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2008 - New Park - Under Construction - (8/7/07) New photos of the construction at Hard Rock Park can be seen at Coaster 101.
  (7/30/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted new construction photos of Hard Rock Park.
  (7/26/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted an assortment of new construction photos this week. Progress on Led Zep is going well now with the first loop now complete as well as half of the Cobra Roll. There are also new pictures of the Wheel House Canteen and the main entrance area.
  (7/24/07) The latest rumors from Hard Rock Park claim that construction has begin inside the old mall building on not only the yet-to-be-announced dark ride, but the Bump N Slam indoor bumper cars and a possible new eatery called Alice’s Restaurant. As for the dark ride, we’ve heard another rumor backing up our February rumor that the ride may be themed to the Moody Blues’ song, “Nights in White Satin”, full of black-light scenery and effects.
  (7/14/07) Hard Rock Park held a topping off ceremony for Led Zeppelin on Friday towering 150 feet in the sky. You can find photos from the event posted to Discover Myrtle Beach as well as many other new construction photos taken during an exclusive tour around the inside of the park. They’ve also added a new PodCast where they ask questions with the Hard Rock Park VP of Marketing & Sales. They talk a bit about what kind of operational hours they are expecting the park to have the first year, a soft opening, and what the plans are for October and any Halloween style activities.
  (7/11/07) A new construction update has been posted to Discover Myrtle Beach. We’ve been told to look for their next PodCast in the near future where they got to chat with the park’s creators.
  (7/9/07) New construction photos of Hard Rock Park can be see at Discover Myrtle Beach. Led Zep is going sky high, the ticket booths are now up and more.
  (7/4/07) New construction updates for the Hard Rock Park can be found at Discover Myrtle Beach. As you can see buildings and towers are going up at the All Access Entry Plaza area and the lift hill on Led Zeppelin going up like a Stairway to Heaven. (Sorry, I couldn’t help it…)
  (6/29/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has added new construction photos for Hard Rock Park
  (6/21/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has added new photos of Hard Rock Park today and a few pieces of brand new red Premier Rides coaster track has now arrived on site, which we believe will be used for Maximum RPM. There has been some more progress on Led Zeppelin as well. Check it out.
  (6/15/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted a big construction update on the Hard Rock Park. Led Zeppelin gets bigger each time we see it and it looks like ground work has started for Midnight Rider as well.
  (6/12/07) I’ve added four all new Hard Rock Park construction photos (thanks to Gary Ferguson) that show off the quick progress being made to Led Zeppelin. Looks to me like this is all part of the station track area and I’m guessing that the new wide platform of black steel will likely hold the maintenance tracks.
  (6/11/07) Led Zeppelin has gone vertical at last with what looks to be part of the station track or brake run. Two new photos added to the sidebar.
  (5/22/07) Hard Rock Park has announced their key staff positions for the new park. Mike Cross has been tapped to take the GM spot and comes with 35 years of experience ranging from GM of SeaWorld California, VP of Park Operations for Busch Entertainment, GM of Busch Gardens Williamsburg and Senior VP and Operations GM for Universal Studios Japan. He has assembled the following staff members:
  Doug Mangino (Senior VP - sponsorship and licensing) - Former VP of merchandise and licensing at Hard Rock Cafe International, and prior to that he spent eight years in consumer product development with Disney.
  Shawn Levesque (Senior VP - finance) - 11 years of experience in financial operations and planning, treasury functions, capital and cash management and investor relations.
  Kerry Graves (VP - marketing & sales) - 25 years in the hospitality and travel industry and has held senior marketing positions with American Classic Voyages, Sam Houston Race Park and Busch Entertainment Corporation. 
  Jason Weatherford (VP - merchandise) - Fresh off 16 years with Paramount Parks Inc., Weatherford directed the overall operation of the Retail, Food Service, and Games/Attractions for Great America in Santa Clara, California.
  John Riggleman (VP - park operations) - 34 years of park operational experience from Busch Gardens Williamsburg, SeaWorld Orlando, Cedar Point and Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
  Martin Durham (VP - entertainment) - Durham’s career includes the management of acts such as Siegfried and Roy Las Vegas, the Ice Follies, Holiday On Ice as well as attractions at Madison Square Garden. Durham will manage and direct all the Park’s live entertainment & shows.
  Bonita Lloyd (VP - human resources) - A Myrtle Beach native, Lloyd brings her 20 years of human resource and attractions experience and will lead a team of professional recruiters that will begin the search for more than 2,000 employees Hard Rock Park will need to open and operate. 
  (5/18/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted a good update about the latest happenings at the construction site and promises new pictures to be added soon.
  (5/17/07) I’ve added several new photos showing off the construction of the park as well as the many B&M coaster pieces now laying about.
  (5/10/07) The first bits of B&M coaster parts for Led Zeppelin: The Ride have now arrived on site at the park. You can see photos of these posted to Discover Myrtle Beach.
  (5/4/07) Discovery Myrtle Beach has posted a new construction update from the park where it seems they have started construction on the Led Zeppelin building.
  (4/27/07) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted a virtual tour of the Hard Rock Park Preview Center where you can see a series of 360� images.
  (4/26/07) Today lets talk about Midnight Rider, the Vekoma mine train coaster. From what I’ve been told this will be a slightly modified version of Vekoma’s Mine Train 785m model, which according to RCDB, only has four versions in the world: Calamity Mine (Walibi Belgium in Europe, Diamond Devil Run at Ratanga Junction in South Africa, and a pair of clones in China at the two Happy Valley parks. As seen in the model photos from the Hard Rock Preview center, it does feature two side by side lift hills (one taller than the other) but in most of the photos from the existing parks, the lift hills are usually themed to the point where you can’t see them. You can see shot of the side-by-side lift hills at one of the Happy Valley parks however here. If anyone has had the pleasure to ride any of these, let us know how they stack up. I’d also love to see an aerial shot of any of these if one exists.
  (4/25/07) I’ve added a bunch of new shots from the preview model other readers have sent in.

