comments
This article has 26 comment(s)
Posted by CharlestonJim on August 31, 2008 at 12:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Shocking, something trashy didn't catch on in Myrtle Beach yet. Maybe they should install a mobile home park next door to get closer to their "base".
Posted by chucktonian on August 31, 2008 at 1:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Exactly, CharlestonJim. They need a Jerry Springer ride, where Mandy and Misty fight over their "man" in their "treller." LMFAO
Posted by ksc2231 on August 31, 2008 at 1:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
CharlestonJim and Chucktonian,
Actually maybe if Myrtle Beach had the prostitutes that this paper speaks of that are on your own Councilman's porch, then we could have them work there and they would draw a crowd. Some Charlestonians love to think that they are better than their neighbors to the North, but for some reason they try to emulate them (Charleston Bike Rally). Maybe we could get one of Charleston's favorite sons (Drug Dealer/SC Treasurer Ravenell) to come here when he gets out of Jail and work there. Sure Myrtle Beach has it's problems and there might be a few trailer parks but take a drive downtown Charleston sometime. You'll find many of your own who wished they had a Trailer to call home. Cleanup the Graffiti, Drug problems and Prostitution down there before you start picking on your neighbors. Your Crime rates are much worse than ours. Maybe if they would have cleaned up Charleston years ago, then you would not have lost the Honor of being State Capitol.
Regards,
Myrtle Beach Resident
Posted by ksc2231 on August 31, 2008 at 2:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh Yeah, Speaking of Failures....Whatever happened to that Tacky pink Building downtown that had no Air conditioning(County Hall/The King Street Palace)? I heard it is now Apartments......The biggest thing that ever came through there was Rasslin'! Chucktonian and Charleston Jim, I bet you miss those days when you would cheer your favorite Rassler on to victory! Oh and I almost forgot your fine Police department, How long did the Lowcountry Rapist run rampant down there before being caught? Wow! Charleston, what a nice place to raise a family!
Posted by CharlestonsHome on August 31, 2008 at 3:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
KSC, I lived in Myrtle Beach for 8 years...do you really want to get into a conversation with anyone about which city is trashier? I didn't think so.
I worked in the hotel industry all the years I lived in Myrtle Beach and since then have moved to Atlanta. I still keep in touch with friends from the area who manage properties and one of the biggest things they've told me about the park is that when the park first opened the hotel's were basically treated like any other tourist....possibly even worse. Dixie Stampede, Medievil Times, and other attractions all offer hospitality employees special prices, events, and other perks. From what I've heard Hark Rock was not only extremely high priced, but when local hospitality employees called to ask for discounts they were told that the park isn't doing anything such as that. The simple fact is that the hotel employees can drive a ton of business towards any business in the area...even at a higher price. However, when a customer comes by the desk and asks about the park and the response is, "Don't go there, that place is overpriced and they don't treat people well"...that can hurt their business.
I think Hard Rock needs to reach out to the hospitality employees and try to get them to have a favorable opinion if they do not already, or that ship is gonna sink like a ROCK!
Posted by NativeSon on August 31, 2008 at 5:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I can't stand "hard rock" so why would I spend money to have my eardrums shattered while riding some carney ride?
How about "Tennessee Waltz" 24/7? I could go for that!
Posted by mizar5 on August 31, 2008 at 7:22 a.m. (Suggest removal)
CharlestonsHome hit the nail on the head. Hard Rock hired a PR firm out of NYC (how can you have the desired southern hospitality dictated from Manhattan?) to handle that end of it and getting together with the folks in the hospitality business should have been priority #1.
Sure, the Hard Rock folks should reach out to the hospitality employees now, but they'd better be on their knees...
Posted by STREETLAW on August 31, 2008 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
All beach related businesses and tourism in general would be helped if the public schools would give back the three weeks they have "stolen" from them.
School should start the day after Labor Day as it use to. The kids will hardly be any less educated, and they will at least hold on to their summer jobs a while longer and perhaps have enough money to pay for school supplies when school does start.
As for Hard Rock, trouble might be the volume. Kids go deaf and aren't going to pay for what they can't hear?
Posted by disco on August 31, 2008 at 9:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The only reason why I haven't been to Hard Rock is the prices. I would rather pay a little extra and drive to Orlando to have my choice of theme parks - some I can get into for free.
Posted by CMLMADDOG on August 31, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gee, I can't figure out why people don't want to pay $50 just to get into the park!
Seriously?!
Doesn't anyone have common sense anymore? The economy's in the crapper! Lower the ticket prices to $20 for a while to get people in there!
I'm sure as hell not driving an hour and a half to pay $50 just to walk in the door!
Posted by oldglory on August 31, 2008 at 9:20 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Back in the day . . .
