Hard Rock Park Opens to ‘Awesome’ Reviews

True that people are bored stiff with Disney’s propah rides and staid attractions. HRP brings a hint of unpredictability to the rides, and besides, that 70 foot Gibson guitar icon is awesome.

“Nights in White Satin is a dark ride replicating the hallucinogenic itinerary of an acid trip.”

A faux acid trip? What kinda yuppie rock park is this? Your ticket stub should be an actual LSD dose.

What is all of this talk about people being bored with Disney? I love Disney!

I recently visited Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach and after paying $272 to get in me and 4 children I was very disappointed. A lot of the stands were closed, Maximum RPM wasn’t even operational, we were turned away from a few rides more than once due to them shutting down, The food was less than desirable especially at $10 for a mini Pizza and $4 for a small soft drink.
Many of the stages had no entertainment on them.
We went thru it twice in les than 6 hours. My opinion for the Price it isn’t worth it.

It is a glorified pavilion ! I would categorize it as an absolute waste of time ! The food was expensive, which is OK (so is Disney), but the food was horrible ! ONly the big roller coaster is worth the line. Moody Blues ride is total crap ! No way this will be around for more than couple years ! Most of the place is covered with the stupid pavilion games (eg ring toss, dart in the ballon, etc)

Maximum RPM is not open yet due to a crane crashing into the track due to rain if you want to complain about not beening to ride rides when they’re broken or not functionally think first do you want your kids to die? or you? ... that’s what I thought it’s not even grand opening when you went…. so .. let them fix they’re junk

WOW! I am speechless. What an awesome park. Well exceeded my expectations.  Great BBQ, awesome staff and that Led Zepplen Ride was well worth the 2 hour line. Going again next week to buy an annual pass.

I am guessing Tophat is a marketing person for the theme park.  It is highly overpriced and will not be around for more than a couple of years.  It must have been a tax write-off for someone.  Worst theme park in the nation by far.

to start…Luckily I won my 2 season passes. I would have been pissed if I would have had to pay!!$10 for parking…COME ON!! $50 for a one day admission!!Be for REAL. Nights in white Satin is trippy for those who don’t ride white knuclers….But it breaks down on a reg basis…Led Zepp is ok but is in no comparison with rides like other parks have. Kid ROck, and Rev Run were awesome, as was Shooter Jennings, 38 special and Charlie Daniels…..but HRP Shutdown George Clinton and Parliment before they sang “Atomic Dog”!!!The Myrtle Beach Pavillion was 10 times better with more to do….If this place makes it through summer, I will be surprised! It is a Disgrace to Myrtle Beach and the Hard Rock Franchise!! BTW on 2 separate occassions, my 12 yr old son was assaulted(Grabbed and thrown against a wall) by a man in the Grage Jam….Nothing was done about it. Save your money and wait for the state fair….

Just got back from the park. Based on reviews, I expected less and to be done and gone quickly. Despite extreme heat (Staff was giving away water) we stayed from 10-6.

We all really had fun. This place is great for kids. There were a bunch in our group and all loved it.

Coasters were good. Most things were open. There were some water attractions that we could cool off with. Rides were being shut down for short periods as they seem to still be debugging.

Led Zep coaster was very smooth. Some in our group went on it about 10 times. Only problem is a 5 min. video you have to watch about LZ EVERY time.

One of the unexpected highlights was Garage Jam with its compressed air cannons that shoot foam balls.

Suprisingly, the park was completely empty (Sunday 6-8). No wait for anything. (After we left we headed over to Broadway at the Beach. Packed. 3 Hour dinner wait at Margaritaville) Not a good sign for HRP.

Few things:

At least for now, the HRP web site says $40 when you buy 4 or more tickets. They won’t offer that at the ticket windowbut will immediately honor it if you bring it up.

We brought water bottles with us because it was so hot. Security at the front gate said we couldn’t bring them in. He did allow it when he asked us a specific health related question (asked with a wink) that we answered “correctly”.

Worth going to especially if its hot enough to get wet and you have kids in the group.

WORST PARK EVER
space is wasted it takes about ten minutes to walk to the only three rides in the park that an adult can go too, and yea and one of them wasnt even open. Why a. waste that space, and b. charge that much. I am so disappointed I never even want to eat at a hardrock again and would love to just have my money back. I was literally in the park for maybe two hours. Thankfully the park was dead and I didn’t have to wait in lines to be as disappointed as I was, oh not to mention one was broken. Take a clue Hardrock there are millions of rides you can put on that massive piece of land your wasting, do it or shut down.

I have a annual pass and think the price is more than worth it.  I haven’t been able to take advantage of the pass as much as I would like.  I did get to go to the Volunteer Jam concert.  They had Shooter Jennings, 38 Special and Charlie Daniels band.  All included in my annual pass.  Can’t wait for Sister Hazel on July 4th.

I went to Country on the Rocks.  An Ice Skating show done to Country Music.  It was FABULOUS!

Bohemian Rhapsody totally rocks!  Its the firework laser show.  I love the big Gibson guitar.

I’m not a ride person.  Went on Eagles Roller Coaster.  Someone reviewed it as lame so I thought okay I’ll go.  I can handle it. NOT LAME!  I was a full fledged adult ride.  Good music.

I love the Philly Cheesteak sandwhich at the Love Shack.  Best Philly I ever had.  I hate the coconut shrimp I think at Paradise grill.

I think there is lot more to offer just haven’t had the time to be able to take in all the entertainment.

