The Song Remains the Same in Myrtle Beach
"This," says Steve Baker, president of Freestyle Music Park, sweeping his hand across the recently reopened park's mostly empty midway last week, "is not great. We think we've got a great place, but we have to convince the public to come and visit."
I think Baker and his crew have a great place also. But like a rock concert with a sparse audience, a theme park without a crowd, no matter how great it may be, just doesn't work. That doesn't mean the song is over, however. It's still early in the season, and the summer throngs have only just begun descending on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in full force. The park may yet prove to be successful, and I'd highly recommend you consider a visit. But the early indications are ominous.
By my estimates there were, maybe, two hundred guests in the park on the day that I visited. Unfortunately, this song has a familiar, if sad, ring to it. Freestyle opened as Hard Rock Park in April 2008, was unable to drive attendance, closed in September 2008, and declared bankruptcy. The new owners picked up the park for a song, but they won't be able to keep it open without a steady flow of paying customers. They seemed to have learned from the Hard Rock Park's mistakes and would appear to have a sound strategy for making Freestyle Music Park a success. And yet, the crowds are staying away.
For the life of me, I don't get it. I don't mean to sound like a broken record (do kids today even understand that saying?), but as I've said before about Hard Rock Park, I think Freestyle Music Park is a compelling, fully realized park with an appealing theme. And it's in a highly trafficked vacation destination. The attractions (yes, the park could use more), shows, music—virtually everything is wonderful. Freestyle Music Park, like Hard Rock Park before it, would seem to be destined for success; yet, the crowds still aren't coming.
Some might speculate that the land on which the park sits is doomed for failure. Before it was Hard Rock Park, the area was home to a complex of dinner theaters, a la Branson, Missouri, that closed. Before that, it was a failed mall. (To get to the Freestyle Music Park, guests have to drive past the skeleton of the shuttered mall.) Granted, it's a few miles inland and a bit off the beaten path in Myrtle Beach, but Disneyland was in the middle of nowhere--OK, orange groves--when it first opened.
Here's hoping that Freestyle Music Park is, in fact, a success. It deserves big, enthusiastic, rock concert-style crowds.
- Read more about Freestyle Music Park.
- Freestyle Music Park Photo Gallery
Photo: Is There Anybody Out There? There were hardly any guests milling about the UK-themed Across the Pond area of Freestyle Music Park last week.
Comments
Freestyle Prk is an awesome place. They did a great job. They had to change the whole park around as the prevoius owner thought he had rights to everything even though he sold it. They only had 2 months and did a great job. The park and all of it’s shows and rides are great. There is lot’s to do and just the atmosphere and sitting in a chair watching things is fun. All of the rides are first class and unique. Everytime i have been something new has been added and they will continue to add. With time they are going to add more and more rides and shows. Next year we will even get our concerts back hopefully. I do not understand why the public will not give it a chance. The prices are great and discounts galore. Ten dollars or more off everytime. The annual pass is a steal, go twice and you;ve got it made. If the public only goes they will see that it is a good time for all and if you can’t have fun there then you defintly have a problem. I think most of the people have’t even been, they just like to talk about things. For those of us that have been and will continue to go we know how much fun it is for all ages, young and old. As time goes on the park can only grow bigger and better, the land and the potential is endless.
I went last summer to The Hard Rock Park, and me and my group loved it. Although me & my brother are big rock music fans, this catered right to us…but my 14 yar old cousin (who is NOT a big rock music fan) also loved it. When we went, the park was DESSERTED!!! But we took a zillion pics and had the greatest time. I was dissapointed when they filed for bankruptcy, but happy that it is re-opening as a new park. I was all set to go visit again this year, but guess what? I just checked the operating schedual, and they are closed the week before Labor Day, the week me & my family were visiting Myrtle Beach. Well that just SUCKS!!! Why would they be clesed the week before a holiday, basicaly the last week of the summer?? All I can hope for is that they somehow change that and open for that week.
It takes time to build a park, people need to know about it. I want to go, but how do I get info re: airfare and accomodations???
I’m a local and the main reason I was excited about the Park was the idea of bigger and better concerts than what we get at House of Blues. I would love to make the park a weekly thing but they need to get some concerts. I’m 25 and not interested in the shows, but I’d be more than happy to go on a few rides, have dinner and watch a concert each week.
As a 65-year old Coaster Enthusiast, I was excited about visiting Hard Rock Park in its inaugral season. But, the rest of my family who visit MB a lot thought that the admission price was too high for what it offered, so we spent our time on the Beach and visiting many of MB’s other attractions. I don’t know how much serious research went into this park, they sure spent a lot of money, but in 2008 there was very little advertising and no perks. MB has a lot to offer,so after the Beach, the many restaurants, the outlets, golf, and music shows with emphasis on country and gospal, Dolly’s Dixie Stampede, and free fireworks at Barefoot Landing and Broadway at the Beach,does one want to spend a long hot day at an amusement park in out-of-the-way MB? The park is located some distance from the Beach and in South MB, where rentals seen to be less expensive so more condusive to families on a budget. There is a lot of competition for the dollar. I don’t even think that the new name is very “Wow!” Perhaps, they will find a way to draw the crowds, but I do think that the new owners have an uphill climb. I hope that they succeed in the end, as I really want to ride that coaster in August.
This park was and is doomed from the very start because of its location. Most tourists come to Myrtle Beach because of the second part of the name itself, BEACH.
Burroughs & Chapin did Myrtle Beach such an injustice by destroying the very thing that brought people back to the beach year after year. I’m talking about the Pavilion. I wanted to be able one day to bring my grand children to the Pavilion to show them what I grew up with when I was young. That isn’t possible now, and the Freestyle Music Park can’t possibly replace that.
Move the park to the old Pavilion location, and I guarantee success, not only for the park, but the rest of the area as well.
I feel it is going to take time for the park to grow on people and find its niche in MB. The Pavilion is gone because it was not PROFITABLE and the only time locals visited was when B&C gave free locals appreciation every September. Freestyle Music Park is a VERY nice park. I went over Memorial Day weekend and had a blast. Food is VERY reasonable compared to other parks and that crap they serve on those buffets all along the Grand Strand. The park is much cheaper entertainment per hour when compared to the shows, and other offerings in MB.
No way this park makes it through the first season. It is an OK park at best with a sparse theme and little soul. The location is awful and it lacks a local base to be able to bolster attendance in off season times.
The current owners are smoking the same stuff the former owners were (in fact some of the “new” owners are the same as some of the “former” owners). Buzz about the park is underwhelming.
The only positives I hear being said about the park are that it is cheap and nearby. Cheap and nearby is not a winning combination to sustain an amusement park enterprise.