Originally Posted By dshyates Screamscape is reporting that anewly formed group named FPI BM has purchased the park for $25M. With $2.5M down. But no ones knows who the financier of FPI BM is. Who is this mystery buyer? <a href="http://www.screamscape.com/html/hard_rock_park.htm" target="_blank">http://www.screamscape.com/htm...park.htm</a>
Originally Posted By dshyates And Screamscape has the firms name wrong. it is FPI "MB", not BM. The firm is a new firm that came into existence in the past month.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Geez, that sure seems cheap for an entire theme park. I know the economy is hurting right now, but that seems extraordinarily cheap. Wasn't the Winnie the Pooh attraction at DL (you know, the one that everybody loves to hate) somewhere around $30 million when it was built? And they're getting a whole park for less than that? That's a steal, even if it takes them years to get the park making a real profit.
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer Keep in mind Disney rides aren't off the shelf (closing eyes to DCA v1.0). There's a design cost (probably most of the cost if you think about it). With the ride system being another major cost.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I already knew that WDI way overcharges for their creations compared to what other companies can do, but it seems to me that they could practically disassemble all the attractions and melt them down for parts and make about that same ammount. At $0.35 per pound, all that steel has to be good for something. It just blows my mind to think that a park with a whole bunch of attractions (some of which are apparently quite well done), sitting on a nice piece of land (I'm assuming they sold the land with the park, and that it's not leased) could all go for less than what it costs Disney to build a run of the mill C-ticket-type attraction.
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer ^^^ Wait until you get "government deals" look at what a private consortium paid for the only pay toll road in Ontario (ETR) or what Rogers paid for the SkyDome (and renamed it even). I'm sure you can think of other sweetheart deals. Who knows how much Hard Rock lost on this park. They were in the right place, at hopefully the right time...
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 One wonders what will become of the Park, eh? Presumably, a group that swoops in and purchases the property at this fire-sale price can also afford the annual $2.5 million that it would take to operate the park under the Hard Rock identity. Or maybe they see the land as prime location for condos. In retrospect, it makes me glad I visited MGM Grand Adventures a few times before it closed. (I'm not so sure I would have expressed happiness about my visits back then.) Just goes to show you. If a new park that intrigues you opens... visit it right away!
Originally Posted By avro_imagineer Maybe parts of it will end up being a new Boblo Island (Hey what happened to Boblo, I57?) I know but others here might not... (That park was also in operations forever and a moon to boot).
Originally Posted By dshyates Well $25M was an EXTRAORDINARY deal. Last year they spent $450M to build the place. Most of the attractions at the HRP are custom attractions. The Led Zeppelin Coaster, Maximum RPM, Life in hte Fast Lane Coaster, and Knights in White Satin: The Trip are all custom rides. The others are off the shelf, but customized for the park. The Park was Designed by guys that designed IOA, and the Nassal Co. (which built IOA and are now building TWWoHP) built the place. This isn't some cheap carnival/iron park. I am glad that some one stepped in and are going to reopen the place. From one of the articles I read they plan on opening by Memorial Day, and they are planning on retooling the shows and adding some custom attractions. I heard they want a water ride open this summer. Rumor has it either a Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds IASW-Type water dark ride or a Rolling Down The River Raft ride. But the water ride thing may just be fluff to put pressure on the courts to approve it quickly. They also said they are going to $2.5 million into a national ad campaign. My question is if they plan on dropping ticket prices. The MB market scoffed at the $50 admission. With a Carowinds not far away at $35, $50 was hard to take for them. I think that $42 iss about as high as they can go. I would go with $42 good for 2 days (good for 14 days after first use). And $99 Season Passes no blackout days. I relly like this park, and I think after the economy turns around they will be fine. If the add the Paradise City Shopping/Dining District and the Hard Rock Hotel and Beach Club it will be a huge hit.
Originally Posted By dshyates OK, it is now a done deal. The Judge approved the deal this morning, and they are now moving forward with the reopening plan.
Originally Posted By brotherdave That's good news! According to one article, the park will now offer free admission and pay as you ride (with a probable ride-all-day wristband). Now, we just have to see if the new owners will be able to renegotiate the Hard Rock brand for the park, but supposedly, Hard Rock Cafe Intl. isn't interested. If that happens, then ALL Hard Rock theming and brand merchandise will have to be destroyed.
Originally Posted By Sport Goofy This park will still struggle. The summer vacation season is going to be dismal this year, and the bad publicity associated with the bankruptcy of this park isn't going to entice anyone to go.
Originally Posted By dshyates SG, thee is no doubt that this year is going to be atough year for the park, but the new owners actually have a marketing plan, so it should be interesting how this one turns out. Ad Brotherdave, the "pay as you go" people aren't the ones who ended up with it. They were a group of businessmen from Myrtle Beach backed by the people who own Family Kingdom Amusement Park down at the southern end of MB. The ones who actually ended up with the park is the FPI MB group. As it turns out, it is 2 guys from the original HRP team with Russian financial backing. Their plan is to keep the HRP branding, and the standard Theme Park single admission. They are retooling the shows, dropping the ticket price and launching an East Coast ad campaign. If nothing else, this has been an interesting soap opera.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Interesting, to say the least!!! The news keeps changing almost daily! It's funny how the news of this earlier was that the place would never open again. Now, we had three groups in a frenzy to gain control of the park just in the past week or so. I truly wish them luck this time. The park looked amazing from what I saw in videos and pictures. I only wish I had a chance to go there myself.
Originally Posted By dshyates OK, so the new owners are talking. First they are in negotiations with HR International over use of the name. The old owners were paying $2.5 million annually. But they would try to keep the name this year, and may rebrand it for the 2010 season. Second they are spending $15 million on new rides. They plan on adding 3-4 kiddie rides to be open for this year. They are spendng the rest to work out some problems with the coaster, some of which were rather problematic Cough***Maximum RPM***cough. On to admission media. They are dropping the price from $50 to the $35-40 range. They are dropping the Season Pass price from $150 to $75. And in a surprising move, they will honor everyones season pass from last year for the entire season this year. They also mentioned a locals discout program. They are hopeing for 800,000 this summer, which seems a realistic goal considering the economy. They plan on adding a lot more concerts for the Amphitheater, but NOT of The Eagles level. They plan on employing 750 LOCALS. Last year they brought in some international workers which pissed off the locals. And the new owners realize that the single biggest mistake was a lack of ANY kind of marketing. They are trying to work with local hotels in developing Room/Ticket packages which the last owners didn't do. But there is a surprising ommission of any mention of an east coast TV ad campaign. Seeing that WV IS MBs demographic I was surprised last year that we did see any TV ads. I think that with the news of the bancrupcy it would be VERY important to run TV ads in their entire drawing region to tell everyone they are Rockin' In '09. As those who were aware of the park are also aware they went bancrupt and closed last year. As I said before if nothing else, it has been interesting to watch thisroller coaster Soap Opera. <a href="http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/135/story/788679.html" target="_blank">http://www.myrtlebeachonline.c...679.html</a>