All Access Entry Plaza
A cluster of “people friendly” piazzas that provide vibrant shopping venues and public spaces designed in a blend of mission and warehouse styles. The entire Entry Plaza, inspired by the road’s ends of the famed Route 66 will engender the sense of a journey - a uniquely American voyage that shares the same cultural underpinnings as the uniquely American art form that is rock ‘n’ roll. 
  From this entry area, the rest of the park is laid out in a giant circle around a central lake. Make a left here and you’ll enter…

Rock & Roll Heaven
A tropical oasis of rock, Rock & Roll Heaven explores the feelings and emotions “behind the music” - the influences, the legends and the vibrations that stir the soul.
  The immediate attraction that dominates this area of the park is the already hyped, Led Zeppelin – The Ride. Reggae River Falls will also be here, which despite the name, is not a river or flume ride at all but rather just an ordinary water play fortress with the standard big bucket of water that will dump every 5 minutes or so. This is a pity since the park really seems to be lacking a true water ride. I’m sure one of the park’s big shows will also take place here, but beyond that I’ve no clue. You’ll leave the area over a bridge that crosses the lake next to the Led Zeppelin coaster and enter…

British Invasion
A celebration of rock ‘n’ roll English style. The look and feel of London creates a backdrop to explore rock’s most influential artists and musical genres.
  The highlight attraction here is Maximum RPM!, a unique roller coaster featuring on-board audio that takes guests through a mock factory where they can go for a wild test drive in cool British sports cars. I’ve going to guess that the cars may be painted to look like the British Flag. If you’ve seen the Ferris Wheel next to the coaster in the model photos… it looks like this will actually be used as a unique lift system for the coaster itself, rolling you up to the top and then pushing you off into your high speed adventure.
The area should also have the park’s carousel (Chance-Morgan) called All The Kings Horses. It also appears that this is where the Roadies Stunt Show will take place as well. Again, I’m not sure what else belongs in this area of the park however, but upon leaving you’ll be…

