New Hard Rock Park owner wants to keep brand

follow-up article

Some interesting info straight from the new owners in this one:

• people who bought annual passes last year use them this year at no extra cost
• Improvements for this year include adding three or four children's rides and focusing on keeping the park's four roller coasters open
• Baker said the group also hoped to add more live entertainment
• the single-day ticket price will likely be decreased from $50 to between $35 and $40
• The price of an annual pass would also be reduced from $150 to about $75

And what I find most interesting:

"Overall, people complained about being done with the experience too quickly," Baker said. "If you're charging $50, you really need to provide a three-and-a-half to four-hour stay."

Wow! This guy doesn't see people even staying 4 hours!? And it seems around here that the complaint was that it's only a 4 hour park and that $50 is too much for that. The new owners don't think so, they're lowering the price because they don't think you'll even stay that long.

And then this:

"It's very important to provide a great employee experience, and then the employees will provide a great guest experience," said Baker, who used to work for Disney and Hard Rock International and whose firm has been involved in a dozen theme parks. "I've always said that marketing brings them in, but operations brings them back."

He seems to imply operations weren't that great. If anything I thought that was something that was every bit as good as the best - the staff was plentiful, friendly, helpful, fun...really one of the best I've come across anywhere.

And finally:

"The previous owners' biggest mistake, Baker said, was its marketing strategy."

Yeah, some of us have been saying that since before the park closed. ;)

I live ten minutes from Hard Rock Park and am ecstatic that it is re-opening. Everyday I was checking the local media and expecting to hear that the rides were going to be sold off piecemeal. Plus, I'm really happy that my family's season passes will be good for another year!! Woo-hoo!!

The only suggestion that I would give to the new owners is to do something more Rock n' Rollercoaster-esque with rides. Instead of having the same song played over and over, edit the music so it is the like a "best of" compilation that changes. How does the saying go? "Variety is the spice of life?" There is only so many times you can hear the same song before it becomes boring.

Sweet. I am definitely going this time! :)

^^^What Gonch said. :) I really hope the park does well! It's VERY underrated!

I was there for about 7 or 8 hours and had a freakin' BLAST! I know the park isn't for everyone but at the same time I don't understand why anyone would NOT love it. ;) Ok, I understand the complaints but it's a rocker park! It's not a Disney, Six Flags, or Cedar Fair park. People just need to accept it for what it is.

I don't care how much it costs. I would return in a heartbeat! I easily spent over $80-$100 in the park and didn't care. I got my money's worth. I usually wouldn't spend that much in any other park. I am usually VERY frugal.

-Tina

I'm not sure if people need to accept HRP for what it is, or if it would be more beneficial from a business perspective for HRP to try to better meet peoples' expectations. For better or worse, people have preconceived ideas about what a theme park should be. HRP doesn't exist in a vacuum, it exists in a world in which millions of people have been to the Disneys and the Six Flags. They know what they know, and they expect what they expect.

It sounds, from Gonch's and other's experiences, that HRP has more than met the bar for theming, entertainment, and atmosphere. But if adding more rides over time would help meet customers' overall expectations, then I can't see how that would be a bad thing -- but only so long as adding those attractions doesn't detract from the ambience or "charm" (dang, I just knew that word was gonna pop up) of the park.

Yeah, I agree. I find it a little funny that anyone who suggests that CLP and GL should still be open despite the fact that they were not sustainable businesses as they were gets tomatoes thrown at them. But when it comes to HRP, the idea that the experience it offered should be preserved despite the business failure seems viable.

HRP is lucky it's being resuscitated for a second chance. To think that it wouldn't need to be altered to appeal to a larger audience doesn't make sense to me. I understand we think marketing was a key problem. But if I were investing my money in reopening the park, I would be making whatever changes I thought were necessary to ensure success this time around.

Carry, I think that part of the reason we want HRP to get a second chance is because the park was only open a year. My reasons for wanting the park to reopen, as well as others I suspect, is because a lot of us didn't go, and now we are kicking ourselves for it.

