Hard Rock Park for sale

Before HRP opened I argued that it wasn't priced for the area. Even if MB attracts 13 to 14 million people a year, you have to look at what they are attracting.

Golfers, most of which are not there to visit amusements parks.
Senior Citizens, see golfer explanation.

And families, who are on a budget and looking to have a good time at an affordable price. For a family of 4 to visit with tax and parking fee you are over $200. But if a family went to family kingdom, bought 2 all day ride passes for the kids (19.95 w/ coupon) and just some ride tickets for the parents, look at the savings. Not to mention you are not getting robbed for food.
Now, I understand comparing HRP to FK is not apples to apples. What I am comparing is wallet to wallet. I think things might have helped if the had an evening or half day admission price, but just my thoughts.

A half-day admission plan would be helpful, but unfortunately for HRP, it's the *early* part of the day that people would want, and it's kind of hard to throw people out of a POP park half way through the operating day.

It's also worth noting that at least when I visited (over LDW) the food prices at HRP were comparable to FK, and the beverage price was identical.

The real sticker shock is still on the admission price. And $50 isn't a bad price if they have a concert going on. But for half of an amusement park, it's way too expensive.

Anyone who buys HRP has his work cut out for him. My opinion is that they need to eliminate the parking fee, cut the admission fee, reduce the staffing to levels that are more reasonable for the size of crowd they draw, eliminate the pre-show on Led Zeppelin (re-theming the ride if necessary to do that), develop a consistent *and accurate* marketing image for the park, and promote the heck out of it. But in promoting the heck out of it, be sure to manage expectations. Under-promise and over deliver, instead of the other way around.

It can be made to work, but it's going to take more than a couple of quarters to turn the place around into consistent profitability.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

But were people really paying $50 to get in?

There were discount admission opportunites everywhere in Myrtle Beach when we visited and even the HRP website was running deals all summer long.

Sorry, but I still don't think the gate price is even on the radar when looking for things that went wrong.

^I was thinking the same. :)

I still believe that the average family visitor to Myrtle Beach is middle to lower middle class. I am not saying if I think the park is worth $50, I was not there (had I made it to MB like I wanted to this year, I wouldn't have gone. When I looked at the ride line up and the price, I personally didn't feel that I would get teh approiate bang for my buck. That opinion, I understand, varies from person to person).What I am saying is I think the average family could find so many other things to do at a fraction of the cost.

See that is the problem. You are looking at the park's rides only and not the entire package of the park. That perception of the park is what is wrong as it has been said many times.

Yeah, I know you keep saying that, Gary, but I thought MB was a pretty standard high-priced, low quality tourist trap. Of all the things we did, $40 for 13 hours at HRP was easily the best value.

That's said as a first-time visitor to the area. Quite frankly, without HRP I'd have no reason to ever go back.

If you go north of downtown, it is less like a tourist trap.

I still believe that the average family visitor to Myrtle Beach is middle to lower middle class.

Based on what, exactly? Summer rates for oceanfront resorts are darn high---and those resorts are full.

I'm sure most of the people who went there didn't pay $50 to get in. I know I didn't, for instance, and I am sure that the area was probably blanketed with discount offers.

But part of the problem is that the discounts weren't where they clearly needed to be. They weren't on the web site, for instance (why not. "Buy online for $40 instead of at the gate for $50"? That's practically industry standard!). In fact it was one of the things that went horribly wrong on our visit: we spent an hour waiting in line to get tickets even though there wasn't hardly anybody there! Instead of trying to entice people who were already in Myrtle Beach and who had already planned their visit, they need to entice people at the trip planning stage. Get together with the visitors bureau or whatever and make sure that HRP is included in the vacation packages. I've got to think that if you're trying to get three million visitors (wishful thinking of the highest order for a new park, IMO) your marketing is better if it reaches 20 million eyeballs once than if it reaches 200,000 eyeballs a hundred times each*. And while for anybody in Myrtle Beach it might have been $40/head, for anybody planning a trip, it was still $50. And either way it probably should have been more like $30.

As for the problem of evaluating the park only as an amusement park...well...that's what the park claimed to be. It claims to be a major amusement park, and turns out to be a relatively small park squeezed into a surprisingly large site, and equipped with an unusually large number (for an amusement park) of drinking establishments. None of which, by the way, is included in the P-O-P. THAT, I presume, is a Good Thing. :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

* Most impressions count for two eyeballs each. :)

I still don't think that the place was priced wrong. I think the problem is expecting that just because people happen to be in town they're going to know about the park and what it offers and just spontaneously show up. Who decides to visit a theme park by accident?

What was the park's intended market? Tourists? The lack of marketing doomed that. Locals? Reading the comments that accompany these new articles, I got the impression the locals were majorly pissed off at anyone or anything to do with the park.

A person's perception might not square up with reality, but the consequences of that perception are very real. If people think the park is too expensive, doesn't offer enough, or isn't worth the price, they're going to stay away. Obviously, enough people thought that to severely affect attendance. It might not be true, but it's up to the park to convince them otherwise.

But I think that's the point a lot of people are making... there was no expectation management because it was so poorly marketed. To everyone!

I was just referring to the past few comments. If people on a coaster site have an incorrect perception of what the park is about, how would the GP or typical tourist have a clue?

Don't underestimate the power of local folk in "marketing" an attraction, especially if there's a lack of info from other sources. I wonder how many tourists (who might not have known better) were dissuaded from going to the park by some pissed off local who told them the park was overpriced, there was nothing there, or it wasn't worth their time and money.

Jeff said:
I think the problem is expecting that just because people happen to be in town they're going to know about the park and what it offers and just spontaneously show up. Who decides to visit a theme park by accident?

Well being in an area that is in a major transient through-way, I know for a fact that its not uncommon to pick up the "accidental" visitors. Kings Dominion off a major 95 corridor between (go for the long stretch) Miami and NYC has been known, based on correspondence with people who work there, to pick up the accidentals..

Busch Gardens Europe (and this park I know for a fact) is also known to pick up the transients, as its right off a main artery to Va Beach.

Ok.. granted its not going to satisfy a large percentage of your budget, but it certainly helps in even the smallest of way by bringing word of mouth and possible repeats (if you don't close before word gets out).

But "accidental" visitors are definitely possible.. Just because Cedar Point is off the beaten road and possibly gets the more the direct visit, doesn't mean others don't get direct and indirect.

Most people don't accidentally go somewhere for an all-day or even half-day visit. That's not a business plan either.

I accidentally went to Wild Adventures once for a day and a half. With pneumonia and a fever.

I certainly didnt say most anywhere in my post..

But I also didnt imply that no one accidentally goes either, which was the point of my response. "Who decides to visit a theme park by accident?" implies a belief that no one does it. I was merely correcting that information.

Exceptions don't make the rule. Your point is argumentative.

Meh.. I disagree (now thats argumentative).

Fortunately I responded initially knowing you would still disagree with my point.. Not prepared for the shock of you agreeing with me.

However I like to roll with facts every so often.. not personal opinion or absolutes... walkups happen and just as important to parks as planned guests. We are a spontaneous society in many many ways..

...but we could go round and round on this forever.. My points made...