Birth of a Theme Park

Led Zep fans journey far for ride

Tom and Beth Stegner of Long Island, N.Y., came to the park today with a purpose, and they dressed the part.

"We're big Led Zeppelin fans, and he wanted to go on the roller coaster," Beth Stegner said.

The two traveled to the beach to attend the park's opening, and both sported T-shirts with Led Zeppelin sprawled across them.

Tom Stegner said he's been an avid fan of the band for the past 25 years. He approved of the song choice -- "Whole Lotta Love'' -- that blasts through on-board speakers, saying it's a song that really gets you going.

"Excellent," he said about the ride. "Probably the best ride ever."

Visitors enjoy short lines opening morning

Crowds were sparse in the morning just after the park's grand opening, but that was a good thing for Darlene and Kevin Murray and their nine-year-old daughter Alexa.

The family, from Highpoint, N.C., was headed to ride the Led Zeppelin roller coaster for the third time because the lines were so short.

"We love it. We feel like have the whole park to ourselves," Darlene Murray said. "We're VIPs."

They were disappointed that Slippery When Wet wasn't open yet.

"We keep walking by to see if it's open. They said they were testing it," she said.

High gas prices, at $3.54 for a gallon of regular Friday in Myrtle Beach, did not hinder their roughly four-hour drive to get here.

Area tourism leaders are hoping people will spend money on trips this summer despite the slumping economy. They have said rebate checks should help, and that people might see Hard Rock Park as more affordable than driving down to Florida's theme parks.

Murray said there's no way they would have canceled their vacation.

"You work hard, you need to have fun,'' she said.

Bikers explore the park

Jerry Gardner and Elaine Smith of Conway were among the first people at the park for its grand opening.
Though they're motorcyclists, they left their bike at home for the morning because of the rain.

"It's kind of wet right now," Garder said as they waited for the gates to open. "We'll go back and get them."

Behind them in the parking lot were vendor tents set up for the bike rally that launched today, the first year the hub for the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association Myrtle Beach Rally was at Hard Rock Park instead of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center.

Gardner and Smith came to the park to check out the park's rides and the food.

"You can eat just about anything you want to in there," Gardner said.

Guthrie, once again, eats at Alice's Restaurant

Folk singer Arlo Guthrie visited Hard Rock Park today to celebrate the (coming) opening of the park's only sit-down restaurant, named after his hit song "Alice's Restaurant."

Guthrie ate, signed autographs and posed for pictures, knife and fork up, just like the famous pose on the 1967 album cover - though with a shirt on.

Guthrie helped develop the menu and insisted that the restaurant, which opens June 2, offer a fabulous Thanksgiving meal - fitting, since the 18 1/2-minute long song starts off describing events that happened after a Thanksgiving dinner in New England.

Arlo Guthrie to be at Hard Rock Park

Arlo Guthrie will be at Hard Rock Park Monday to celebrate one of the park's restaurants that is named after his legendary song, Alice's Restaurant, the park said in a press release.

The restaurant is the park's only one with table service and has a VIP area for "the ultimate rock stars," the press release said.

Guthrie will be in the park at 11:15 a.m. on Monday, though the park will not be open to the public until 4 p.m.

Lockers available to park-goers

People carting jackets and backpacks into the park don't have to worry about finding a place to store them while they're coasting down the Led Zeppelin ride.

The park has electronic lockers, called Smarte Locke, which are free for the first two hours. After that, park-goers get charged, but the fee hasn't been finalized, said park spokeswoman Megan Winnett.

There are locker stations near Led Zeppelin - The Ride, Maximum RPM! Coaster, Slippery When Wet and at the park entrance. The park is working on getting some of the stations up and running.

People can pay by credit card or cash when they retrieve their goodies.

These types of lockers are a common way for theme parks to let visitors store their things, Winnett said.

It's been one week

A week ago, the public got its first crack at Hard Rock Park. Though not all coasters are up and running, the park brought in an extra coaster, called Racing, and a couple of kiddie rides.

If you have visited the park, we're looking for pictures and stories of your experience. You can upload photos here - and make sure to select the Hard Rock Park genre.

If you have any questions or issues uploading the pictures, feel free to e-mail me.

"Discoveries" surprise park-goers

People minding their own business walking to the Ice House Theater might find themselves being whistled at by an udder-flaunting cow.

On the other side of the park, visitors posing for photos in a faux London telephone booth could be surprised to hear the phone ring, and even more surprised to hear a voice on the other end.

Park designers hid what they call "discoveries" across the park, little surprises strategically placed for people to, well, discover.

Keith Ivkovich and his wife just barely escaped getting drenched by Rock-cow-billy (the aforementioned bovine) during their visit to the park.

Ivkovich's first encounter with the cow was when he was doing construction work on site before the park even opened.

"I was out here with a hard hat on and walked by and he said `hey man, what's the hurry?''" Ivkovich remembered.

Here's a list of other hidden "discoveries":

• The Slow Mirror | The bathrooms in Rock & Roll Heaven have a slow mirror illusion, with a two-second delay.
• The Colossal Guitar Fountain | A two-story tall, double-necked guitar with narrow streams of water in place of guitar strings that play magical musical notes when touched.
• London Calling | Phones in phone booths in the British Invasion area ring with a crank call when people walk into them.
• Phantom Crystal Skull | Try to touch a crystal skull, but your fingers pass through a shimmering hologram.
• The Thundering Hog | People posing for photos on a motorcycle will find it revvs and rumbles when they twist the handlebars.
• The Guitar in the Stone | A small child can pull guitar out of a massive stone, even though the burliest biker can't.
• Karaoke Queue Line | Visitors waiting in line at one of the rides can sing karaoke. This one isn't up and running yet.

Day 2 kicks off

A line about 200 people long stretched in front of Hard Rock Park's gate minutes before it opened at 4 p.m. on day two.

The park's chief creative officer Jon Binkowski said he expected today to be more crowded than Tuesday because it's "friends and family day," when crews who helped build the park get the chance to come for free.

Though she wasn't one of the lucky ones who got free entrance, Kay Johnson came early with her husband and two grandchildren and got a picture with the park's costume characters, the Bear Metal family, while they waited. They're down for the week from Emerald Isle, N.C., and decided to come on the park's second day to avoid big crowds.

"We decided it might not be as crowded, but I dunno," Johnson said, eyeing the lines.

Park hours will stay 4 p.m to 10 p.m. until May 9, when they switch to 10 a.m. to 1 a.m.

When In Rome...

Theme park designers try to transport guests into another world. The key to doing that is the details.

"Hey, you're on the wrong side of the street!" Leif Frymire, 16, of Old Forge, N.Y., yelled to his friends as they entered British Invasion.

Of course they were: They hadn't realized that here in "England," people drive - or in this case, walk - on the opposite side of the street. In British Invasion, the signs are underfoot: Paint on the left side of the road shows the speed limit.

Frymire and his friends had come up to Myrtle Beach for the day from Charleston, where they were participating in Habitat for Humanity.

They said the park was great, from a teenager's perspective.

"It's awesome," said Kerrin Ehrensbeck, 16.