As for changing the park to better suit expectations, I say that all business could benefit from considering that option. If your business isn't successful because you aren't offering a desired product, you need to look at offering what the customer wants to pay for.

That was my whole point. I am not questioning why I think people want the park to open again. I am pointing out that expecting it to be successful with the same experience that just failed doesn't make a lot of sense.

I know. I was supporting your point. :)

Whoops, didn't get that from the first paragraph. :)

for real , now that we know he wants to focus on keeping the coasters going, what is their status on NIWS Moody Blues ride??..lol

Carrie M. said:
I am pointing out that expecting it to be successful with the same experience that just failed doesn't make a lot of sense.

Two things, Miss M. :)

1. You're technically right.

2. I don't think the experience was the failure...everything else about it was.

That is to say that if the powers that be promoted the park more correctly, the right people would have come, more people would have come and less people would have been disappointed once they got there. Apparently, people think pricing was an issue. A better pricing scheme would have possible brought the same results as better promotions and marketing. And so on.

I don't think the product was the issue. I think it was the way the product was presented. The people running the joint failed. The business was (and is) viable - it's the one part of the equation that I don't think needs to change.

So it's like a theme park, but also like "amusement park lite"...A zoo without animals, but a rock theme instead?

I don't know. With a few exceptions, like Sea World, if you're going to present your park as a theme park, people will expect a variety of rides like other theme parks. Omitting some basic staple attractions form the lineup, like a log flume for example, makes the experience seem like something is missing, and that could lead to people feeling somewhat cheated. I don't know if this is the case at HRP or not, but it wouldn't hurt for the new owners to take a look and see if adding a few attractions that people may expect to be there could help the park.

I haven't been there yet, but the lack of variety is why I decided not to visit last summer when I had the chance.

LostKause said:
...if you're going to present your park as a theme park, people will expect a variety of rides like other theme parks.

Just for clarity, this is exactly what I've been repeatedly saying the problem was.

However, where a certain segment (a majority?) seem to think the answer is to make it more theme park-like, I think the answer is to make people better aware of what they'll find there.

As for rides, there is an abundance of possiblities out there for rock themes.

Ozzy's "Crazy Train," A darker spinning mouse that feels like it WILL fall off the tracks.

AC/DC: "Highway to Hell:" Easy, a coaster with a vertical drop simiar to Oblivion in the UK.

For grins & giggles, you could do Weird Al's "Eat It," All-U-Can eat buffet.

Maybe a ZZ Top out & back woodie called "Doubleback?"

Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55," Launched coaster.

If we can think of ways top help out HRP, why can't the beancounters do so?

because we are the ones who LIVE for this stuff, not sit in an office figuring out how to make $ from folks like us..

Lord Gonchar said:

That is to say that if the powers that be promoted the park more correctly, the right people would have come, more people would have come and less people would have been disappointed once they got there.

I don't think the product was the issue. I think it was the way the product was presented. The people running the joint failed. The business was (and is) viable - it's the one part of the equation that I don't think needs to change.

You may be right. But there's no way to go back and prove you're right.

So the new owners come in and they want to ensure they have success and make money on their investment, and they have to prove to the banks and the courts that they can do both. So they do the reasonable thing and bring in some experts to find out what they think. They tell them you have to appeal to a broader audience and to do that, you have to change some things.

Again, it's not just about fixing things that may have been wrong. It's about limiting their risk and ensuring that they have success this time around.

Two things, Miss M.

That's Ms. Myers if you're nasty... :)

Got it. Again, technically I agree.

As someone who raises a finger (not that finger) and proclaims, "not a viable business," I was hoping to explain why I'm not doing the same here in response to you questioning it.

That's Ms. Myers if you're nasty...

That was hot. :)

Lord Gonchar said:

However, where a certain segment (a majority?) seem to think the answer is to make it more theme park-like, I think the answer is to make people better aware of what they'll find there.

Well, your way would cost less. They are probably going to promote the park anyway. All it would require is a change of focus in their ads.

PSlate said:
because we are the ones who LIVE for this stuff, not sit in an office figuring out how to make $ from folks like us..

My thoughts exactly. ;)