Hard Rock Park/Freestyle Music Park: Where Rock Comes to Die
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- Amusement Anthology Episode 7: From the mind of industry veteran Jon Binkowski came an amazing theme park few got the chance to visit. Only in operation for two years and having some of the worst timing in the amusement industry, this promising new park failed before it truly had the chance to shine. With incredible roller coasters like Led Zeppelin the Ride and Eagles Life in the Fast Lane, and the unforgettable dark ride Nights in White Satin: the Trip, this was a park where creativity was allowed to run wild until it was abandoned: Hard Rock Park/Freestyle Music Park.
Researched, written, narrated, & edited by Jonathan Baker.
[Chapters]
0:00 Opening/Location Location
2:10 Binkowski's Plan
3:59 Construction/Alerting the Media
5:11 Opening Day
7:41 Rockin' Roller Coasters
11:28 Nights in White Satin/Shows
13:00 Unfortunate Timing
14:30 The Park is Sold
16:15 Freestyle Music Park
18:40 Closed... Again
19:55 The Rides Come Down
20:51 Abandonment
22:02 Ride Relocation
23:11 Epilogue/An Ambitious Endeavor
25:07 End Credits/Coaster Credit Struggles
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#HardRockPark #AmusementAnthology #Documentary
My next documentary is finally here! Hard Rock Park might be one of the shortest-lived theme parks in history. In case you don't want to sit through the full 26 minutes, SCENE SELECTIONS:
0:31 Opening/Location Location
2:10 Binkowski's Plan
3:59 Construction/Alerting the Media
5:11 Opening Day
7:41 Rockin' Roller Coasters
11:28 Nights in White Satin/Shows
13:00 Unfortunate Timing
14:30 The Park is Sold
16:15 Freestyle Music Park
18:40 Closed... Again
19:55 The Rides Come Down
20:51 Abandonment
22:02 Ride Relocation
23:11 Epilogue/An Ambitious Endeavor
25:07 End Credits/Coaster Credit Struggles
Thank you all for being so patient as I made this video. I hope the wait was worth it. Also, Hard Rock Park opened on April 15, 2008. I created this CZcams channel on April 15, 2008. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. Thanks for watching, everyone!
RampagingRex Productions Super well-made Video. The scene selection just goes the extra mile to make it that much higher quality. Channels like this and Defunctland are why I have faith in CZcams.
there was a park in nashville tn called opryland use open in 1972-1997 due to competition to dollywood and kentucky kingdom
Where
Well, at least you're still here.
What happened to the audio on 19:55? Did CZcams censor it for copyrighted material?
Thank for posting this. I worked there as a singer in what was called the Jamaican Villiage. I played a LOT of Jimmy Buffett songs, and a few that I wrote which lent itself towards that kind of theme. I played there for 3-4 days a week outside one of the cafes they had there, situated across the water village that would dump around 250 gallons of water on kids and their parents, leading to screams and much laughter. I can still hear it today in my memories. After 3 1/2 months of playing there one day a lady visited me with a clipboard, asking if I would sign it. Thinking I might be in trouble for singing something too risque for families, I asked if I'd done something wrong, She said, "Heavens no - we love what you're doing and we get a lot of compliments on you. But unfortunately, we are bankrupt and can;t afford to pay you anymore." I couldn't believe it. A $485,000,000 facility gone under in 3 1/2 months. It was sold to Freestyle for a paltry $$50,000,000. Unbelievable......
It's really sad to see what happened to Hard Rock Park, you could tell that the CEO of it had a lot of passion for the project as a whole.
imagine if some madlad makes the evolved form of hard rock park... HEAVY METAL PARK
@@grimmthrashr1035 I can't wait for the A.C. Kid's Land
Oh my god I went to this theme park when I was like, 11 years old and for the longest time thought it was a fever dream or something cause I never saw anyone ever talk about it after it closed. Either way I have really vivid memories of it, tbh I think the zeppelin ride might have been my first "big" roller coaster (and the one that got me hooked on coasters from then on out)
You're one of the few lucky people who get to say you've been to Hard Rock Park, and even fewer who have been on Led Zeppelin!