Businesses started small and worked towards being better and better and finally the best in the world! In the past decade or so, I'd say the reverse is true--the best in the world, etc., all down hill from there. No rock foundation.
Posted by Smithy on August 31, 2008 at 9:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Myrtle Beach paper quoted a press release from the park that showed the CEO of the park was either lying or did not know what he was talking about:
//////////////////
"What we always said was that the park could hold up to 30,000 people a day," Goodwin said. "We're not allowed to give projections. We didn't say that the park will do 30,000 per day."
A 2006 news release said "once completed during peak season [the park] will entertain more than 30,000 guests per day."
//////////////////
Posted by zionmystic on August 31, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It's very simple, actually. Hard Rock simply doesn't offer your money's worth. I took my 17 year old there, despite the cost and what I heard. I figured first hand experience would be fair. Went on a Sunday to get the "local" price. The park was empty. It took us only 2 1/2 hours to complete the whole park. Only five rides that were truly for adults. Maybe 3-4 more to ride if you were with younger kids as a family, then 4-5 for just the kiddies. We did the five rides, watched a "show" and walked around. Done. I felt ripped off. Do the extra miles to Carowinds and get a "Whole lotta..." more! The idea is good, but the substance is poor. I give high marks to the Led Zeppelin coaster, but might not have if I actually had to wait in a line.
The other thing that wreaked of MB tackiness, though, is every ride you get off of, exits into a gift shop.
Unless they drastically lower ticket prices and/or add some quality rides this winter, it's going to close shop for sure.
Posted by parkbiz on August 31, 2008 at 10:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I went to the Hard Rock Park the first month they were open. It's a schlocky park---carny rides and poorly thought out. Short of the nice water feature in the middle of the park, the theming was infantile and goofy. The actual themed building facades were already peeling and breaking off in chunks IN THE FIRST MONTH!
People aren't stupid, even if they can't put their finger on why the place feels like a rip, they'll know it's a rip and will not make another trip back.
I spoke to other people visiting the park and the comments varied from "this is too corny" to "this isn't any better than a travelling carnival.
The Led Zeppelin coaster is decent---but you can't open a theme park with only one decent ride.
The much touted Nights in White Satin dark ride was cheezy beyond cheezeball----black lights and day glo paint! Some small effects but had NOTHING to do with the music playing. I'm shocked the Moody Blues would've signed off on giving their branding to that sophomoric ride.
After visiting this poorly conceived park I went home and googled the principals involved in its planning. These guys have NEVER designed a park before and if you look into their backgrounds you wonder how in the heck they were ever given the money to build a park---much less with the Hard Rock brand on it. But then again they probably got their investors to PAY for the name---but I'll bet Hard Rock corporate is having major regrets about loaning their name to this disaster---regardless how much money they got.
All these excuses from the Hard Rock Park's spokesdroids about the economy, the recession, blah blah blah is just a cover for the fact that they built a lousy park...which is a shame considering that it's the first new theme park to open in almost a decade.
The only way to save this park is to throw out the current management/execs and bring in some real theme park designers to re-tool the whole place with decent rides that don't come across as carny-stupid.
Posted by disrider on August 31, 2008 at 11:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I go to a lot of theme parks and the Hard Rock is the cheapest, junkiest, most poorly themed park I have ever visited. If they got $400 million to invest in the park, you sure can't see it, maybe someone has a nice house somewhere? The ride that should be the best--Moody Blues--is cheap, tacky and lame. The whole thing is a disgrace to the idea of theme parks.
Posted by Egap on August 31, 2008 at 12:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Maybe we can seel them the IMAX or our aquarium....oh wait. Never mind.
Posted by mkris on August 31, 2008 at 12:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on.... Myrtle Beach is the Redneck Rivera.
So some redneck got some uppity norther investors to turn over thier money for a tacky and poorly planned theme park? Im surprised.
Posted by Grinder on August 31, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
KSC, you have no idea what you're talking about if you really believe everything you wrote... not a clue.
Posted by darcycreaturo on August 31, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I went and it's okay but not worth $50 or even $39..lower the prices maybe people will come.
Posted by MooMoo on August 31, 2008 at 3:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I've not been to Hard Rock - think all this info has saved me a trip there. Thanks!
I've been to a lot of theme parks, and the best is Disney. Nothing else even comes close to it except Universal in Orlando. I'm always disappointed when I try other parks because these two set the bar so high and no other parks can match. Took the kids to Six Flags in Atlanta and it seemed old and run down - not at all as I remembered it.
