Birth of a Theme Park

Shuttle gets its start

The Hard Rock Express carted more than 50 people between downtown Myrtle Beach and Hard Rock Park on its first day in operation Friday, said The Coast RTA's director of marketing and customer relations David Bodle.

The express is a public shuttle that charges $4 each way for adults and nothing for children under 17 with an adult.

Bodle said the shuttle hasn't been advertised much yet because The Coast RTA wants to make sure any possible kinks get worked out.

"We're kind of doing our own soft opening,'' he said. "I wanted to make sure that we've driven the route over and over, but we still were anticipating some traffic this weekend.''

He expects more than 200 riders per day during peak summer months, he said.

The buses have spots for 18 passengers and four people in wheelchairs and run every half hour from The Coast's transfer station across from City Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

$4 Hard Rock bus starts Friday

The Hard Rock Express, a new public bus shuttle between downtown Myrtle Beach and Hard Rock Park, will start running Friday and charge $4 each way for adults, The Coast RTA announced today.

The 18-passenger vehicles will run every half hour from the Coast's transfer station across from City Hall from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Children under 17 are free with an adult.

Riders can transfer from any other route for a total cost of $4.25 for both routes.

The bus company and several local hotels will give away prize packages to kick off the route. The prizes include two tickets to the park, round trip transportation on the Hard Rock Express and T-shirts.

Winners will be expected to take the inaugural trip Friday morning.

Excitement for the park's opening

The Palmer family of Burcale Commons, just northwest of Hard Rock Park, bought a golf cart decorated in purple flames for their family to ride to Hard Rock Park, less than 2 miles from their home.

Aimee Palmer said her daughter, Hali, 11, can't wait for the park to open. Hali nicknamed the golf cart Vibealicious, after her cheerleading squad. Check out Hali and her friend Sybil Fischer in the Palmer's subdivision. The Palmers always ride with Hali when she goes to Hard Rock Park, Palmer said.

How To Get There

In today's paper, I wrote about the thoughts of the people who live in the park's backyard. Some of those people, including people in the Arrowhead Country Club, are worried about the influx of traffic.

Here's more on how the park and local officials have tried to prep for the deluge, and a PDF graphic that our artist Chris Mowder whipped up to bring some clarity for those trying to get to the park: Download HRPTraffic.pdf

Questions? Feel free to post comments, and I'll try to answer asap.

Rock Star Vans

They're not quite the magical mystery tour bus, but vans have been seen around Myrtle Beach sporting the Hard Rock Park logo.

The park struck up an agreement with Rockstar Cab in Myrtle Beach to wrap six of their vans with park logos and images in exchange for letting Rockstar manage the park's taxi line, said park spokeswoman Megan Winnett.

If a park visitor needs a cab, Rockstar will be the company the park calls. The special vans will operate like any normal cab, not exclusively to and from the park. People should still call Rockstar, not Hard Rock Park, for a ride.