My 1st big coaster was the Wallbash Canonball at Opryland Theme Park in Nashville TN when I was 12 and it has been replaced by a Mall of America since I left TN czcams.com/video/Mw7H2FH38xc/video.html
I was thankful enough I was able to visit Hard Rock Park in 2008. The Led Zeppelin roller coaster was the first upside down roller coaster I ever rode. I really miss this amusement park very much even until this day.
I went to Hard Rock Park the summer before my senior year of high school and had the best day. I still think all the rides were top notch. The Night In White Satin ride is, to this day, my favorite dark ride ever made. But even on a summer day that should have been busy, the park was desolate. Every ride was a walk on with no wait. And while all the rides were extraordinary... the park had about half of the number of rides that it needed to have. But I still have really found memories of riding Nights In White Satin seven or eight times in a row and of the Led Zeppelin roller coaster introducing me what's now some of my favorite music. I also think the park would still be open had it not opened during the recessions. I never went back when it was Freestyle because the best thing about the park when it was Hard Rock was the music/properties that Hard Rock was able to bring in. Sad, sad sad to think about. "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got 'till it's gone. They paved paradise and put up a parking lot..."
I remember the Night in White Satin Ride! Yeah it was epic. I really really wish it could be recreated somewhere.
Wow you are so lucky man, l feel really really sad that Hard Rock park 🎸 is closed 😢.
You started your YT channel on the day it opened and this video is uploaded the day it closed forever, now 9 years ago. This is the best documentary I've seen from this park, great job! Such a shame the park closed down, it looked like a fun park. Maybe it became a bigger success when it opened in another year?
Nope it bombed even harder as Freestyle Park.
We were lucky enough to go there while it was open in 2008. It was so empty, like a ghost town. It was great for us, because we got to get on every ride almost immediately. We made some amazing memories there, and I am sad it's gone, but it opened during a tough time.
Thanks to this park i can ride the most awesome ride in my country
Yes I'm from viet nam
Although six flag will coming to my park but sun group already chose
Wish that six flag was faster than sun group
Our country has no launch coaster
I visited Myrtle Beach in March 2008, a few weeks before the park opened, and I actually remember quite a bit of local advertising geared towards tourists. Like lots of billboards in high visibility places and brochures in hotel lobbies with promotional images on them. I was with my parents at the time and they really wanted to go the next time we came back because they're huge theme park buffs, but the next time we got back was 2010 and, of course, we were too late.
Now, I feel like I missed out on something special. :(
This seemed like such a good concept for a park! I believe that rock 'n' roll and other music genres have as much theme park potential as movies (or video games, now that Super Nintendo world is being built)
Had season passes and was here multiple times a week. That dark ride is the best dark ride I’ve ever been on. And loved the coasters 😊
This is just insane. I’ve been vacationing at myrtle for YEARS now and didn’t even know this park existed until a few years ago. It really does feel empty now. Myrtle is HUGE and yet lacks a major amusement destination
If Carowinds wasn’t around, I’d say rebuilding this park as something new is needed. It’s a shame that timing and attendance was the only thing wrong with it. It looked to have great potential.
Carowinds is a long way from Myrtle Beach.
@@mattluvet yeah a bit too far
I went to the park multiple times growing up. I was even there on July 4th when tickets were $17.76. It was such a cool park. But it couldn't compete with Carowinds and that's where local people go for their theme park. That was a major issue.
Carowinds is in Charlotte - like an hour and a half away from Myrtle Beach
People are driving OUT OF TOWN to go to Carowinds when they got the Led Zeppelin roller coaster in their own backyard?
A interesting story about the two Premier rides coasters is, that after they were dismantled at SUN WORLD in Vietnam, the footers of the coasters are now used for two Intamin coasters with a similar layout (see RCDB for pictures). And another interesting thing is, that the coasters in Vietnam have the onboard audio system still build in the three coasters, but they never use it
:(
Well that's a shame. However, seeing as the trains were designed with the speakers in mind, it wouldn't make much sense to remove them. Still, I wish Sun World could find a use for them.
