Welcome To Screamscape!

2008 - NOW OPEN DAILY - (5/9/08) Some early coverage from the official opening ceremony for Hard Rock Park has been posted to Discover Myrtle Beach and Coaster Force.
  (5/9/08) The large revolver lift wheel on Maximum RPM has been testing over the past couple of days and Discover Myrtle Beach was able to catch a short video clip of it in action. What’s interesting is that if you look close at the video clip, it looks as if the rotation of the track cylinder is just left to gravity to handle since they seen to move on their own. Just for alignment purposes I had been assuming that the rotation of those track sections would be controlled by the spinning of the entire wheel so that they would always line up with the right track sections at the top and bottom. So that kind of makes me wonder what would happen if one of those freely spinning cylinders were to say… get stuck… while the wheel was spinning, rotating a car full of riders upside down. You can find a longer video of the wheel moving from different angles posted to YouTube and embedded below.

  (5/8/08) Local sources tell us that the Maximum RPM wheel lift was seen moving frequently yesterday, which is good news as so far no one has spotted it moving yet. Meanwhile you can find some new pictures of the park posted to About.com, including a look at the Free Air Guitar stand and on the following pages you’ll find a picture of Slippery When Wet in action. In another entry About.com talks with CEO Steven Goodwin about some of their future plans.
  (5/6/08) A few notes for Hard Rock Park today. Slippery When Wet has finally opened and from the sound of things the only ride not yet running in Maximum RPM. Hopefully it will open soon, but I haven’t even heard about it taking test runs yet. Anyone know more?
  The Annual Passholder Appreciation Concert planned for this Thursday (May 8th) has been forced to change after the lead singer of OneRepublic tore his Achilles Tendon and has forced the group to cancel the remainder of their world tour. Hard Rock Park will deliver the goods however and will bring in Bowling For Soup as a most excellent replacement, known lately for their song High School Never Ends which is also featured in the park’s Malibu Beach Party show.
  In other news Hard Rock Park has announced Alice’s Restaurant, a new dining venue that will open at the park just in time for the grand opening event on June 2nd. The park has been aided by Arlo Guthrie (see sidebar) who helped “turn his world famous 18 minute long musical monologue into a reality, by developing a warm and inviting reflection of the early folk/hippie sensibilities from which it sprang. Designed as a simple, New England colonial structure and decorated in a mid-sixties, hippie style, Alice’s Restaurant offers a relaxing alternative dining experience in the Park. The menu features a full selection of starters, soup, salads, entrees of fish, beef, fowl, Italian specialties, vegetarian and vegan dishes and scrumptious desserts.
  Alice’s Restaurant is the Park’s uniquely special table service restaurant (sit down, sit in, you’ve got time). Inspired by the hilarious ‘talk-song’ based on a true story that began on Thanksgiving Day 1965, the restaurant tips its hat to the story by including the “Group W Bench” as well as props and memorabilia of the era. What will undoubtedly be a popular seat at the restaurant will be the “Arlo Table” a reservation only corner booth that features a unique Anamorphic “Lazy Susan” montage design of over 60 artists that influenced Arlo, or were influenced by him The optical effect merges the artists images into the face of Arlo Guthrie.”
  “The “comfort food” menu designed by Chef Tim Head and Arlo Guthrie will offer a full selection of items ranging from City of New Orleans Shrimp Creole to Officer Obie’s Pan Fried Pork Chops to, of course… Thanksgiving Dinner. “Alice’s Restaurant is an attraction in it’s own right,” said Steven Goodwin, CEO of Hard Rock Park. "The award winning New England clam chowder alone will delight the taste buds of visitors from all over the world.””
  (5/5/08) A new front row POV video taken on Led Zeppelin has been posted to YouTube. You can also find a ton of new park pictures here.

  (4/30/08) Another general video showing off much of Hard Rock Park has been posted to YouTube by Theme Park Sushi.
  (4/29/08) A ton of new videos showing off Hard Rock Park have gone live on YouTube lately… check out the various links below.
Magic Mushroom Garden
Shake Rattle and Rollercoaster (POV)
A newly improved version of the Bohemian Rhapsody show
Moody Blues: Nights in White Satin (POV but very dark)
Eagles: Life In the Fast Lane (POV)
  (4/25/08) Hard Rock Park has updated their list of Headliner and Emerging Artists concerts to be held at the park.
  Headliners
May 8      One Republic – for Annual Pass holders only – 6:00 PM*
May 13     Kid Rock with special appearance by Rev Run – 8:00 PM*
May 16     Volunteer Jam (The Charlie Daniels Band, .38 Special and Shooter Jennings) – 7:00 PM*
May 23     George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic – 9:00 PM*
June 2      Eagles – Grand Opening Special Event** - 9:00 PM*
June 3      The Moody Blues – Grand Opening Special Event** - 9:00 PM*
July 4      Sister Hazel – 9:00 PM*
August 30   KC and the Sunshine Band – 9:00 PM*