Everyone needs to stop hating on the park for its lack of rides and realize that the park just opened weeks ago. If the park was built up to its full potential and had the rides of Cedar Point that would be the same as saying gas will go down three dollars the next day. It takes time for something like a theme park to add rides and rise to its full potential.  When I came to the park I came in with the thought of it being more like a Disney with more theme and less thrill than a Cedar Point and the park did not let me down. I had a great time and not every park is about riding nothing but rides. I found the shows quite entertaining as well.  Give it some time then the rollercoaster crazy nuts who thought the park would be the new capital of the world in terms of thrills on its first year will then shut them up later on.

I was extremely disappointed.

Since when is Bobby Brown hard rock?

Not enough rides. Not enough rock.

Pay $39 to be able to pay $6 for a beer.

What child is young enough to actually be a child and knows who the Banana Splits are?

Magic Mushroom Ride? So mind-altering narcotic mushrooms are something to theme a kid ride after? Okay…the liberals have landed.

I have to admit this park is a disgrace to Myrtle Beach. It is too expensive, the food is worse than dog food and way over priced. the staff is absoutely clueless. it is more like a carnival than a park. the 38 special concert was awesome and volunteer jam, but if i were these groups i wouldnt come back. they deserve better than to come to a zoo. i dont think it will make it through the year. i really dont see any way to fix it, because it wasnt designed right from the start.

VERY DISAPPOINTING!

There really isn’t even a comparison to Disney.  This park was expensive (with no published discounts for children, regardless of age.) Most of the rides were still closed (and this is AFTER the grand opening.)  No, I don’t want to be on the rides if they need repairs…but I also should not be paying full price admission for a park that only has 5 operating rides!  The sign at the front only said that Maximum RPM was closed…but so was Nights in White Satin, Slippery When Wet, and one other. As previous poster mentioned, its $15 to eat lunch at a counter service restaurant with mediocre food.  We were given a beverage voucher for 4 drinks since all of the rides were broken down…well then we were asked to pay $1.10 on the FREE drinks they were giving us (tax, I suppose.)  They dropped the ropes 10 minutes after opening time because they hadn’t finished test runs/opening the stores…shouldn’t this be done earlier if the park doesn’t open til 10?  The park should have introductory prices of $20 since its a small park to begin with and few rides are functional. I’m thinking the Pavilion had more…

Ok, I grew up going to MB, and I am so pissed they got rid of the Pavillion, that was such a big part of MB. This so Called theme park is a joke, it looks flashy from the parkinglot, but it doesnt even compare to carowinds, and its more expensive than carowinds, its almost as much as disney. MB was fine the way it was they should have never gotten rid of the pavillion, it is so sad to drive by and see the pavillion lot empty. This park will never take the place, I would rather spend 20 bucks and go to family kingdom and finsih the night up at broadway, hopefully they will move some more pavillion rides to broadway. As far as hard rock goes, if you have extra money, anything is worth trying once, but dont hold your

Locals—save your money.  Family Kingdom gives a local discount if you show your local driver’s license at the office(Inquire at the ticket booth) Around $13 per person—Now that is a bargain! 3 people can get in for less than the price of 1 ticket.  And you don’t have to pay if you don’t ride.
In my opinion Hard Rock is a combination of The old pavilion (though not as good) and Broadway at the beach!

I just came back from my first visit to Hard Rock Park and let objectively say it’s a huge disappointment.  With a brand like Hard Rock Café to piggyback off, it’s very sad a newly designed “rock park” doesn’t live up to expectations.  Comparing this park to Disney is a complete joke and even Family Kingdom can provide more fun with a cheaper ticket!

Let’s start off with the good.  The merchandise is really cool and relatively affordable compared to the industry standard.  Additionally, you can’t find a piece of trash if you tried throughout the entire park!  The cleanliness is great but remember the park is new so time will only tell if this remains.

Now for the bad, yes…that was all the good!  Let’s start off with the ticket price, $50 per person for a park that can be completed in 3-4 hours is just insane!  $10 to park is normal compared to industry standard but when you only get minimal attractions to experience, it can only leave a bitter taste of being ripped off in your mouth! 

Now for the attractions, most of the attractions aren’t unique in any manner.  You have the swings, the spider but with a different themed car, a carousel, a water play area, etc.  Although Led Zeppelin is a great coaster, one great ride doesn’t justify attending this park with a $50 ticket!  The rides are cookiecutters that can be found anywhere in the world including Six Flags and even worse, your local carnival! 

Let’s now talk about the food!  This is by far the worst aspect of the park.  Now you’d think that Hard Rock would if anything get the food right because of their long standing history in the restaurant business….WRONG!  The service is not trained to expedite a line in any shape or manner!  We waited over 25 minutes in a very short line to get a burger and fries and it was like pulling teeth!  I can’t even begin to explain how messed up this operation is!  The manager in the location was also very rude and you could only walk away feeling bad for the front line employees who were trying their best to achieve a good guest experience!  In addition to the awful service and quality of the food, the price is outrageous!  Let me say you can eat at Disney World for half the price of Hard Rock Park and get great service and better food!  It’s just awful and that’s all I have to say about that!  P.S.  Don’t plan on eating at a Hard Rock Café because the Hard Rock Park doesn’t offer one!  Crazy!

Overall, the staff was very friendly and seems to be excited about working at the first ever Rock Park.  Unfortunately for them, I can’t see the park lasting the summer based on the lack of attendance and the high-ticket prices.  The staff is a nice mix of locals of young and old and I even had some great conversations with a couple international staff members from Russia. 