Been looking forward to this for a long time, and you did not disappoint! Absolutely fantastic documentary on this amazing park. You have some real talent with these and I always enjoy watching and rewatching all of your documentaries. Very impressed with the way your videos flow and explore all of the topics. Great work, I can't wait for the next one!
It's such a shame. To this day, me and my dad kick ourselves over never getting the chance to ride Zepplin or Nights in White Satin. I really wish this park had the chance to come into its own. There's so many concepts they had set for future expansions that were never realized.
> A River Rapids ride themed to Gun 'n Roses' _Welcome to The Jungle_
> A Swinging Ship themed to _Hot Rod Lincoln_
> A Shoot-the-Chutes themed to _Wipeout!_ by The Surfaris
> And another 3D dark ride, this time from Premier, that was very, *very* similar to EPCOT's Test Track. Originally themed to _Life in The Fast Lane_ and then _Mustang Sally_
The quality of this channel only gets better and better. Nice to see you back. Another great retrospective!!
I do remember reading somewhere that a rapids ride was considered to be ready for opening day, but due to budget restrictions it was cut from the park. Maybe they could have brought it back later down the line, but sadly we'll never get to find out.
There was either a Carousel or Telecombat also in the works to be themed to _Yellow Submarine_ (think _One Fish, Two Fish_ @ IOA) And The Moody Blues dark ride was initially themed to _The Magical Mystery Tour_ film and album.
Ultimately, Apple Records wouldn't lease the park their licenses on The Beatles unless it was retrofitted into a solely Beatles theme park. So, both concepts were scrapped. Hard Rock Park was still able to use earlier Beatles media owned in-part by Capitol Records.
Just went there, it's not locked up anymore and it's very cool. No rides left (I can confirm Monstars of Rock is no more) however lots of buildings still remain. Very cool and HIGHLY recommend a visit if you are an enthusiast.
i was lucky enough to visit this park when we went to MB on holiday the year it opened, it was AMAZING and a fantastic day out such a shame it did not work out the Led Zleppen Ride and we loved the London Quarter especially the Mini Cab rides and Nights in White Satin such a shame :(
I Once Had A Fictional Park Similar To This In Planet Coaster Called "Nu Metal Park" And The Slogan Was "Where Nu Metal And Theme Parks Collide"
As a huge rock music fan and coaster enthusiast, I was so psyched to come here when I heard this park was being built, but unfortunately due to the economy, my wife and I having a toddler (which in and of itself is expensive) and just starting a new job in early 2008, I wasn’t able to travel from where I live in Florida to Myrtle Beach that summer. But we planned to go within the next year or two. Well, unfortunately the park was gone by then. What a shame. It had so much potential and the theming was incredible.
Honestly, this Should Have Worked...A decent number of good solid rides and a decent budget to build with (about $400 million)...much more solidly built than the relatively cheap MGM Grand Adventures in Vegas, which was badly underfunded and cheesy...This park’s UTTER AND COMPLETE FAILURE is quite Heartbreaking...really terrible timing!...Also, $200 for a family of four for even a nice regional park was a bit steep even back then
I went to this park the week before it closed the first time with my family. It was a really fun place, it wasn't crowded and the rides where great! It was a little strange that most all the park's gift shops and food places where closed except the Hard Rock Store at the entrance.
Amazing documentary! I have been interested in Hard Rock Park for several years and I have always wanted to see a documentary like this! Well done!
Thank you for making a video about this park, it had such an interesting story but no one talks about it!👏
Awesome documentation about Hard Rock Park
another great video! i’ve always been insanely intrigued by this place because i’ve grown up with rock obsessed parents. still sad that i’ll never get to see this place, it looks amazing
YES, AMUSEMENT PARK DOCUMENTARIES, I LIVE FOR THESE!