Posted by ksc2231 on August 31, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Charleston SC
Murder: 15
Forcible Rape: 33
Robbery: 245
Aggravated Assault: 586
Burglary: 888
Larceny or Theft: 3,572
Car Theft: 562
Arson: 7
Data Source:
2003 FBI Report of Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
Myrtle Beach SC
Murder: 4
Forcible Rape: 63
Robbery: 195
Aggravated Assault: 346
Burglary: 773
Larceny or Theft: 3,547
Car Theft: 515
Arson: 10
Data Source:
2003 FBI Report of Offenses Known to Law Enforcement
Murder rate Is almost Quadruple in Charleston....Need I say more?
Posted by iceman1978 on August 31, 2008 at 7:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
ksc2231, Those statistics can be misleading. On a per capita rate it looks very different. In Charleston the murder rate is 1.97 times the national average, in Myrtle Beach it's 2.11
Charleston's rate of forcible rape is 0.91 times the national average while MB's is a stunning 7 times the national average.
All violent crime? Charleston's is 1.47 times the national average and MB's is 4.11.
Even when you add North Charleston into the factor, the crime rate for murder is lower at 1.93, rape is lower at 3.24, and all violent crime is 2.74.
http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?...
http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?...
http://www.cityrating.com/citycrime.asp?...
Myrtle Beach has many outlying communities though. You have North Myrtle Beach, Pawley's Island, Surfside Beach and Garden City so the crime rate for the area as a whole might be lower, but any city with lots of tourism is going to have more crime. Orlando and Las Vegas are in the same boat.
It surprises me though the statistics about N Charleston. I thought for sure they would be much higher.
Posted by Oceanlover on August 31, 2008 at 9:39 p.m. (Suggest removal)
When I was a kid and a teen, the Myrtle beach area - indeed most of the Grand Strand, was not a bad place to be. It was a cheesy, touristy area, but it had an aura of simplicity, lots of trees and this huge company, Myrtle Beach Farms, that owned pretty much every bit of land and was content to sit on that land and own the Pavilion and the Myrtle Square Mall and be happy. Then in the early 90's, MBF became Burroughs and Chapin. They decided to sell all their land at once, or to develop it themselves - encouraging the building of shlocky tourist attractions and neighborhoods and shopping centers and turning Myrtle Beach into "a destination". Well, they've surely done that, and in the process, they've closed the iconic Pavilion - leaving an opening for a poorly run Hard Rock park to come in, and through that shlocky development and by running the town and county councils, like a corporate Boss Hogg, they've turned the formerly charming town that they lorded over into one of the worst places to live or visit on the east coast. Hard Rock's paying the price for B&C's folly (B&C is going broke) and for Myrtle/B&S's promises that they could somehow put lipstick on the pig and turn the Redneck Riviera into a true Riviera - or at least a place where a Hard Rock could make a ton of money. Nothing worse than a bunch of good ol boys with a bunch of land and not a good idea among them on what they should do with it.
Posted by ksc2231 on August 31, 2008 at 10:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't get me wrong, I have family and friends in Charleston. It is a nice place to visit and the historical factor is 2nd to none! Myrtle Beach has some nice areas too! I agree HRP screwed up. There is little to do there as far as attractions. The Pavillion had more rides! The shows at HRP are good. I don't like the fact that every attraction ends in a gift shop. But the first 2 guys on this board made this a talk about the locals of Myrtle Beach. Calling us tacky and trash. Most times when someone criticizes another it is because they are trying to take the eyes off of their own problems.
Posted by KidYendor on August 31, 2008 at 11:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nice post Oceanlover. I went to MB in '69 for the first time around 13 years old and then a few times in the seventies. It was pleasantly under-built, cheap rates and prices, quaint, like a tourist haven secret. Now it is overblown. There seems to be fewer arcades and putt putt places along the boulevard and more big hotels taking their place. The beach is beautiful but something is missing and you Oceanlover have got it right.
Posted by Wertan1237 on September 1, 2008 at 7:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)
We just got back from spending the weekend in MB and mainly went up to go to Hard Rock Park and to see the FREE Concert featuring KC & The Sunshine Band. It was a lot of fun and we need to do our part to support this new park. Yes they need more rides, but the FREE concert and the Fireworks show to Bohemian Rhapsoday made up for that. During the day it was a little slow but as the afternoon came around the place got packed, not sure of the #'s but you could not get a seat at the concert I would guess 5 to 10k people (they were not very well prepared for the crowd). Which goes to show the park that these concerts will help pull in the #'s and get local support. They were running a special for Season Pass Holders (which I recommend everyone to buy) that if they brought friends (up to 4) they could get in half price so I only paid $22 or something like that. they should add a sports bar for mom & dads to catch up on the games while the kids run around the park and they definitely need more rides but I think with local support that this venue will make it in the long run. My sister has been there 4 or 5 times already with her kids as it is less than 2 hours away and with the season passes and FREE concerts (they had Kid Rock earlier this year) it is a Bargain !!