  Specialty Show
June 28 – July 22 - Toxic Audio
 
  Emerging Artists***
May 1-4    Black Label
May 5      Eli ‘Paperboy’ Reed and & The True Loves
May 12,17   InnerPartySystem
May 14     Rev Theory 
May 18-20   Rockie Lynne
May 21-22   I Nine
May24-25   The Brakes
May 26-27   Carney
May 28-29   I Nine
May 30-31   Singleton
June 4-7    Rockie Lynne
June 8,10   Whitney Duncan
June 9      Zac Brown
June 11     Fisher Stevenson
June 12-15   Passafire
June 16-20   Josephine Collective
June 21-24   Honey Honey
June 25-27   Need to Breathe
*Show times are subject to change
**Special Admission ticket required
***Emerging artists subject to change
  (4/21/08) In all the various new coverage of Hard Rock Park, I’ve forgot to mention that apparently they are quickly installing a new extra new rides that seem to be more of the temporary nature. According to Hard Rock Park Blog a portable Zierer Racing Coaster has gone up along with a few other kiddie rides. They’ve also posted on-ride videos from Eagles and Shake, Rattle ‘n Roller Coaster.
  (4/17/08) Tons of new pictures of Hard Rock Park have been posted to Johnny Upsidedown and Theme Park Review.
  (4/16/08) New pictures and video clips of Led Zeppelin’s first ride event can be found at Johnny Upsidedown, Hard Rock Park Blog and Discover Myrtle Beach.
  (4/16/08) Hard Rock Park opened for the Sound Check yesterday along with the first riders taking a spin on Led Zeppelin. You can see park photos posted to Rex and the Beast as well as well as a first hand look at the first ride on Led Zeppelin since Rex was one of the winning seat bidders. They’ve also posted a quick review of Led Zeppelin as well so enjoy. You can find a couple of extra photos of the event posted to Discover Myrtle Beach.
  (4/11/08) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted a couple of new videos today, one of the new Bohemian Rhapsody Night Show Spectacular and the other of Hard Rock Park CEO Steven Goodwin making the announcement about the show.
  (4/10/08) Hard Rock Park has confirmed that the park’s nightly big spectacular lagoon show would be themed to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, serving as the ultimate finale your day at the Hard Rock Park. The huge production will feature over 1000 pyrotechnics, 137 water fountains, state of the art lasers and more all set to play along with the classic Queen soundtrack. A video of tonights preview show can be found posted to Hard Rock Park Blog.
  I’ve also been informed that the park has put four more Led Zeppelin seats up for auction, all all of which are for the last car.
  (4/9/08) The auction for the first seats on Led Zeppelin is over and one local woman paid over $1,800 to purchase 3 seats on the ride for her family. All said and done the auction has raised over $5,000 that will be donated to the Sara Goodwin Memorial Foundation.
  (4/1/08) Hard Rock Park has announced that between March 31st and April 7th they will be auctioning off 16 tickets to the inaugural ride of Led Zeppelin – The Ride. The highest winning bidder from Row 1, Seat 1 will be taking the ride sitting next to Steve Goodwin, Hard Rock Park’s CEO. Each prize pack will include not only a ride on the coaster but also a signed Led Zeppelin poster, commemorative certificate, and photo documentation of the event. All proceeds will be donated to the Rock My World Children’s Village. Click here to read the details and start the bidding.
  (3/21/08) Hard Rock Park has confirmed that April 15th will be the official start of their “Sound Check”, the term they are using to describe the sneak preview days during the three week long shakedown period. “Sound Check” will take place between 4pm and 10pm and cost $40, which will include a $10 meal voucher. During the weekends of April 26-27 and May 3-4, Sound Check will extend it’s hours from 10am to 10pm, but the price will also go up to $50. Passholders will be able to experience Sound Check free of charge and visiting the park early will not count against their 12 months passes which will still be valid until May 8th, 2009.
  (3/19/08) More photos from the inside of Hard Rock Park can be seen at Theme Park Review as well as CoasterForce.
  (3/18/08) Thanks to CoasterForce for sending pictures (sidebar) of the new Eagles Life In The Fast Lane logo now placed on the former Midnight Rider building. They will be posting more photos on their own site later today taken during one of the VIP Tours yesterday.
  As for the Eagles Life In The Fast Lane, Hard Rock Park tells us that the band members have gone back to the studio to re-record the song into a special one of a kind version to be used exclusively on the coaster.
  (3/17/08 - Breaking News) Hard Rock Park has announced that Midnight Rider will be renamed after the band who will provide the coaster's new soundtrack song. Apparently the coaster will now be called "Eagles - Life In The Fast Lane". While I don’t have a problem with the song choice, I’ve got to say that I preferred the Midnight Rider name. Can’t we just call it Midnight Rider - Life In The Fast Lane?
  (3/17/08) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted some new construction updates from Hard Rock Park. We’ve also heard that there is going to be a new announcement from the park sometime Monday morning, so check back later for details.