In conclusion, Hard Rock Park is anything from Rockin.  If the park makes it through the summer it will only be because of the local base annual passholder attendance.  The amount of rides are lacking, the price and quality of food is awful, and the place being a ghost town can only make you believe I’m not the only one with hopes the Hard Rock Corporation either corrects the major issues they have on their hands or walk away from trying to enter the theme park industry!  Rock your way down to Orlando for a fun time filled with Princesses, Pirates, Simpsons and soon to be Harry Potter!

I had the worst time of my life at this poor excuse for a them park!

Don’t waste your money here. They charge for everything from parking to the attractions in the park. that’s right. After they get you for 10.00 parking and 50.00 each at the gate, they’ll charge you for certain attractions in the park too!

Just a huge dissapointment.

Whine whine whine is all I been reading.
Sure The park is small and don’t have 100 rides or more and is expencive but if they plan to add these rides that all you people are gripeing that the park lacks cost$!! have you realized just how much money more of the elaborate rides cost these days? High millions to billions and Hard Rock Park was just able to get 4 hundred million to build this park from ground up. If this park fails as so many of you want it to then Myrtle Beach won’t have anything but the family kingdom (carnival) and believe me you won’t see anything close to a led Zeppelin Type coaster. Hard Rock Park does plan to add rides as time goes but anything decent is going to cost alot more then what all of you tight wads want to spend. As far as food goes atleast there are different types of food in all the areas as to where you go to other parks all you get is burgers&fries; and you surely won’t find the shows at Family Kingdom.
If you all want to bitch about something expencive call up The President and get on his case about the high gas prices.

Folks give it time,Rome was’nt built in a day. The designers Of Hard Rock Park wanted to start with a basic balance of everything for everyone to start with. You can spend $50.00 without even knowing it at the family kingdom. the last I was there the price for 1 ride on the Swamp Fox coaster cost $5.25 so if you have a family and ride it plus all the other rides you will wind up spending $50.00 or more as you may have to get back in line to buy more tickets.  I Frequent Hard Rock Park often and I Have “Never” had bad food from any of the resturants. People should know that any brand new park is’nt going to start off with a large amount of rides. I hope they plan to invest money into elaborate rides but they need to do it little by little so it does’nt look like it was just whipped up overnight. The Park has a good basic flavor to expand and build on and it’s not going to do it by chargeing just $5.00 gate admission .

I can understand that they cannot have tons of rides right away.  However, I don’t understand how someone can say that they won’t be able to build new rides if the admission is lower.  Following that line of logic, I am paying for future rides while only getting to enjoy the paltry amount offered right now.  This is like a restaurant saying, “We know $25 is a lot for a hot dog and chip buffet, but with the money you give us, we can afford to buy more items for the next time”.

Ok. well thinking about it you could be right, But rides are just a short aspect of the admission.they have high bills, the live show performers, staff which I have heard are paid well and many other inside operations we may not know of.
at first when they opend it was $50.00 regardless of age and I did’nt think they would come down from that probaly a price quote advised from whoever up top.
I think they are still tring to figure out how to get it just right but I don’t think I see then droping admission down to $20.00 becasue they need to pay off construction cost and investers.
Alot of other parks like Carowinds and 6 flaggs who have more rides can afford a lower gate admission because they are well est. And alot of thier older rides are paid for. Led Zeppelin The ride with onboard audio and preshow and the Legal rights from Led Zeppelin proably coast them $40 million I’m just guessing. The Nightly Bohemian Rhapsody show has to cost a good penny, fireworks alone aren’t cheap but to synch them with the song has to cost a bit more.  But as far as the rides Go. any rides for the future that could hopfuly be more elaborate(Disney/Universal scale) they have to save up for.  I’m sorry if I offended anyone earlier, I was just a little upset from what I read because I really Love this Park, I enjoy it every time I go and I always see new detail and themeing. I think it will get better in time. Now if they could start tearing down the old eyesore of the old pottery and start building the planned Paradice City and Hard Rock Hotel it will help the park look alot nicer.

went to the grand opening to see the eagles and of course they were incredible,but as far as the park goes what a bunch of crap.you might as well call it soft rock park.I think my tix were 279. a piece and I am still trying to figure out where the the other 179. went for.they tried to not charge you for parking gave you free cokes and said they what feed you.that was definetly a joke! it made me think they went to sams and bought some frozen food and microwaved it. because peoople spent so much on tickets everyone was standing in single file lines trying to get to the food which were taking 45min to an hour to get through for crap.as for the area for concerts they did’nt put enough of an incline for people to be able to see so all night long all these old guys were ready to fight other old guys because their wives could’nt see.the led zepplin ride was pretty cool but not worth the cover, the moody blues ride was a joke pretty much like the whole park. it’s almost like someone with no research walked in and started a business without seeing how myrtle beach worked.so many business’ come here and think that there going to make it but it just falls apart just like this one will or house of blues or the many theaters that have came and gone.to sum it up for you,do you remember the first time you went to hard rock cafe and had crappy food and it cost you 25 bucks a person, it just like that bit it’s 50 bucks and you don’t get to eat and you get some goofy rides and you get a lot of merchandise thrown down your throat,oh yea when you exit a ride you have to walk through their merch stores.THE SOFT ROCK PARK MIGHT HAVE 3 YEARS TOPS! BE READY FOR SEPT THROUGH APRIL EVERY YEAR BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING! GREED WILL KILL YOU IN THE END!!!!!!!!!!

