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Freestyle Music Park upbeat in tough year
Attendance up at former rock park, but high hurdles remain
By Mike Cherney - mcherney@thesunnews.com

Myrtle Beach | Officials with Freestyle Music Park said Tuesday that attendance has been growing since the park reopened a month ago under a new name, but some industry observers say the park still faces considerable challenges.

John Stine, sales and marketing director for the park, said he is pleased so far with the attendance figures, though he did not give specifics. He said attendance was not lower than last year, when the park operated as Hard Rock Park, but declined to say anything further.

"Considering the fact that we announced our name in the second week of April, and literally five weeks later we opened our doors and we got everything in place, and how things are evolving, we're very pleased with how we're going forward," Stine said.

Still, some visitors to the park, located off U.S. 501 west of the Intracoastal Waterway, say it does not seem any busier than last year. The $400 million park, which debuted in April 2008, closed in bankruptcy in September after a lackluster first season. FPI MB Entertainment, which now owns the park, bought it for $25 million in February and changed its name.

"I'd like to see them get busier, but as somebody that goes to the park, I'm never going to complain when I have a three-minute to five-minute wait to get on a ride," said Janice Croswhite, 47, who has visited the park twice this year with her 12-year-old daughter, Annika. "I love Disney World, but good God, you spend 45 minutes in line."

The park reopened in a tough economic climate. With travelers forgoing their vacations or cutting their trips short, theme parks in vacation destinations like Myrtle Beach could suffer from fewer people visiting the area.

"I don't think anybody, unless they've got a major expansion, is expecting a boom year this summer," said John Gerner, the managing director of Leisure Business Advisors, a Richmond, Va.-based consulting firm. "They're just hunkering down and trying to hold on to what they have."

A lot of theme parks are offering discounts to get visitors through their gates, and Freestyle Music Park is no exception. The park has given discounts for members of the military and public safety services, for Carolinas residents, for dads on Father's Day and for students with good grades.

Stine said the park had mapped out those discounts - and some future ones - before the park reopened at the end of May. Stine said sales have been strong for the park's evening ticket, which is $24.95 for adults past 5 p.m. as opposed to an all-day adult ticket for $39.95.

"As we do these promotions, we'll learn from them, and some are going to work better than others," Stine said. "This is a building year for us, and we're moving forward and we're learning as we go in many respects."

The park's inaugural season as Freestyle Music Park comes as Six Flags, which operates 20 theme parks across North America, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, citing more than $2 billion in debt. The company has said the daily operations of its park would not be affected.

That doesn't mean that Freestyle Music Park, or other theme parks, will follow the same route, experts said.

Six Flags' debt stemmed from park acquisitions in previous years; FPI MBE, in contrast, purchased its park out of bankruptcy at a significant discount.

"These guys have a better chance when they only have a $25 million investment as opposed to the [original owners] that had the $400 million investment," said Rich Hair, the former general manager of Hersheypark in Pennsylvania and a former vice president of amusements and attractions for Burroughs & Chapin Co.

"There's a lot of park experience in the current ownership and management, but I wish they had laid a little bit more money out to start this season," Hair said.

Baker Leisure Group, a consulting and management firm for themed attractions that has been around for more than 20 years, is a partner in FPI MBE.

In court documents filed as part of a legal battle over intellectual property rights with the original owners of the park, FPI MBE officials said they had spent $3 million rebranding the park. Hair suggested the park needs to double the number of rides, currently at around 20, to attract enough visitors. It would cost tens of millions, he said.

Ultimately, Gerner said, it is still too early to tell how successful the park will be. For many parks, the busiest months of the season are July and August, and it remains to be seen whether the park, in a location that is off Myrtle Beach's main drag, can effectively compete with what draws visitors to Myrtle Beach in the first place.

"You've got a tourist destination that's very much beach-oriented for the young people, and you're competing with the beach, that's for free and very unique," Gerner said. "You have people that come from places that already have theme parks."

Contact MIKE CHERNEY at 444-1765.