  (3/14/08) Hard Rock Park has confirmed their Spring concert line-up:
May 8 – One Republic – for Annual Pass holders only
May 13 – Kid Rock with special appearance by Rev Run
May 16 – Volunteer Jam (The Charlie Daniels Band, .38 Special & Shooter Jennings)
May 23 – George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic
June 2 – Eagles – Grand Opening Special Event*
June 3 – The Moody Blues – Grand Opening Special Event*
July 4 – Sister Hazel
(* Special Admission ticket required, visit HardRockPark.com for details. Tickets will go on sale March 17th, including a special $250 ticket package that will include park admission and concerts for both days along with free parking and food and a grand opening souvenir package.)
  In addition to these bands, parks guests will be entertained by a variety of other live acts throughout the year. Some such acts will be tribute bands like Satisfaction, a tribute to the Rolling Stones and Led Zepagain, a tribute to Led Zeppelin. Hard Rock Park will also hold an Annual Pass Member-only concert on May 8th featuring One Republic.
  (3/11/08) According to Discover Myrtle Beach the Backstage Tour for Hard Rock Park has now closed down for good and many of the interesting props will be moved to new homes within the park itself. Meanwhile a temporary mini-preview center will be placed by the park’s main entrance starting this Friday. They’ve also got information about getting tickets to take preview tours of the All Access Entry Plaza, Rock and Roll Heaven and Cool Country. On the construction front… you can see new pictures of the Zeppelin’s outer shell going up here.
  (3/10/08) Hard Rock Park is listed as one of the concert stops on Kid Rock’s “Rock and Roll Revivial Tour” set for Tuesday, May 13th along with Reverend Run and other special guests. Thanks to HardRockBlog for the tip.
  (3/4/08) The annual Harley-Davidson bike week rally that normally takes place at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center will instead move into the Hard Rock Park parking lot instead. The event typically draws 7,500 people a day and in liew of payment to Hard Rock Park, Harley-Davidson will instead be paying the park in merchandise and five free bikes to be used in the park’s Malibu Beach Party show.
  (2/29/08) Hard Rock Park has confirmed details about their first concerts and the official “Grand Opening Celebration” that will take place on June 2nd. After the grand opening ceremony at the entrance, Hard Rock Park will feature a concert performance by The Eagles to be followed by an appearance by The Moody Blues the next day to officially open the Nights in White Satin – The Trip dark ride, which will also be followed by a performance. Hard Rock Park has also partnered with Peter Jacobsen Sports to hold a Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Grande Dunes Resort on June 2nd. Participants will include many rock ‘n roll legends (such as the Moody Blues), celebrities and PGA TOUR golf pros.
  The Eagles wont be the first concerts in the park however. We’ve been told that on May 16th the Charlie Daniels Band will perform with special guests Shooter Jennings and 38 Special. As for the operating schedule, currently the park’s website lists soft openings starting on April 15th and the first regular operation day on May 9th.
  (2/28/08) Discover Myrtle Beach has posted a photo showing off the first blast of fireworks on the Hard Rock Park lagoon, something we will all be able to see very soon.
  (2/27/08) A reader has sent in a few new construction photos (see sidebar) of Hard Rock Park this week, mostly focused on the new Led Zeppelin station and trains as well as one look at the Shake Rattle and Rollercoaster train on the lift.
  (2/21/08) The Hard Rock Park Blog has uncovered one of the first bands that will be playing at the new theme park. Apparently the Charlie Daniels Band’s official website now lists them playing at “Hard Rock Park” on May 16th, 2008.
  (2/20/08) I forgot to mention this the other day, but in the interview with John Wood (Sally Corp) on Parksmania, he mentioned that you’ll be riding the Moody Blues: Nights in White Satin: The Trip wearing 3D glasses while you move through smoke, projections, bubbles, lasers and more.
  (2/12/08) From the look of this new video posted on YouTube, I left my tour of Hard Rock Park about 30 minutes too early, because they fired up Midnight Rider for some test runs just after I left. You can watch some video of it in action here, shot by ThemeParkSushi.com.
  (2/11/08) Today I have something special to share with everyone, thanks to the great people at Hard Rock Park, who graciously opened their doors to me for an on-site tour of the new park. With the grand opening set for early May (and sneak-previews expected to start sometime in April), there is obviously still a lot of work left to do all over the park, but as of right now virtually everything is in place and it’s all just a matter of putting the finishing touches on everything. Right now the only ride that has not yet been installed is the Just A Swingin’ (Wave Swinger) which is expected to arrive shortly. I’m going to start our virtual tour of the park the way a guest would... at the All Access Entry Plaza.