Bryan,

If you don’t like it thats fine,granted the park carrys the Hard Rock name but they did’nt want the whole park to be screaming heavy metel. as far as rides you probaly hate Disney as well because a majority of thier rides are slow indoor dark rides. As far as rides that Exit you out into thier gift shops just as most other theme parks I have ever been to. I really don’t know what you were expecting but not every park is ment to be a Cedar Point Park with 70 or so rides. Also this is just thier first year.

Haven’t seen this park yet, but was very excited to learn that it even exists.  I’m a fan of theme parks in general, and as much as I also love coasters, I don’t need many of them to enjoy a theme park that’s done well.  Unlike many thrill-seekers, I make time for shows, too. 

Even though I’ve yet to experience this new park for myself, the negative reviews don’t surprise me.  Even some Disney parks have received bad reviews upon first opening, but they found ways to adapt and adjust to the needs of the public over time.

I do resent the unfair, but perhaps inevitable, comparisons to Disney.  It’s somewhat hypocrital to claim that Hard Rock is an improvement over the “preschool plastic” of Disney when Hard Rock is obviously catering to families with a slew of cookie-cutter, carnival kiddie rides with just a bare minimum of theming, based on pictures I’ve seen.  And the Banana Splits?  Hello!  I guess Disney was deploying its trademark “preschool plastic” when it created the first rock-based coaster ever (with Aerosmith music) a full decade before Hard Rock Park even opened.  (From what I’ve read so far, Led Zeppelin The Ride is merely okay, but nowhere near as exciting as Disney’s Rock’n'Roller Coaster.)

Regardless of those ridiculous comparisons, I’m sure HRP will grow into itself eventually.  Meanwhile, I must consider a trip there soon, just in case I’m wrong and it DOES go out of business within a year!

Everyone who feels the need to complain about the park, give it a rest.  As many other people have stated, it’s their first year what do you expect?  I went to this park and I loved it.  This park isn’t an amusement park meant for rides…..it’s a theme park.  I don’t know how big you people are in size to say ‘there were only 3 or so rides for adults’ but that’s a load of garbage.  As an adult myself, I found no problem riding the rides. 

Some of you people feel the need to complain about parking being too expensive? I have not been to a park these days to find the price for parking lower than $10, so just get over it.

The food, while pricey (as all parks are), is not “horrible.”  and to the person who said they paid $10 for a personal pizza, well you’re lying….they don’t cost that much.

Also, for you people comparing it to Disney….what are you thinking?  Disney has been around for YEARS, hard rock park has been around for a month or so.  you can’t expect this park to just be built to the same level as disney.

For everyone who has not gone to the park yet, IT’S WELL WORTH THE TRIP.  between the shows, shopping, and rides there is PLENTY to do to keep you busy.  I REALLY HOPE IT SUCCEEDS.  Everyone needs to realize that things are not cheap anymore….you can’t go to the store and buy a pack of gum for a nickel, or a gallon of gas for 75 cents.  In the end, Hard Rock Park can count on me coming back.  FOR THOSE WHO ENJOY COASTERS, SHOWS, SHOPPING, AND HAVE KIDS…..THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO GO.

Thanks Jason,

It’s nice to know I’m not alone.
Oh as far as the same carnival cookiecutter rides, about most every theme park has a carousel and most have a waveswinger, It’s just that Hard Rock Park picked out some of the most popular rides and themed them to thier needs. I think this Park will grow with time.
I Do however think they need to hire someone who can get more popular bands on a more frequent bases to draw the crowds in. it’s good that they are helping those who are starting out but they need to get more major performing bands in.

hey I have been on craigslist myrtle beach checking out rants and raves and the people bashing hard rock park wich I think is great because it sucked!someone on there said that the 400mill that was spent on it was funded by some
guy that made his money with blood diamonds, check it out and see if it’s true. if you get any knowledge post back
cause I am not supporting slavery in the world . thanks

I got my money back.

Maximum RPM broken/not running both days we went.  Moody Blues broken/not running.  We were too tall to ride Slippery When Wet, and there were no fireworks.  Basically, there were two rides we kind of enjoyed after spending $240.00 on two-day passes.

I spoke with someone about the fireworks last night, there was a severe thunderstorm last Thursday and something relating to the fireworks were hit by lightning so they had to order parts they say could be a week.

Mark,

you say you were too tall to ride slippery when wet?  exactly how tall are you, because i am 6 feet tall and i had no problem with it?

I really hope HRP survives and prospers.  I am a nut for amusement parks and I would love to have one right here at home.  I just cannot envision the people who come to Myrtle Beach forking over $50 (at least not more than once) to visit this place.  I understand they are saying it is a “Theme Park”.  And I believe they have done extremely well in that respect.  But I cannot see people paying such a high price to go and see nice buildings and ingenious displays.  If there is not much to do, they are asking people to pay a large (for this area) fee to come and purchase overpriced food and souvenirs.  It would be like Coastal Grand Mall asking for a hefty admission fee. (Just to enjoy their “ambience” and purchase their overpriced wares)

I havent Been to hardRock Park yet, But I would like to go this Summer, I hope Im not terribly dissapointed with all of the negative ratings that I have read, WOW It really cant be that badd? or is it? I think everyone should give it time with this year being the first year, And it will get better.

Chris,
Go give it a try and have a great time (:
this is thier first year and it will get better as it grows.

