Workers display a new Freestyle Music Park sign before it's opening.
A Myrtle Beach theme park opens with a splash, makes big plans for the future and then sees attendance fall short of expectations. Sounds like Hard Rock Park last year, but it's Freestyle Music Park this year.
Four weeks after opening, Freestyle officials say attendance is not as good as they had hoped.
One of Freestyle's competitors, Six Flags, declared bankruptcy last week. That shows these are hard times for the theme park industry. But Freestyle officials say their story will not be Hard Rock Park, the sequel.
We visited the park Thursday, a sunny day in mid-June, when you might expect to see big crowds. Instead, the attraction called Myrtle's Beach looks pretty sparse and the roller coasters have empty seats.
Now, that's great for the guests, but park officials were hoping for better. "We've seen a build on attendance and while it's not maybe as high as we expected, we're encouraged by the growth," said John Stine, Freestyle Music Park, Marketing Director.
Stine says, nine weeks into the Freestyle name and four weeks after opening, it's too early to draw conclusions. While attendance is disappointing, Stine says the park's new owners will not be like their predecessors - open one season, and then go broke. "We're here for the long haul. As a matter of fact, we're already working hard on our 2010 season."
Freestyle faced some major challenges: the highly-publicized bankruptcy of the previous owners and a location hidden behind an empty outlet mall. But Stine says the park is addressing those issues by stepping up its marketing campaign and dressing up the park.
Stine says when following behind something that failed the first time, is never easy. "The other side of the coin is, we got a park that's just absolutely spectacular, we got a great destination here and we know that we got, that's a great mix for, that spells success."
Stine says they are seeing attendance build every day and hope the opening of Fantasy Harbour Bridge later this summer will help attract more visitors.
FPI-MB Entertainment bought the park in February for $25 million, after Hard Rock Park went bankrupt last September. Hard Rock Park cost $400 million to build.
