Hard Rock Park for sale

Coaster_Lizard said:
I think what he's saying here is that SF is looking like a Chapter 11 may be their only option, not that they have already declared a bankruptcy.

Again, based on what? A company that says it plans to be cash flow positive this year isn't one that would typically declare bankruptcy.

Cedar Fair is finally on track with the Paramount acquisition, but it doesn't mean that anyone is going to stand in line to lend them money right now, assuming they'd want to take on that debt in the first place.

I agree with Dave that if anyone is really interested, it'll be someone outside of the industry. Universal's theme park wing might be a good fit from the stand point that they're very good at marketing, but there's risk of diluting the value of the existing parks.

Brian Noble said:You do know that Myrtle Beach draws 13-14M tourists per year, right?

It may not get to those numbers again anytime soon, but I could imagine a world where the economy is rolling again come 2010, and some keen investor could pick up the park for a great price, only to turn it around 180* and make really good money on the place.

I don't think MB's numbers are going to dry up that much. It's mostly a drive-to destination for folks in the southeast. As such, it's a relatively inexpensive vacation.

Don't rule out private money with a company like Live Nation or Ticketmaster - think Dollywood on a larger scale. They could use it to promote concerts like when The Eagles and Moody Blues played the opening weekend concerts. Look how well the synergy between Disney and Aerosmith worked on R&R Coaster. Some of the songwriters in these establish bands have massive fortunes and could easily make this purchase - Moody's even have a ride there named after one of their songs so it's in their best interest to keep the park open since it promotes sales of their material through these rides. I could picture Justin Hayward, Robert Plant, Bon Jovi and a bunch of other Rockers combining their resourses similar to the Planet Hollywood deal between actors. (Bon Jovi already owns the arena football team in Philly so he's not a stranger to investing in entertainment ventures)

With the popluarity of Guitar Hero and Rock Band games, I also wouldn't be surprised if a company like Sony or even Microsoft (XBOX) looked at it as a way to further promote their video game software and hardware.

Rock and Roller Coasters are a perfect combo.

The cool thing about NBC/Universal is that Hard Rock is already built pretty much to Universal specifications, so operationally it would be fairly easy for Universal to assimilate into their current park operations. The problem, again, is one of whether NBC has any interest at all in such an acquisition.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

^^I agree, Rye. Heck, they have BOTH games as "prizes" in their main arcade.

I lost. ;)

-Tina

If somebody does come along,

Anybody see a Van Halen- "Jump"-themed bounce house painted to look like one of Eddie Van Halen's guitars?

Screw it, they could add an "Appitite For Desctruction" arena for demo derbies.

RideMan said:
The cool thing about NBC/Universal is that Hard Rock is already built pretty much to Universal specifications, so operationally it would be fairly easy for Universal to assimilate into their current park operations. The problem, again, is one of whether NBC has any interest at all in such an acquisition.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Can you elaborate?

Brian Noble said:
I don't think MB's numbers are going to dry up that much. It's mostly a drive-to destination for folks in the southeast. As such, it's a relatively inexpensive vacation.

MB isn't just a destination for the southeast. A lot of people from Ohio go all the time. Most of the vehicles I have seen at MB are from up north. I wish I would have made it to the park this year, but I figured some things would not be operating the first year. My mother from Ohio is planning a trip for next summer to MB and I was planning on going to the park.

majortom1981 said:
The problem is where the park is located. From a lot of places like nyc you can only get a direct flight from spirit. Most other airlines have like 3 layovers to get to myrtle beach.

Driving down there is not worth it.

Thats the problem with the park is that its not easy to get to.

Well Myrtle Beach itself isn't easy to get to if you take the backroads like I did. Scary! ;)

HRP was easy to get to. I didn't have any problems once I found out where it was. ;) I do think that they should of built it closer to the beach, though. HRP was dead when I visited. Family Kingdom, as well as all the other attractions on the Strand were PACKED.

-Tina

Just because Herschend closed a park doesn't mean they wouldn't be interested in this one. I can see them taking an interest, a lot more than other heavyweights like Six Flags, Cedar Fair, Universal and Disney.

Tough sell I think. Money for the park AND a bunch for needed to market the place.

By the way, I just saw an ad for Myrtle Beach out here in Southern California. No mention of the park though.

As much as Six Flags is in debt, I think they should at least consider the purchase. I heavily themed, flagship park for them. This park is also family friendly, or made more family friendly. Six Flags could make this their high point of the new image...a large, family friendly park that is clean, safe, and well run. The mini-Disney park they always wanted could be the former Hard Rock Park.

I don't think that Disney or Universal would buy this - Disney definitely not, it is outside of their brand culture. Universal would be better suited given the two, but with a huge focus on the Dubai project, as well as extensive funding in Orlando (Potter, Hollywood Rockit) and California/Japan (Transformers)they may not want to take on slaying this dragon that the park has to come back from, which includes ch. 11 in it's first season, to angry locals who HATE the park, to crewmembers laid off, bad media relations, and a total overhaul on marketing and advertising it is going to be a tough challenge.

Cedar Fair - No, they are still struggling with Paramount Acquisition

Six Flags - No, they are in a rough patch right now, and to save their stock standing and future trading options, I doubt they would acquire the debt and challenge. Also, the park is "too themed" for a Six Flags. not saying they couldn't pull it off, but Six Flag's core is Amusement parks with high thrill rides and not a lot of theming.

Herschend - No, they are a very christian based company, and I think that task of them making a Hard Rock Park that fit their brand would be difficult, if they even wanted to touch it for risk of hurting their current reputation.

Merlin - possibly. Even though they own family friendly legoland, they own a number of parks in different brands, including some well themed, high thrill parks (Alton Towers, Thorpe Park), and this could be a good break into the east coast market.

PARC - possibly. They own a decent number of parks, including the other Myrtle Beach attractions Nascar Speed Park, and Myrtle Waves, including the Pavilion Nostalgia Park. Possible multi day package deal and ownership of the "myrtle beach thrill attractions" could be too much to pass up.

Ripley (previously rumored)-no, they don't have any experience in running a theme park, and doubt they would want their first attempt at this with the park that has such a bad rap.

You could make HRP w/o changing too much. Add a kiddie coaster and theam it to "Menudo," drop in a Van-Halen bounce house (playing "Jump," most of the time), and for good measure, have "Weird Al," design the whole kiddie area (com'on, the guy has an arctecture degree from Cal Poly, plus he's been kid-freindly for YEARS).

Someone asked about my comments on Hard Rock being built to Universal specs...

More than anything it's a general feeling I got when I saw the way the park is put together. It's kind of like walking into Michigan's Adventure the day the Shivering Timbers opened and seeing a park that was trying very hard to emulate Cedar Point. Or to notice the eerie similarities between Adventure World and Kentucky Kingdom and realize that Kentucky Kingdom was a near perfect fit for Premier Parks.

In the case of Hard Rock Park, it is fairly obvious that the people who were most (dare I use this word?) instrumental in actually putting the park together all came from Universal. It really shows when you look at things like their arrangements for moving people, their queue designs, and their food service operations. Except for the glaring lack of screening in certain key areas (such as behind Led Zeppelin), Hard Rock really does *look* like a Universal park.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'm not aware of any material reason why Universal couldn't buy it if they want it. I mean, you do remember who the parent company is, right?

And I hope after this week we can finally stop talking about how Cedar Fair is "struggling" with anything, because as best I can tell, it just ain't true.

For the record, I don't think Jeff is talking about NBC as the parent company for Universal...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

GE?

^ They've been having issues with their own Capital Arm or Financing Division, whatever they call it.