Chris,

Go visit HRP and have a blast (:
You’ll like the shows as well and do stay for the fireworks !!

sounds to me like jason and ken should go on date with each other. with this much as kissing I’m sure they will get lucky!LOL this ken guy must work at the park. hard rock park is a turd!

Richard,

I am No way employd by the park.
Just because I do like alot of what I see in the park instead of bashing it for what it does’nt have.
They do have plans to add rides & attractions and expand but it does’nt happen overnight. If some say that it won’t last because they are not getting the 30 thousand people a day they would like well some of that could be due to the negitive press.  These Other Major Parks that I hear some say HRP is nothing compared to, well those parks did’nt open at the statis they are now.

Im a sixteen year old and i had an absoloute blast at the park :) I went with 3 other teens and we loved all the rides! The led zepplin was so much fun and it has a camera that records your whole ride which is hillarious. There is a ball pit room and it is soo much fun they have all these foam ball guns and you can shoot people with them. They also have a 3D Ride which is so so fun. The only complaint I have is there wasnt as many rides as i would have expected and one ride was down when we went. Also when you ride the led zepplin ride you have to watch a 6 minute video before every ride which wasnt fun at all. The park was very very clean and all the rides were set up really neatly.

Lindsey,

Eventhough I do not work at the park I’m happy that you had a blast,I just wished more people could have positive things to say about the park,It’s the park’s first year so they will add more rides&attractions; as they grow.
As for the Led Zeppelin Preshow, I feel that when the park starts to get more crowds and the lines do get long most people will probaly ride Zeppelin once or mabie twice and move on to the next ride. The preshow I feel adds to the ride. Alot of Orlando Theme Parks have some sort of preshow on some of thier attractions but because they have so many more rides your not seeing the same thing over&over;. Give Hard Rock Park some years to grow (:

Lindsey,

Eventhough I do not work at HRP I am happy that you had a blast,I wish more people could have something positive to say about the park.
This is the Park’s first year so I’m sure they will add more rides&attractions; in time.
As for the Led Zeppelin Preshow, yes I know it can get tired if you ride the coaster several times, I think as the park adds more rides and more people start to go to the park that the lines do start to get long most people will probaly ride the coaster once or twice and move to the next ride, I think the Preshow adds to the whole ride expeariance. Alot Of Orlando’s theme parks have some sort of preshow on some of thier attractions,it builds up the excitement for the ride. Give this park some years to grow and it will be Outstanding :)

HARD ROCK PARK SIMPLY PUT (IT SUCKS)

Why does it suck richard?  Is it because you, like everyone else, are comparing it to Disney and Universal?

Richard,

If you have any ideas as to how they can improve things, you can writeto them and perhaps get on thier planning board and if you have $1Billion to your name then you can help to improve and expand this park.

yeah if the park is so great why do I hear that they are closing for the winter after aug. they have let a lot of people go already,heard they got rid of all the local bands but two. if 400 million and the hard rock name can’t make it they must have really. built a
wonderful peice of crap. when it all comes down to it,you have a bunch of greedy indians that want to get there country back one nickle at a time through gambleing wich is never going to happen here. they bought a piece of property that the owners could’nt give away,over charged local people like a mofo.did’nt do any of there homework about how this beach works. I mean they kept saying they were going to do 30,000 people a day , what a joke,they were lucky to do 3 or 4 hundred a day. that place should have known when they did those free concerts last year that were such crap that it was’nt going to work.And you know it serves them right for getting the money to do it from the guy that made his money from blood diamonds. if they want to recoup anything they better find some people locally that really know whats going on
to straighten them out or next year will be a repeat of this one.jason and ken you guys need to move in together and split the ky bills!

Richard,

Grow up already. 

To get you straight, I am near Kings Dominion and they do not offer local discounts that I am aware of.  A lot of places do not offer them.  If you’re from the area, as I suspect you are.  You are only hurting the area because of how much you are bad mouthing it.  People from all around read this, and many of them may want to go vacation at MB.  Then they read this, a decide not to go for a few days because they make think you’re unfriendly (as it certainly seems).  Not only does that hurt the park, it hurts the economy down there because there is less money coming in.

The park closing is just a RUMOR.  That does not mean it is set and stone.  Also, I don’t know personally and I’m sure you do not either, but do you realize how much it costs to operate a park?  If no one is going to come during the winter, why open it up?  Think things through.  Just because they’re closing in the winter does not make them a horrible park.

And as a restatement…...GROW UP!

Apparently, some people (i.e., Richard) are unfamiliar with the concept of a park that operates seasonally, during the warmer months only.  But Richard can’t be blamed for his lack of knowledge.  After reading his so-called argument, rife with laughable spelling errors & unique punctuation, I blame his parents & teachers.  If he thinks he can convince anyone (other than the voices in his head) with that diatribe, then his ignorance is sublimely amusing.  At least it was good for several laughs.

HRP is not closeing just after August as you stated, it closes Nove. 2nd and they stated it still depends on attendance numbers and they do plan to open in 09.
This is a new park thats not yet fully developed so it will take time to grow.
Other theme parks- Six Flaggs over Ga. and Busch Gardens in Va. closes for the winter. It also allows for maintaince and possible new attractions to be built.  Myrtle Beach used to go totaly dead after labor day back 30 years ago and not pick up till May but now there’s still people coming down during the off season so in 5 or 10 years HRP could possibly stay open yr. round but it depends on how many people are in town, as Jason stated if no people are in town during the winter it’s not profitable to keep the park open.

