Wednesday, May. 06, 2009

Freestyle Music Park reskins rides, picks up pace to be ready for opening

Larry Orner paints the blimp at the former Led Zeppelin - The Ride roller coaster at the Freestyle Music Park. Photos by Tom Murray / tmurray@thesunnews.com

Step aside Led Zeppelin - The Ride. Say hello to The Time Machine.

Freestyle Music Park, the former Hard Rock Park, announced Monday the roller coaster that bore the Led Zeppelin name for the park's failed first season will be called The Time Machine for the park's second season - which will begin at 11 a.m. May 23.

One of five different songs from the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s will be played during each run of the roller coaster, which the park said in a statement would provide "five unique ride experiences." The coaster - the park's signature ride last year with towering white loops seen from U.S. 501 - goes as fast as 65 mph, and the initial climb hits 155 feet.

The coaster, which is equipped with 64 speakers per train and holds 32 people, previously treated visitors to a Led Zeppelin song during the ride. The park did not specify which songs would be played this season on the coaster, which has a track length of 3,738 feet.

A portion of the zeppelin, which riders enter before boarding the coaster, was being painted pink by a worker on Monday afternoon. Bobby Rosa, a field superintendent with Orlando-based Sundance Architectural Products, said the pink will be red once the work is done.

Rosa said the blimp is being rethemed to appear like a time machine, complete with wheels and gears. His company, which initially built the zeppelin, signed a contract with the park to rebrand the blimp. Three locals were hired to help with the work, he said.

"It's been a real fast-paced job," said Rosa, whose staff has worked up to 70 hours a week since his company got the contract a few weeks ago. "They didn't give us a lot of time. It was all, 'Hurry, hurry, hurry. We're getting this place open' type thing."

The park's new owner, FPI MB Entertainment, purchased the $400 million Hard Rock Park out of bankruptcy in February for $25 million and later dropped the name. The park debuted in April 2008 to much fanfare, but closed in bankruptcy in September after a poor first season.

Hard Rock International, which owns the rights to the Hard Rock brand, had charged the park's original owners $2.5 million a year to use the name.

FPI MBE has said they are retheming the park to incorporate other types of music, including country, reggae and disco, though the park will still focus on rock 'n' roll. They have also said they want to make the park more family oriented and are opening a children's area with new kiddie rides.

Other areas of the park are also being rebranded, especially after a bankruptcy court in Delaware ruled in favor of the park's original owners, led by former CEO Steven Goodwin, saying that Goodwin and his associates still retained some intellectual property rights to the park's overall theme, design and layout.

FPI MBE has said it planned to rebrand portions of the park, but that some of the work is being done quicker due to the court's ruling. Goodwin had asked for a $500,000 licensing fee and royalties, though an attorney for FPI MBE said it was unlikely he would see any cash.

Officials with FPI MBE have also said the park is dropping The Eagles band name from another large coaster. There was no word Monday on what that ride would be called.

Also Monday, John Stine, the park's director of sales and marketing, told the Myrtle Beach Rotary Club there will be no concerts at the park this season - a departure from last year, when the park hosted performers such as George Clinton, The Moody Blues and The Eagles in the park's amphitheater.

He also said the park will offer a limited-time $10 discount for locals from the $39.95 adult ticket price and $29.95 child ticket for those under age 10. Last year, the park initially charged $50 for all except toddlers. Stine also said there will still be a parking charge, though declined to say what it would be - the park charged $10 for parking last year.

The park has previously said that it will honor 2008 annual passes for the 2009 season. According to the park's Web site, www.freestylemusicpark.com, annual passes will cost $64.95 for people 10 years old and above and $34.95 for children. Hard Rock Park charged $150 for the passes last year.

With only three months from when FPI MBE purchased the park and its planned opening date on Memorial Day weekend, park officials had said they planned to develop local partnerships with hotels and other attractions to market the park to potential visitors.

Officials with FPI MBE have said they plan to open other parks with the Freestyle brand.