I share in your enthusiasm!
WAIT
KNIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN *THE TRIP*
*MAGIC MUSHROOM* GARDEN
THESE WERE KIDS RIDES
Fantastic documentary, I had no idea it was such an immersively themed park as the photos I'd seen before didn't do it justice. It's such a shame the Hard Rock concept didn't work.
I had forgot you were working on this and for some reason I only found out about it today because I decided to go to your channel page. Great work on this. Very informative and a great look into the past. I really wish this park had succeeded, even if only as Freestyle. I would loved to have visited. Just imagine some of the awesome new coasters and attractions we could have seen, seeing as the opening day lineup was already pretty solid with a B&M looper!
Amazing documentary! Although I was very young, I still remember seeing this park from the Highway! I don't know if you are taking suggestions, but Celebration City might make an interesting documentary!!!
Maximum RPM had a good airtime moment on the hill, but that was the only part that was memorable. Time Traveler had no wait but was awful to queue into because they'd have you wait into a room onto these circles on the floor which were assigned to doors, and you'd wait 15 minutes for the doors to open to let you on the ride - even if it was empty lol. The park was really empty and stale, like there was no character to it, but I mean it wasn't the worst, just not enough to make it stand out (i went during Freestyle Music Park days). Omg, I forgot, Monsters of Rockville or whatever it was called was literally the worst thing i've ever done, it was cardboard and audio lol
Awesome video! Your best documentary yet 👍🏻
Thanks for this. Great job. I have a brother that just asked me about the Zeppelin coaster last weekend. I'll have to share your work with him!
We used to go to Myrtle annually and I never heard of this park. There was LITTLE to NO advertising around Myrtle Beach.
Yeah they blew most of their budget on the construction of the park and relied on word of mouth to draw attendance. Sad to say, that didn't work at all. It was actually difficult to find photos of the park where it looked busy. Most, if not all days the park was open, were nearly empty.
Hard Rock Park also had a children's area themed around the 2008 reboot of "The Banana Splits".
I live in South Carolina and I never heard of this park. It seems like a fun park sad its no longer in operation.
Awesome documentary, a great informative watch! Such a shame this park never got the success it deserved and went down in history as such a failure in the amusement park industry.
I am screaming right now thank you for making this video
This is amazing! I always wanted to know more about this awesome park that once was. I just wish I was a coaster enthusiast back then
I wish I was as well. I was actually in Myrtle Beach for a family vacation in June of 2009, but like many I had no idea the park existed.
RampagingRex Productions I am going to myrtle next summer though so I should be able to grab the credits!
Was not expecting the Sonic Forces music but I appreciate it.
Sucks that one of Myrtle Beach’s most ambitious projects is also one of the most forgotten. But I’m sure Vietnam is having a blast with those coasters
Finally!! Do Nara Dreamland or Nickelodeon studios next please!
Fantastic documentary! I can't believe this park died such a horrific death.
Wow! Great job on this!
Thanks so much, and thank you for getting such great footage of the park while it was still open!
@@RampagingRex You are very welcome! I am just glad someone could put that footage to good use.
@@RampagingRex this is by far my favorite CZcams documentary. And I’m still watching this 2018 masterpiece.great work
He met with Oliver Munday. On a Tuesday. I’ll get my coat……….
Great video. A really good job telling the sad story of this short lived theme park. Sounds like a case of bad timing. If it had opened a couple of years later, it would have had a better chance of surviving.
How the hell did I never hear of this living in atlanta and being a huge amusement park fan. The advertising budget must have been really low :)
Shame this park didn’t last longer than it was meant to. Would’ve been a nice park to visit.
Honestly, they should’ve delayed the park’s opening until the financial crisis had died down so it would be safe for them to open it, preferably around 2011 or 2012.
At least that’s what I believe. Also, should the land where the park once stood ever becomes available for purchase at some point in the future, I suppose maybe a shopping mall or a hotel resort could be built. That, or a large golf course. The possibilities are endless.
man i wish this was still open as its original hard rock theme. i would have absolutely loved this.