YES THE PARK ISN’T MAKING THE NUMBERS AT ALL, GO TO WPDE.COM AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF.

Yes Carson,
The Numbers aren’t what they were hoping for as can be said for Six Flaggs Parks and Other Parks across the US.
It’s true that the economy is soft and the gas prices also effect everyone.
But news stations like WPDE,the Sun News and other various news broadcast that knows all too well that bad news sales so they will do thier VERY best to get thier storys even at the expence of a Brand New Park,It’s no wonder the Numbers are down due to alot of the nagativity thats become such a big popularity these days. People talk about the park charging too much, too small and not enough rides bla bla bla and then this mindset starts to spread like a plague to where everybody goes on sites&blogs; to join in on the hate HRP bandwagon just becasue they feel it will make them somehow feel popular by putting something down just to fit in with every body else and then 1000’s of people who would have otherwise gone to the park and probably love it decide not to go becasue of all this doom&gloom; gossip and they say the numbers are down. Duh!

They should just move the Led Zeppelin coaster over to Broadway at the Beach and call it a day.  It would be a far, far more satisfying way to spend your time.

Nothing other than the rides and a few snack stands opens before noon, even the though the park opens at 10 am.  You can literally do everything in the park in three hours or less.  We actually left to have lunch elsewhere, and the only reason we came back at all was that we paid such a ridiculous price to get in, we might as well try to tough it out.  But after even two more hours, it was enough.

We will not be returning and will warn everyone we know to stay away.

Not sure why Ken feels the need to argue with everyone who posts a negative review.  They just don’t agree with you, Ken.  Accept it, and move on.

David, I am recently finding that there are some who do aggree with me but sadly because most in these comment boards,blogs or whatever seems so overjoyed with bad news regarding HRP that bad comments just happen to stand out more.
Sad world we live in where some people can’t have anything “good” to say about anything (if it is’nt free).

Ken listen to David. The park is a turd
in a glazed doughnuts clothing.hrp has’nt done anything for mb. but empty promises. They are letting all the local employees go while keeping the people from russia and the other countries that have came here for the summer. Let them keep burning bridges with local people and it will for sure close. I’ve been here since 97 and every year the money is getting less and less and the only consistant time they will be able to make money is between the second week of june until the third week in august. It’s just how it is. There is no way they can make enough money to keep it going. I’m with Dave put the zep over at broadway and call it a day. Oh yeah for the record b. and Chapin have sold all there entertainment business’ here because they know it is’nt working money wise. (pavillion,nascar etc.)I guess the SOFT ROCK PARK did’nt get the memo.

I’m an employee of Hard Rock Park and I can tell you that the employees are NOT treated right by this park. The general employees of the park are known as ROCKERS, we make 8.00 per hour which is really not a bad pay rate for what we do BUT we are only allowed to work about 2-3 hours a day, then we are sent home early. We CANNOT get more than 10 hours a week!!

Many of us drive 40 minutes or more to get to work only to be told when we arrive on time and ready to work our shift that we are NO LONGER NEEDED and we are sent back home!! GAS IS EXPENSIVE HRP!!! THIS IS NOT FAIR TO US!!

On top of this, Hard Rock Park decided to bring all these RUSSIAN employees in from overseas and let me tell you, the RUSSIANS ALWAYS get 40 hours a week! They are NEVER sent home early. WHY?? Because it’s in their “Contract” we are told… WEll what’s wrong with this picture?? We have AMERICANS who want to work but we are sent home yet you let a RUSSIAN earn a full days paycheck??? Thats total BULL!!

The management of Hard Rock Park are very RUDE and nasty to the employees. They are ALL from out of town and many of them have never lived in Myrtle Beach before. They come here and bring a New York attitude with them thinking we LOCALS are going to take S**T from them, well let me tell ya buddy, IT DONT WORK LIKE THAT IN THE SOUTH!!

Many of the above comments relate to the POOR FOOD QUALITY, well I work in Food&Beverage; and I can tell you first hand that PROPER FOOD HANDLING procedures are NOT BEING FOLLOWED!! Many employees have become SICK after eating the parks food. A word of advise, I would NEVER ORDER THE FISH.

This park is a DISASTER and the sooner it closes, the better.

July 11, 2008.  I spent $293 and change (using Military discount at gate)for my family and I to have what we thought would be the most rocking time of our lives.  What we got was a miserable experience, rude, RUDE, staff, (not to mention more that 80% did not speak English), overpriced food and merchandise, unbearable heat, rides that we were turned away from RIGHT WHEN WE REACHED THE ENTRANCE, and for that grand finale…we were told the fireworks were canceled for the night as well.  My husband travels extensively with his public safety job, he flies 100% of all trips, we all know that when a flight is not full, certain amenities are taken away from the on-board passengers like no drinks, no pretzels, etc.  My greatest inclination tells me that because the park did not sell enough tickets, it could not pay for the fireworks which is undoubtedly, sad.  I don’t know about you but I sure could have used that money elsewhere and had something to show for it other than a bad sunburn and heat exhaustion.  We live in NC and did not travel far for this “LESS than SPECTACULAR” experience, I feel even sorrier for my brother and his family who traveled 13 hours to go with us and had the same experience we did.  I understand the “Hard Rock” theme, each and every staff member you have working for you, (with one exception, the girl leading the karaoke queue in Max. RPM) looked like they were out on weekend work release from prison.  This is NOT a family park, I would NEVER recommend that families go but if one were a hard core Harley Davidson person, this would be just right for them.  This park should have been built in Daytona Beach, Florida.  It attracts the same class of people that vacation there.  We chose to eat at Alice’s Restaurant for a family meal and upon entering the restaurant, my entire family was given a “look down” as if we could not afford to eat there and the gray haired hostess asked if we wanted to see a menu first.  This was the ultimate insult. We were al dressed casually, tee’s and jeans (more than appropriate attire for any establishment).  Our meal that evening did cost $180, including tip.  Food: D+.  Overall, I am so disappointed, it is almost unbearable.

