Hard Rock Theme Park's Demise is a Cautionary Tale

Noisey has a fascinating deep-dive into an ill-conceived theme park that offers a case study in how not to develop a property.

Shuttered 10 years ago, the Myrtle Beach, S.C. park, which boasted a Led Zepplin roller coaster and other attractions themed on classic rock icons, went down in flames as the industry’s most spectacular failure.

“Hard Rock Park was valued at nearly $400 million when it opened in April 2008; barely five months later, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers heralded the start of the global financial crisis, it filed for bankruptcy, and was subsequently sold for just $25 million. The park’s new owners relaunched it under new branding in 2009, but closed it after only one season. It was never reopened,” Noisey reports.

Though it was a dryland attraction, the demise of Hard Rock Park offers takeaways for waterpark developers, such as how to keep ambitions in check and adjust to market conditions. While the economic collapse of 2008 certainly didn’t help matters, the article makes clear that there were many other factors that did not bode well for the concept. High ticket prices and winks and nods to rock-and-roll drug culture went against the grain of what was supposed to be a family-friendly tourist destination.