You should do a update video seeing as it is demolished now. Your video was the first one I saw on it years ago. Great video.
Maximum RPM was so cool I loved the Ferris Wheel lift
I am not exaggerating when i say rock music is the reason im still alive. Except for online, I’ve been alone for as long as i can remember. My home life is horrible, and my internet addiction stole everything it could until the pandemic finished me off. My only friend in high school was my walkman. There arent many rock stations anymore, and not much variety on whats left, ill admit. But rock gave me the energy to say what i couldnt before.
Most of those online friends are gone now. One of the few who arent lives in South Carolina. Shes not as much of a rock fan as i am, but she loves abandoned places.
Its an increasingly distant hope, but i hope one day, if this is still standing, we can check it out together.
5:27
The songs playing during that time are Sunset Heights and Luminous Forest from Sonic Forces.
Thx
This documentary is brilliant and that timing with your channel and the park opening is so weird
I swear I didn't plan that! I wasn't even remotely a coaster enthusiast in 2008.
Oh my god! You replied and hearted my comment! I first watched your videos in 2015 with your sfno video and never stopped since. Also I’m British and I think Phonehenge was awesome! Ps I also make CZcams videos but specifically at the moment I’m showcasing my theme park coaster by coaster.
3:42 subject matter for the email was "I'm not smoking anything, I swear"
This was the beginning of the end.
All of the buildings on the property have been demolished, including the shopping center where the dark ride was housed. There is now a FedEx distribution center on the property.
That Led Zeppelin coaster sounds so badass 😭
Also watching these videos to the end give me a sense of optimism. It’s so sad to see these parks close and some parks had attractions that made my jaw drop a few times, but it’s happy to see the ambition and respect for these parks!
That coaster was very good
This park was being built the 1st year I visited MB and by the time I came back it was closed. I have always wanted to ride Led Zepplin
Thanks to this park i can ride the most awesome ride in my country
Yes I'm from viet nam
Although six flag will coming to my park but sun group already chose
Wish that six flag was faster than sun group
Our country has no launch coaster
Nice doc
I really love the Sonic music you use in these videos
Very well done. Just watched Adam The Woo explore the demolished site.
It's sad what became of Hard Rock Park. We've known for a while that the land would be redeveloped, but actually seeing it happen is still hard to process. Had the park held off opening for just a few years, it might have actually had a chance.
Carowinds I love ya. But you made a Park Closed. SO..........
Just take those old records off the shelf!
I’m disappointed how B&M doesn’t make that many inverting sit-down coasters. There really aren’t too many (The ones I know of is LedZep., Kumba, and Hulk.)
Whats the song at 0:35 ? I feel like I heard it somewhere
Hopefully in the coming years a big park like the size of Kennywood gets built
Update: its completely torn down now and replaced with a fedex shipping facility. I explored it on numerous occasions, the monsters of rock ride was still in there at the time of this video but an arsonist burnt that part down somewhere in 2019-2020. The chinese also did buy it but tried to tear it down without proper permits and sold it, then it was sold three more times and was once used to train local firefighters and police and then torn down.
😢😭
I used to always see this park on the way to broadway at the beach every year and saw the B&M sit down and still I see what’s left of it e every year
Whats the song starting at 0:30 ?
11:02 My favorite clip of the video.
This could've worked in so many other places idk who in their right mind believed Myrtle Beach could support a park like this, should've gone for savannah/ charleston area at the least, Jacksonville, so many better places they could've tried
What a shame. Would have been nice to have another park, but unfortunately it seems like the times were just against them..I wonder if it would have been different had they opened at a better time 🤔
Also, that spinning ride at the end wasn’t a coaster as it doesn’t disengage from the transport device the entire circuit, so you didn’t miss out on anything
Sad such an incredible looking, if not small, park had to close its doors so quick. If it could have got a decade there it might have stayed for the long haul.
song at 20:40?