Hey ken and jason you hear what these guys are saying. to add to all of this a friend of my let me know today that hard rock park is filing for bankruptcy in nov. and universal is taking it over.since hard rock park is filing, anyone they owe money to here is hosed. they owe my bud 30,000 dollars
that he will never see. Thanks SOFT ROCK PARK for coming here and draining the hard working people of myrtle beach.
Do not support anything that has the hard rock name on it. Yeah jason and ken tell us more about how great it is !LOL

Are all of you talking about the same HRP thats in Myrtle Beach S.C.? Because I never had any such bad expeariances that comes close to what all you state and I been going there about twice a week all summer long and never ran into any rudeness from any staff Unlike what I and many have expearinaced at Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio.
As far as heat goes,yes it does get hot during the summer but some of the rides do have indoor loading stations with AC(Zeppelin) and Nights In White Satin which is indoors and some outdoor rides do have mist fans,I have seen less at other parks. As far as all russians and No Locals,I keep seeing americans everytime I go,I also see russians and guess what, not all Americans work at Disney.  mabie things will improve after all this is just thier first year,No Park gets everything right that soon.

Hmm,Universal taking it over?
I don’t know yet if I should believe if this is true or not, we’ll have to wait and see. I personaly Liked the Hard Rock Theme But If Universal taking it over and rethemeing it is what it takes to turn things around for the better so it will satisfy more people and get some upscale rides then so be it. As I said we’ll have to wait and see.
As Long as it remains a Theme Park in some form I’ll be happy.

Universal taking it over?  So far, this is just a rumor to me.  If anyone is going to take it over though at least it is Universal.  They could really do some great things with the park.  I don’t like the idea of a re-theme though.  They could really do good with the rock theme.  I liked the shows from HRP, but Universal could definitely make some good ones.  Hopefully it can make it, but if Universal takes over then it’ll still work out good.  Just hopefully it has a theme and doesn’t become a thrill park like Cedar Point.  It needs to be family oriented for the area.

Jason,

So Far I’m taking this Universal thing as (Hear Say) I’ve learned not to believe anything till it is publicly announced.
I Happen To Love that it is HRP and I think they invested so much $ into theming
that it would be a huge waste of time & money to re-theme everything when that money can to towards New rides&shows;. As far as a Family Park I do hope they add more dark rides with animatronics, however they need atleast a few more intence thrill rides like maby another B&M Coaster & space shot towers(Dr.Dooms) at IOA as long as they do it with heavey theming.This Park is currently 55 acres and it sits on 140 so they have something to build on.

Ken,

I’m with you.  It’s just a rumor in my opinion as of now.  I really like the hard rock theme myself.  I hope it doesn’t get re-themed.  They do need some intense rides also.  However, I just don’t want to see them get into the ‘coaster wars.’  They do need family rides because a lot of families come to the area for vacation.  A water ride (white water rapids or log flume type) would be nice for a family ride especially on the hot carolina summers. 

I look forward to what they do when they expand.  I just hope that it stays with the hard rock theme and becomes family oriented with some intense rides (Busch Gardens Europe for example), so that it appeals to people of all ages.

Family rides especialy (Disney&universal; Scale)as far as High Tech special effects. As for “Thrill” rides, eventhough HRP may not intend to get into a coaster wars, they do need atleast 3 more Big coasters comparable to Zeppelin and hopfully atleast 1 large Wooden Coaster and some really good family & intence flats. All of this said,I’m sure HRP has alot of great ideas up thier sleevethat we don’t even know of so it’s just a matter of time&money; and deciding where they wish to build each ride and what to theme them.
Also 2 more major indoor shows will keep up the Entertainment feel to the park.

We were there recently.  I was bored and over all dissappionted.  It is absolutely NOT WORTH 50 bucks.  The Led Zepplin was good. That’s about all we could enjoy.  Other rides were not open and the shows did not open until later in the afternoon. We saw the whole park in one hour which included riding a couple things,going thru the gift shops and taking pictures at photo spots.  The park looks nice but HO HUM, I think I had more fun at WalMart the other night. I hope it gets ALOT better.

Kelli,
I’m sorry you did’nt have a good time,
however there are alot of things to see and do, Some people I have talked to stay 10 or more hours, It’s not a typical ride amusement park alone, it’s a Theme park based on music,rides,theming & entertainment all togather. Just the 3 major shows and Zeppelin alone are worth the admission price and don’t forget the fireworks show. This park will get better in time as they do add more rides&shows;.

I think Ken must be an employee

I’m Not an employee,

I just happen to really like the park (unlike others) and think it does have potental to get better as they add more rides & shows.
It has music,theming,good quality food, better then what I have had at other Parks. It has entertainment, bands,nice rock memoribillia, nice landscape,nice buildings,it’s a clean park so I’m not like all those who are tring to tear it down,I know it don’t have 20 or so Roller Coasters but what it does have is a good start for a brand new park. These people need to realize & accept that B&C closed the pavilion,Hard Rock Park did’nt.

