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Park News - (12/29/11) The latest report at Discover Myrtle Beach mentions that their sources have reported that the owners of Freestyle Music Park may be near closing a deal with a potential new buyer (or operator) for the property that would be able to reopen it in time for Summer 2012. Anyone else heard more?
    Looking briefly at the playing field, I wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up being some kind of combination effort on the park of CNL Lifestyle Properties buying the property outright and then hiring one of their existing management companies to run the park like Herschend Family Entertainment, ARM or Premier Attractions Management.
    HFE has the most experience dealing with the unique Myrtle Beach marketplace and demographics through their management of Dolly’s Dixie Stampede dinner theater (now revamped as Pirate’s Voyage). Management deals are also something they are getting more into, as they signed on to run both Elitch Gardens (CO) and Darien Lake (NY) for CLN last year.
    I think Freestyle may be a bit too small for the big players to deal with, though you never know where Parques Reunidos will pop up to purchase another property to run under the Palace Entertainment brand either as smaller parks and attractions seem to be there niche.
    I’ve also got to wonder if Ed Hart has been out to kick the tires either. The man has a reputation for brining failing parks back to life, as he did it with Kentucky Kingdom and Magic Springs already… and after just being shunned from his latest attempt to revive Kentucky Kingdom a second time, I’m sure he’s been looking for his next big project as well.
    (12/22/11) According to Myrtle-Beach.com, there is still hope that Freestyle Music Park can reopen in time for the Summer of 2012, but the owners are still attempting to finalize a deal with a group to either buy or operate the park for them. They’ll need to hurry up if they want to have any chance of reopening for 2012 however.
    (10/3/11) The local news reports that Freestyle’s owners are trying to find someone to take over and reopen the park for them, or buy it outright, but to make sure everything is ready to reopen for the 2012 season, someone needs to come on board this fall to get the ball rolling.
    Some interesting ideas are floated around as well as a way to combat the problems the park had the first two season, such as possibly just making admission to it totally free, and just charging per ride. Others suggest an adjustment of the hours to make the park’s prime time hours in the late afternoon and evening, as most people in the area are at the beach or playing golf during the first part of the day. Of course, adding more rides and making the park more visible to the main highway passing by is also a priority as well. Should be interesting to see what happens this time around.
    (9/28/11) According to Discover Myrtle Beach, their sources tell them that the word is coming down from the current owners of Freestyle Music Park to start bringing in the people needed to get the rides ready for operation once again.  Great news so far… now how long until we see some rides start testing again?
    (9/26/11) While all has been silent from Freestyle Music Park lately, a new rumor did come in claiming that one of the former Hard Rock Park investors may have obtained some new investment partners with the goal of purchasing the park back and reopening it in 2012. No word on how true this rumor is, or if the current owners will be able to get their act together enough to get the park open or not in 2012, but I guess we should start looking for any signs of life or activity at least in the park as a sign of things to come.
    (8/4/11) Perhaps one of the most shocking announcement of the week has come in claiming that Freestyle Music Park may very well reopen for the 2012 season. According to the news article, which confirms a rumor I heard about a week ago but didn’t believe myself, FPI US LLC, the mortgage holder of the park, has bought the park out of foreclosure. FPI US is looking to either find a partner to manage and operate the park, or to find a buyer looking to take it off their hands and run it outright. Apparently they are already in the early stages of talks with someone.
    The buyout deal seems a little odd, as you may recall there were two FPI companies involved in the park’s ownership, and FPI US LLC forclosed on their former operators, FPI MB Entertainment LLC. FPI US LLC gained full ownership of the park through a “credit bid” of $7 million at a foreclosure auction, but really didn’t have to pay that sum as they were owned more than that amount by the former operators. Everyone else still owned money is ‘out of luck’.
    They are going to look at what worked for the park during it’s two previous attempts at life and more importantly, take careful note of what was tried that did not work. Of course both of the park’s two previous lives also took place during the two worst years of the economy as well, when people were cutting all unnecessary costs and trips. Perhaps the third time will be a charm after all.
    (6/1/11) According to the latest news over at Discover Myrtle Beach, those Mystery Guests who were seen touring Freestyle Music Park about a month ago apparently made an offer to buy some of the park’s rides. However, they also believe that the Russian owners declined the offer. In fact, there is also a possibility that the owners may have paid off their debts in order to bring in a higher price for the park, rather than have it liquidated to the highest bidder.
    (5/19/11) Due to the speculation that PARC Management could possibly be looking at purchasing Freestyle Music Park, one of our readers contacted PARC to get their comment on the matter.
    According to the official reply sent back from Angelica M. Guardia, PARC’s Corproate Communications Corridinator, “We currently operate three properties in Myrtle Beach, NASCAR Speedpark, Myrtle Waves Water Park and the Pavilion Nostalgia Park – for Myrtle Beach we have no immediate plans to expand beyond these facilities.”
    Take that for what you will… either not involved or no longer interested, it sounds like PARC is not involved. Or just not willing to say anything yet…
    (4/25/11) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted a photo of couple of people on-site at Freestyle Music Park. Shot from behind of course, so we have no idea who they are, but it’s proof that there is life inside the gates right now.
    (4/23/11) Screamscape sources have leaked us some interesting updates about Freestyle Music Park. According to our source, those mystery guests seen touring the park a few days ago were seen touring the park for three days straight. The group of 6-7 people was described as being “well dressed” and were spotted leaving the park in a van the other day. Our source actually decided to tail them for a bit as the van drove away from the park and dropped them off at the nearby Country Inn & Suites. One member of the group then entered what seemed to be their own personal car (with Florida plates) and departed. It kind of makes you wonder if the rumors about PARC being involved here is true, as both PARC and the acquired Baker Leisure Group company are both based in Florida.
    Either way… a three day tour of the property does quite intense… as if they are possibly very close to announcing a deal I hope. Stay tuned!
    (4/20/11) Discover Myrtle Beach reports that a small group was given a tour of Freestyle Music Park earlier today. Yep… from the sound of things the group was too big to simply be some kind of insurance claim, so it sounds like an interested buyer was touring the property. Cross your fingers… this could be good.