Jim said: "And as you stand there, watching the room throb with color as you experience the stone-cold-sober equivalent of being drugged out of your gourd ... That's when you realize that this ain't your Daddy's theme park."

Hmm, holographic experiences reminiscent of the 1960s with black lights?  I think this very well might be my Daddy's theme park.

I just went to the site.  They have four roller coasters, a pretty weak fountain show at night, and that's about it.   There is a 1960s funhouse, but it looks really small.  And, I ask you, how much would you be willing to pay for a day spent on four roller coasters and watching low-altitude fireworks?

If your answer is less than $54/day, then Hard Rock Park ain't for you.  

$54/day.  Or a whole year for $162.  Yep, you can go on those same four roller coasters as many times as you want for $162.

And NO, the $54 does NOT include concerts.

The only concert I could find ticket information for was the Eagles/Moody Blues event.  And how much do these tickets cost?  (Another drum roll please.)  $284.  And that's the CHEAPEST ticket.  And yes, that's ONE ticket.  But hey, it does also include admission to Hard Rock Park.

Hmmm, Hard Rock really needs to rethink this plan--unless they hoping people trapped in Myrtle Beach are so bored that they'll shell out $54 to escape the beach for a while.

Last time in was in South Carolina, people weren't blowing money like it was Vegas.

englishboy:   also realize that the Eagles/Moody Blues event is also meant to be a grand-opening event.   So, I doubt that you'll always be seeing those kind of prices on the tickets...

Also, if you notice the calendar, they do have a concert happening on July 4th that's included in the admission price.   Not everything is planned out for the entire year, but that may be an indication of a lot more of these kinds of included-in-admission concerts will be coming.

Overall, it seems like it might be a pretty decent start.   The map looks like they will have a lot of room available for expansion (though, does that reflect the park's surroundings?).   There's still a lot of unused space (Ok, the space that the water takes up does seem like much more than they need...).

In comparison to the offerings of Disneyland on Day 1?   Well, looks like they have Disneyland beat...

...of course, this is 2008.   We expect way too much out of new parks these days.

My big concern:  too much for the younger set.   Already, they have 5 attractions with age maximums of 8 or 12 years old.  Which is including a decent-sized playground in almost every area of the park, a HUGE "Kid's Rock State Park" play area, most rides through the British Invasion and Born in the USA areas are aimed at younger sets...   then there's that Bear Metal Family.

While the ideal of rides for the family that Disneyland has is a great ideal, I don't see a real rock 'n' roll theme park, especially one based on the themes and bands as this one, to be a great place for the youngest kids...    While they need something, too, it looks like their main concern was to give rides to the kids and theme for the parent's enjoyment.

I'm not saying to make it no place at all for kids, but I really don't think that Hard Rock Park is going to be the main attraction for kids.   Just based on what they have now, they might have neglected the target audience too much.

However, it is the first year.    Hopefully, they'll balance this out a lot more and get it more edgy.

I do want to make a trip there and see it for myself, though.   It seems like it would at least be a fun day.

And I really want to check out Nights in White Satin: The Trip.    Could this be the most hallucinogenic darkride since Adventure Through Innerspace?

Thanks for the article Jim! I haven't been seeing a lot of information on this park, besides Lance's occasional updates on Screamscape. The offerings on opening day seem pretty sparse, but let's hope they get the opportunity to grow. I'm not a big coaster fan, so I echo some of the sentiments on here that fun, family attractions should be their next priority.  

Love the "Free Air Guitars".

This is one place I'd have to visit the next time I'm in the area. I'm a complete sucker for that giant Gibson Les Paul that is Hard Rock.

Even if the park is marginal in rides, there's enough people around who can't avoid the atmosphere of a Hard Rock Cafe who will at least give this place a try. If I can pay $12 for a marginal hamburger at one of their restaurants, I guess I can pay $54 for a park admission.

And I'll make sure I take home my souvenier air guitar.

This looks like Six Flags Hard Rock to me.

A lot of steel unthemed coasters and off the shelf carnival type rides.

I'm sure somebody likes this type of thing, but not Disney fans.

Jedited, couldn't have said it better myself.

I would like it noted that--now that the park is in Chapter 11--that most people here pointed out that this park was a bad idea last year.