Hello from Chile,
I’m planning my next vacation (January or february) and I was thinking in travelling around California.  Every time that I go to USA I spent one week in Orlando, visiting Disney Worl, so I was wondering if Hard Rock Park maybe it’s a good option of visiting.  How many days do I have to stay there?  And is it a good alternative instead of Disney World this year?

Saludos desde Chile

Well…. here is something many have not thought of or mentioned.  ****Disney Parks and Universal Studios all have the allure and attraction to keep everyone coming back.  Some do so on a yearly basis as a vacation with and for their families.  They offer thrills that everyone wants to keep doing over and over.**** 
With that said, there is NOTHING that would make you want to go back to Hard Rock Park other than to see what has become of the property.  For the person from Chile, sweetie, don’t waste your time.  You’ll have more fun in an old antique shop.

Magi King,

You can’t deny that Universal and Disney have plenty of thrills and people keep coming back.  However, how can you even compare Hard Rock Park to those two?  Those are well established parks and did not just open a few months ago.

Ximena,

Provided you like Rock music, the park is a good place to visit.  It does not have a whole lot as of now though.  I love the park, but I wouldn’t make the special trip for it.  If you are in the area it is definitely worth checking out.

Magi King,

So thats it? Your going to make up peoples minds for them and then wonder why the attance has been so low.

  Some of the same creators from Universal are involed with HRP so they may have plans for later,it makes sence that they would’nt build a full scale park in Myrtle Beach from the start knot knowing just how well it’s going to do in a new area. Universal parks did’nt open with all the attractions they have now.
It’s just sad that some people out there have a vandetta against this park because they had to fork out $45.00 that they would have spent at other places in Myrtle Beach and got less then a full days worth. There’s some that will spend $20.00 to walk around in a aquarium for a few hours looking at fish or watching dinner theater shows for just 2 hours where they can spend all day at HRP.

hey ken and jason , stick a fork in the soft rock park it’s done!

Richard,

Many Busneses operate on chapter 11 Bankruptcy,Banks,Airports,restaurants ect. This chapter 11 allows HRP to regroup&reorganize; while making whatever changes possible to improve the park and operations so they can reopen next Spring and if all goes well and with the Nations hopes of the economy making a positive comeback make a better year for HRP.
Let’s all hope for the best (:

God. This was the worst theme park I have ever been too. A complete and total waste of money! The only cool thing was the ” gates to rock and roll heaven with all the fog rolling towards you. Other than that- we got through the park in under two hours!

Julie,

Some of the best Theme parks in the country started out small,Even Disney did’nt start with everything it has today, the builders Of HRP have intentions to grow but it cost lots of money and they wer’nt going to put it all on the line being the first Park in 10 years and not sure just how well it’ll do, I’m a big “Ride” lover and I look forward to more rides but I would rather them get more elaborate rides and not just slap a bunch cheap carnie rides just to have a higher ride count,it will happen but they need to get back on thier feet as does the economy.

My wife and I got season tickets and went seven times. The first time we didn’t realize that there were three shows and came away thinking it was really over priced. If you attend all three shows and go on the half dozen rides for adults it is probably worth the price. We wondered how long they could stay open based on the few people we saw at the park each time we went. The payroll alone had to be huge. We went on July 4th expecting to see a crowd and were very surprised to see very few people. No wait for any ride over 5 minutes. As for the price of food and drinks….steep. Would not recommend eating at the park. Of course, who knows what will happen if and when they reopen. An awful lot of bad PR out there from the first year attendees. And lastly, the best part of the park for us was the Led Z. coaster, except for the aggravating 5 minute video in the little room before each ride. Especially the last time we went when there was no air conditioning on in these staging rooms. Cost cutting before the end?

I am saddened by the new HRP has closed. I truly hope they re-open next year.

We had a blast there last July. We loved all the music, the rides, the food, the characters and shows.

I thought it was very cool how the shows were all FREE.

They took pictures of you in the park, but the great thing was they also let you take pictures with your personal camera too. So, you didn’t have to pay for their pictures is you didn’t want too.

My only disappointment was the price to get in. When a family is on vacation they spend a lot of money just on room and daily food, so coughing up 200.00 just for entry is a bit steep. There are so many other atractions at MBeach that given a choice some will choose not to go to the park.

I think they should lower admission prices. People will wind up spending money at the park anyway. We budgeted what we spent inside the park because of the steep cost of admission.

I hope they re open next year. I hope more people get a chance to visit the park and see how awsome it is

hard rock park is currently sending there employees rubber paychecks, a friend of mine has had two to bounce!LOL
if you check myrtle beach craigslist someone listed the people that hard rock park owes in ther chapter 11. it’s 116 pages long check it out, what a joke it turned out to be. don’t plan on seeing it next year.

Jason and Ken,
my 14 year old self and my friend went to the park over the summer with my grandparents and it was a great experiance. I realy dont understand the problems we got there at ten and left at closing time!!! Every ride that i saw was working and i rode the led zepplin 4 times with no lines!! All the rides were way past par with there own unique stand, water rides peformance, effects, shooting areas agility course, climbing areas, and awsome rides. I was doing something every waking secound of the day and had an enjoyable time!!! I loved the fire dude, and the bohemian rhapsody fire work show. Everywere u looked technology in the theme of rock was placed. The food was good i realy barely remeber the food but the huge lava lamps in the resaraunt. I hope the park stays open because i loved that no mater were i went music was playing out loud. I think that they should place some rides in the huge lake. Excuse the mistakes . please comment