Me: *normally watching video*
Me: *recgonizes background music*
Me: s h o o k
South Carolina isn’t big enough to support a park of this size with Carowinds right across the border.
It's the unfortunate truth.
But that empty Nickelodeon Studios in Universal Studio in Orlando, FL might do the trick.
I really like the instrumental featured in the epilogue. Can anybody tell me what it is?
Mizuki- Bad Snacks
RampagingRex Productions Thank you!
If this got built in 2010 or 2011 it would most likely still be here
Hello there Rex:
I wonder if they were to hold off the opening till a time where the economy was better like say 2010 or 2011, would the park have seen more customers? my guess is that they might have but we just don't know. When i was still living in Tennessee at the time, I remember my dad having to pay $5/gal. to fill up his 2003 Ford F-150 once (that was the truck he was driving at the time it was a standard cab 8' bed model he used it mainly as a work truck). No Joke. The sign at the gas station read $4.99/gal. for regular unleaded gas and you could round that up to $5/gal. Gas prices were insane back then.
Had they waited longer to open the park, lower gas prices would likely contribute to more people exploring the surrounding areas in Myrtle Beach, which could have led to more attendance for the park. However, one major problem was the marketing for the park was nearly nonexistent, so the increase in attendance may have only been slight.
@@RampagingRex I think a mixture of waiting and lowering the ticket prices from $50 down to maybe about $20 per person might have helped even more and if they waited they would have had a larger marketing budget as well so they could have had better park advertising to boot and would have had enough ads to get enough people into the park. I dunno about you but I think that combination might have saved the park from being the failure that it turned out to be and we could have had a new park chain based around popular rock and country artists. Like we could have seen an Intamin Blitz coaster based around the popular Canadian rock band Rush or maybe a Mack Rides looping hyper-coaster themed to Black Sabbath that played "War Pigs" during the ride and it could've been the tallest hyper in the US and have a 205 foot tall vertical loop after 275 foot tall drop. Who knows what could have been.
nice
Hey what's the music you used for the Opening Day section?
Sonic Forces - Sunset Heights
@@RampagingRex Thx!
This was a pretty big place compared to the other smaller parks their now
14:23 What is That Ride Model called? And who Manufacturers It. Gotta Know!
The ride was called Magic Mushroom Garden. It is a HUSS Airboat.
If someone can make a vr version of hard rock park, that would be amazing.
Finally! Can anyone do the idea for documentaries of the Original Disney California Adventure or Wet N Wild Orlando please
Expedition Theme Park has a good video about Wet N Wild
I wish i could have been here
Five north american theme parks opened in the 2000s decade. Only one of them remains.
im willing to know the music played in this where it started at 5:30
Sonic Forces - Sunset Heights
@@RampagingRexthank you
The sonic colors music made me laugh
*Forces
To me I think they should have put the park where the pavilion was or when if family kingdom had lots of space unused combine it with that and the skywheel and those rides to hey that’s just my opinion
Hard Rock Cafe is probably the worst restaurant I have ever eaten at with terrible service, awful food, and way overpriced. I'm not sure why someone would think it would be a good IP to associate an amusement park with. Personally, I hate the beach and would much rather visit the park even with the recession. An unfortunate fate, but excellent video.
At least the Hotel is Good.
Because music and punk chicks
2:28 what is that song
And 5:28
So their ad campaign consisted of just stuff happening to the dad in the family causing him to fall then giving the devil horns?
No wonder no one went there
Nara dream land next
South Carolina needs something like Kentucky Kingdom because the parks their now are too small they had that with this park now they don’t
Very short lived, and it had a lot of potential too :( The 2008 financial crisis really what set this park on its decline, and that's unfortunate :(
Is this still standing or has it been tore down?
23:59
It's still there, no rides but alot of buildings remain
i cant picture someone singing queen or karma chameleon to starngers online any videos of that
They miss point is water park and more hotel friendly walk
7:25 ROCK N ROLLER COASTERS ON STEROIDS?!?