No Revival for Hard Rock Park
Myrtle Beach’s doomed Hard Rock Park will likely never reopen. Last Friday, the park converted its bankruptcy from a Chapter 11 to Chapter 7. The change in bankruptcy status was made because the park was unable to find any bidders willing to pay $35 million for the $400 million park by the December 15th deadline. This change takes the park’s sale into the asset liquidation phase. Myrtle Beach Online describes this as meaning that this: “signals once and for all that it will not be able to reopen.” But later the article states:
“It is still unclear whether the park will be sold in whole to one company – which may or may not run it as a theme park – or sold off piece by piece.”Myrtle Beach Online
I guess the real difference may be an even more drastic reduction in price and the assets (roller coasters, rides, etc.) being sold off individually. Although, it doesn’t seem to be out of the realm of possibility that one amusement park chain could buy all of the assets. The article goes on to state that PARC Management, operators of former Six Flags parks like Darien Lake and Elitch Gardens, was interested in buying the park, but did not come up with the funds in the allotted time. I had suspected that they might be a good buyer after seeing how they turned around Darien Lake in its post-Six Flags form. Maybe with more time and resources, PARC could have bought the park.
Reasons for Hard Rock Park’s Closing
All along Hard Rock Park officials have blamed the slow year for tourism and increased gas prices. It was interesting to hear from Hard Rock International the cafe and casino company that licensed their name to the park. They state that their reputation has been damaged and that the park’s management did not live up to its agreement to thoroughly advertise and market the product. When I was at the park’s media preview day I interviewed the park’s Chief Creative Officer Jon Binkowski. I asked him about marketing the park and dealing with the rough economy in May even before gas prices got out of control. I’ll have to go back to my interview and listen to exactly what he said. I’ll update this post with a sound bite from the interview or at least the transcript.
Now, enthusiasts get to speculate which parks will buy which rides, roller coasters, and 
attractions. The Led Zeppelin coaster, the innovative revolver-like Maximum RPM coaster, Eagles: Life in the Fast Lane, and Slippery When Wet are all up for grabs.
What’s Your Take?
What do you think of Hard Rock Park’s fate? What park do you want to buy the Led Zeppelin coaster? Leave a comment below.
January 4, 2009 at 03:16
I think this really hurts the appeal of Myrtle since the pavillion is gone. Myrtle seems to be all shopping centers and clubs now. Surely, someone will buy the Led Zeppelin coaster….it would be a shame to have that end up one and done.
January 10, 2009 at 18:14
I'd be shocked if no one bought Led Zeppelin. B&M's are so popular and well received by theme parks, that it has to be bought by another park even if it just ends up being stored for a few years. We'll find out soon enough.
January 11, 2009 at 17:15
I am really surprised that the Hard Rock Park site still says they plan to open for 2009. With the news about Chapter 7 it does not seem that we will see Hard Rock Park back but I hope so because I have yet to go but have only heard good things other than it was not large enough.
February 18, 2009 at 14:13
Hard Rock Park has been bought. This is a great thing for the Myrtle Beach area. The new owners of the park FPI plan on opening the park around Memorial Day, 3 months from now. You can read more by going to our website.
http://www.funinmb.com/blog/2009/02/hard-rock-par…
September 4, 2010 at 17:12
I'm so sad! I only got to go once. The only ride really worth riding was the Led Zeppelin, but it was such a fun atmosphere! I hope it get's bought and reopened!!!
September 5, 2010 at 02:32
Amanda, this post is outdated. It reopened last year.