Birth of a Theme Park

New British Invasion characters

Hard Rock Park has new themed characters: British guards stationed near the bridge at the entrance of the British Invasion zone of the park.

The duo debuted Friday, adding to other characters including beach babes from the Malibu Beach Party and disco girls from Lost in the `70s.

Hard Rock Park exec leaves

One of Hard Rock Park's top executives made an exit just as the park is getting going.

Kerry Graves, the vice president of sales and marketing, will move to Dallas to work for Medieval Times' corporate office, according to park spokeswoman Megan Winnett.

Enjoying seeing everything come to life

It started with Jon Binkowski, chief creative officer. The Steven Goodwin, CEO, came on board. In November 2002, they snared Felix Mussenden, who previously worked with Universal Studios.

The three men, pictured below in that order l-r, basked in the opening of the park today, receiving congratulations, taking pictures and welcoming guests to the park. One more after the jump of Binkowski with the bears.