Lost in the 70’s
A large indoor area where Britannia and America converge in the eclectic mix of Punk, Disco and Glam that dominated the 70’s.
  The park’s more psychedelic attractions will reside here such as Bump-n-Slam, a musically themed “bumper-car” ride in which half of the cars are disco-themed and half are punk-themed. Then there is the Magic Mushroom Garden which they are billing as “the world’s largest black light poster”. In reality it will be a Huss Airboat ride that will likely be enclosed indoors to allow for special effects. There is also artwork for a unique bounce house / slam pit experience called Punk Pit where you can get your fill of the “mosh pit”.
What’s left over of the old mall will house many of these indoor attractions as well as the large Sally Corp dark ride it seems. You can see only a few pieces of it from the model photos I’ve seen so far… and for some reason I’ve seen no hard info on it so I’ve got to wonder if that will be part of a future press release or if the project will be delayed from the opening day. The next land down the road is…

Born in the USA
Salutes the birthplace and ‘melting pot’ of rock: an tapestry of exciting styles as diverse as the people that live from “sea to shining sea.”
  In addition to shows like Malibu Beach Party (a California-themed show said to be an aero/dive/cycle/musical spectacular), the area will also feature the Kids Rock! State Park play area (full of enough rope swings, net climbs and ball crawls to keep most kids occupied for hours) and surrounded by Slippery When Wet, a splashy interactive hanging coaster. Unfortunately I’ve got a bad feeling about this one… because take a quick look at the artwork and this coaster looks hauntingly familiar. In fact it looks exactly like the Hydra Fighter wet coaster from Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Point that was so plagued with technical problems and a shockingly low capacity on top of it all that the thing only ran for a year or two before being shut down. Anyone know if the coaster is still standing (and rotting) at the Emerald Point waterpark or has it since been removed? I believe I saw it still standing the one time I drove past the park in early 2006. I just hope Hard Rock Park didn’t go out and try to get a deal on this lemon of a ride from Caripro, because to my knowledge every other Caripro coaster in the US was also removed a few years after they opened due to unsatisfactory performance issues. I also believe that Garage Jam!, a foam ball play area themed as a service garage transformed into a rock rehearsal studio will be located in this land as well. There also seems to be a white kiddie coaster (likely a Vekoma) in place within this area of the park as well. Up next is…

Cool Country
Expresses a distinctively American form of music and its incredible lasting popularity, particularly in the South!
  The highlight here will be Midnight Rider (A ghostly roller coaster careening through an abandoned sawmill to the sounds of Southern Rock) and the Country on The Rocks show in the Ice House Theatre. It looks like most of the half-mile of track on Midnight Rider will be outside but from the shot of this model it looks like it will feature two side by side lift hills that rise out of the building, so I’m guessing at the half way point you’ll take a trip into the haunted sawmill building before going back outside again for the second half of the ride. The area will also have the Muddin’ Monster Race flat ride. There is also a standard Wave Swinger called Just a Swingin’
  In addition to all this somewhere in the park will be the FunkyTown Midway, A celebration of rap, hip hop and R&B in a series of games set to uniquely soulful themes as well as the Pinball Wizard arcade. Going back to the list of trademarked names we had months ago, there is so far no mention of the Shake, Rattle ‘N’ RollerCoaster.
  (4/17/07) I think I forgot to mention yesterday a few facts about Led Zeppelin - The Ride from the Press Release. As expected the coaster will work in sync with an onboard audio system that will play the band’s hit song, Whole Lotta Love, which was chosen for the ride by band members, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. I’ve still got to wonder if we’ll get to hear a bit of Stairway to Heaven on the lift hill... it would only make sense. Anyway, this will use a B&M sit-down looper train holding 32 riders total (8 rows), with a track length of 3,738 feet, standing 155 feet tall, a top speed of 65 mph and include 6 inversions (including a 120 foot tall vertical loop, a 95 foot tall Cobra Roll and 75 foot tall Zero-G Roll). I’ve added three new renderings of the coaster below.
  (4/16/07) While I was wondeirng what ever happened to the Led Zeppelin themed B&M coaster, it looks like they were holding those details back for a few days. Read more here. We’ve also got a few more pieces of concept artwork from the park to show off.
  (4/10/07) It seems they announced quite a few details at last about the new park. Right now they are shooting for an April 2008 opening with ticket prices expected to be $46. Here are the highlights of what they’ve revealed so far:
Maximum RPM! – A covertable car (coaster) that races to 80s music. (Obviously the Premier Ride’s design inspired from the Italian Job coasters…)
Midnight Rider – A “southern rock” coaster that runs wild through an abandoned and decaying lumber mill. (Perhaps a Vekoma Mine Train…)
Reggae River Falls – Jamacian themed water attraction
Garage Jam – Foam Ball War Room
Roadies Stunt Show – Action comedy stun t show following a crew of acrobatic stage riggers with a love of pyrotechnics.
  They also listed the six lands: All Access Entry Plaza, Rock & Roll Heaven, British Invasion, Lost in the 70s, Born in the USA and Cool Country. There is also a promotional tour taking place right now as the hit the road in the Beatles Magical Mystery Tour Bus that will hit Hard Rock Caf� locations in six cities starting in New York (yesterday) and work it’s way to Myrtle Beach for the opening of the Preview Center on April 18th.
  I’m hoping this is just what they’ve released so far, because while it looks fun so far, the park will need quite a few more attractions on opening day than this. Plus nothing was said about that B&M coaster with the Zeppelin looking station that we’ve heard rumors about. That said, it seems you can find this small picture of the park “blueprints” at the new Hard Rock Park website where you can see what looks like at least three coasters.
  (2/21/07) A reader noticed some activity going on in the park's lagoon while watching the official webcam the other day. Rumor has it that the lagoon will be used for a nightly spectacular show involving fountains, lasers, fireworks and if the early rumors are to be believed it may be choreographer to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Very cool indeed!
  (2/6/07) Thanks to a local area source, we have a fresh batch of photos from the Hard Rock Park construction site. Still mostly dirt moving, but they are starting to put up a few new buildings and looks like they are adding on to a existing outdoor amphitheater.
  (2/2/07) I’ve got a little bit more speculation and rumors on the park’s coasters and attractions. I missed the connection last time I guess, but the coaster zipping in and out of the grounded blimp is actually the same B&M coaster that will play Led Zeppelin. Get it... blimp - zeppelin? As for the Premier Rides coaster, we now have a connection linking it to the Maximum RPM name and placing it in the British Invasion section of the park. The coaster may also share a common trait with other recient Premier Rides coasters and feature the same or similar Mini Cooper themed cars seen on the Italian Job coasters at the Paramount Parks. Like the other coaster, this one is expected to have it’s own soundtrack. I’ve also heard speculation that Vekoma may bring a Mine Train style coaster to the table here, which could be what Midnight Rider is. As for the park’s Sally dark ride, I had previously been thinking that perhaps they were behind the ride called Magical Mushroom Garden, which would be a great environment for a dark ride, but now I’ve heard a rumor talking about using the Moody Blues “Nights In White Satin” to the dark ride project. We’ve also heard a few rumors indicating that the park may also have a Cool Country area of the park where we might find the Midnight Rider coaster as well as the Muddin’ Monster Race. The British Invasion is thought to have Maximum RPM, Magical Mushrooms as well as some kind of ride themed to London Taxi Cabs. More on this as we get it.
  (2/1/07) Looking through the many names trademarked by the Hard Rock Park, I noticed a few applications are now “DEAD”, meaning that the park wont be using them. The following items are now off the list: Roadhouse Rockabilly BBQ, Paradise Island Grill, Karaoke Queue Line (live show) and Roadies Stunt Show. In other news, we’ve heard more rumors about some of the coasters in the park. One source claims that the B&M coaster going in will have a sound system and the talk right now is to have it play Led Zeppelin. One can only imagine they may try to play Stairway to Heaven, which would likely place the B&M coaster in the Rock & Roll Heaven section of the park. We’ve heard something about another coaster built inside a building that might look like a large grounded blimp with the coaster running in and out of the structure. A lot of stuff is being finalized now as the park prepares to open a Preview Center for the park this spring.
  (12/19/06) I’ve added a new aerial map of the Hard Rock Park site that I’ve combined from details from maps in newspaper articles, from details from locals who have seen the sight as well as discussions with sources. The first thing you’ll notice is an interesting little bottleneck near the southern half of the park and a large open area south of it. From what we have been led to understand the southwestern bulb area will be the parking lot and I believe the bottleneck itself will be used as the ticket booth / main entrance area. Just to the north-west of the bottleneck area you will see a couple of buildings within the park zone. First is a more circular building that I’m not sure exactly what it is and we’ve heard conflicting reports on if it is park property or not. Next to it is an already existing theater building that actually might stay intact and be used for the park. The large rectangular building south of here, outside the park, is Medieval Times with the smaller Savoy Theater just across the street. The far eastern corner property outside the park is currently a hotel with another old theater just inside the boundaries that is expected to be demolished along with the large mall building to the north. It is also believed that the park will likely leave most of the pond in the middle of the park intact.
  (12/18/06) Today we’ve got seven new construction photos of the Hard Rock Park site to enjoy. They’re still in the clearing and demolition phase it seems, with the old “Mall 3 & 4” building behind the Waccamaw mall south-west of Outlet Blvd. that will be demolished soon.
  (11/17/06) Hard Rock Park announced at IAAPA that they have signed deals with six of the industry’s biggest ride manufacturers to build the entire opening lineup of attractions. Each of the six were challenged to deliver innovative features to their attractions to enhance the appeal and uniqueness of each experience.
  B&M - Yes, they’ve signed a deal with Bolliger & Mabillard to build what could be the park’s signature coaster. B&M will join forced with Hard Rock Park to create a coaster that “takes the audio experience to the next level by truly choreographing the entire ride experience to an incredible Hard Rock classic.”
  Premier Rides - Mostly known for their LIM launched coasters but they’ve also created a couple of Flume/Coasters in the past as well. According to Jim Seay, “Premier Rides is honored and excited to have the opportunity to team with Hard Rock Park to produce what will certainly be recognized as one of our most innovative attractions to date.” With no company really known for water rides on the list (ie: Intamin or Mack) I’ve got to wonder if one of Premier’s projects will be the water ride.
  Chance Morgan - Chance is known for their flat rides and Morgan was known for their coasters and carousels. Between the two anything is possible. “We are combining forces with our strategic partners at Vekoma to deliver a series of great rides that will entertain visitors to Myrtle Beach for years.”
  Vekoma - They’re back... but with B&M and Premier Rides already under contract, what will Vekoma bring to the Hard Rock Park? They make good kiddie coasters, but they’ve also been known to make a flat ride or two, so perhaps we’ll see a Mad House or perhaps something much more impressive and unique like Pandora’s Box.
  Huss Park Attractions - A world leader in flat rides without question. Perhaps we’ll get that Land of Giants concept off the ground after all, with a rock ‘n roll theme of course.
  Sally Corporation - You can’t have a true theme park without a dark ride and Sally has become the master of dark ride innovation over the last decade. Lets hope they can build something that will even outshine their impressive Challenge of Tutankhamon that featured multiple endings and trackless vehicles.
  The mind just boggles at the possible impact these six could have on building the first new large scale theme park in America in nearly a decade.
  (11/6/06) We’ve got three photos of the park site to post today with photo credit going to Gary Ferguson. As you can see not much has happened yet, but we’ve got to start somewhere.
  (9/12/06) Screamscape has uncovered several new trademarks filed for the Hard Rock Park today. Keep in mind these are just the first batch, a couple of which were posted with slight variations, and these may not all be used in the end. I’ve divided them up into categories based on the descriptive text included with the trademark along with a few of my own thoughts:

All Access Entry Plaza - Probable Land name
Born In The USA - Probable Land name
Lost in the 70’s - Probable Land name
British Invasion - Probable Land name
Rock & Roll Heaven - Probable Land name
Rock’Toberfest - Special Event or possible Land name

Rockabilly BBQ - Restaurant
The Wheelhouse Canteen - Restaurant
The Kitchen Below - Restaurant
The Cod Piece Fish-N-Chips - Restaurant
Queen’s Head Pub - Restaurant & Bar
Amp’d - Restaurant
Eat Me Diner - Restaurant
Love Shack Snacks - Restaurant
Dogs ‘n’ Brews - Restaurant
Carnaby Street Cafe - Restaurant
The Whammy Bar - Bar with Live Entertainment

I Want Candy! - Candy & Gift Shop
Main Street Gas & Gifts - Gift Shop
CC Trading Co. - Gift Shop

The Punk Pit - Interactive Attraction
Funkytown Midway - Interactive Attraction
Kid’s Rock! State Park - Interactive Attraction
Reggae River Falls - Interactive Attraction
Garage Jam! - Indoor Interactive Attraction
Pinball Wizard Arcade - Interactive Attraction

Midnight Rider - Ride, most likely a roller coaster
Shake Rattle ‘N’ RollerCoaster - Ride
Slippery When Wet - Ride
Muddin’ Monster Race - Ride
Magical Mushroom Garden - Ride
Bump-N-Slam - Ride (most likely Bumper Cars)
Maximum RPM! - Ride

Mount Rockmore - Permanent Rock Icon Sculpture
Heavy Metal Graveyard - Interactive Sculpture Garden
Malibu Beach Party - Live Show (Comedy, Springboard Diving and Acrobatics)

  (9/7/06) While we are excited by the promise of a brand new theme park under construction, a rare occurrence these days, our attention is now turning towards just what kind of rides we can expect to find inside. Specifically what people really want to know about is the roller coasters. To date the park really has not been specific about mentioning any attractions that they will have at all, but the view samples of concept artwork used showed off what looked to be B&M coasters. It wasn’t long before a few of our sources claimed that the park had signed contracts for two different coasters, and putting 2 and 2 together most people assumed they were from B&M. This may not be the case at all if the latest rumor we’ve heard is true, where our source claimed that the two coaster deal actually went to Premier Rides. This would also make sense considering that several ex-Universal Creative people are designing the Hard Rock Park and in addition to B&M coasters, they also chose Premier Rides to build the great Mummy coasters. This also seems to indicate that at least one of these projects, if not both, will be LIM launched coasters since that is Premier Ride’s specialty. Again, considering the proximity of the park to the nearby airport, this also makes perfect sense because a launched coaster can achieve the proper speed needed without needing a tall lift hill.
  From here I’m going to speculate a little bit that if Premier Rides is the one, we’ll probably see an outdoor looping coaster for the thrill seekers... possibly using everything Premier has learned over the years from their past big rides (Flight of Fear, Chiller, Mr. Freeze, Speed, etc). Then I think we’ll see a fun musical themed indoor coaster experience using what they’ve learned from their experience with more family friendly style coaster projects like Mummy and Italian Job. Now if only the park would release a few more details about what is actually going to be IN the park.
  As for the park itself, I’ve heard a couple of possible themes that might be used for some of the park areas: Rock ‘n Roll Heaven, British Invasion and Cool Country.
  (7/18/06) You can see a photo of the groundbreaking in front of the Mount Rockmore sand sculpture here. They have also added a new panoramic webcam at the official site showing off the current state of the construction site.
  (7/10/06) The all new Hard Rock Park is set to break ground this Thursday on the $400 million project, still set to open in spring 2008. The 140 acre site will be home to over 40 rides and attractions as well as a 15,000 seat outdoor amphitheater.
  (1/5/06) Two Israeli firms have joined forces to put in some big capital for the new proposed park in exchanged for each getting 19% ownership. Right now groundbreaking is planned for the Q2 of 2006 with the park opening in Spring 2008. Read more here.
  (7/8/05) The latest news about the proposed Hard Rock Park indicates they the project is alive, well and seems to be 100% privately funded now. It seems the developers have made a plan to build the park with private funds and are no longer requesting any kind of public funding for the park.
  (10/10/03) On Tuesday the local council approved unanimously the required rezoning of the Fantasy Harbor site needed to move forward with the Hard Rock Theme Park project. The developers are still working out the details of their financing at this time for the $200 million rock ‘n roll themed park and the outdoor 15,000 seat concert venue, but they would still like to try and open it by 2005.
  (8/8/03) The local news outlets have confirmed that the Hard Rock Cafe is involved with the proposed new theme park project and will lend their brand name to it. The name “Hard Rock Park” with a logo said to look just like the Hard Rock Cafe signs has already been filed with the trademark office and www.hardrockpark.com has already been bought up as well, though it only points to the HRC website currently. The proposed 150 acre park may cost $200 million to build and would have a wide range of thrill rides, heavy Rock & Roll themeing throughout, plus an outdoor concert venue that could hold 15,000 people.