Carlos Sanchez held a blue card that was the new Freestyle Music Park annual pass in one hand. In the other, he held last year's black Hard Rock Park annual pass in the other.
After a brief moment of thought, Sanchez, 19, who works in retail at the Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament attraction, said he liked the new, blue one better -- it was brighter and more family friendly.
"It would have left a big hole," said Sanchez, pleased the park, which filed for bankruptcy last year and is now under new ownership, reopened today. "I work in a tourist place so it made me a little nervous that they weren't going to open this year."
Many of the guests who arrived early Saturday at Freestyle, the former Hard Rock Park, were annual passholders from 2008, and the park said it would give those passholders a new 2009 pass at no charge. Others, like Vince and Judi Perrin, bought annual passes for the first time.
"This is fine," Vince Perrin, 55, said as he waited with his wife and granddaugther Emalee as other family members went on a roller coaster. "They're trying to get it going. You can't do it all in one day."
The $400 million park filed for bankrupcty in September after a lackluster first season. The park's new owner, FPI MB Entertainment, has said they have tried to make the park more family oriented for its second season. It will be open through parts of September.
Park officials said they were pleased with the turnout, though they declined to give specific numbers. But they did say that with the Atlantic Beach Bikefest going on this weekend, they were not expecting throngs of visitors because families, one of their main demographics, may be avoiding Myrtle Beach during the rally.
One family that showed up was the Loepers, who live in Loris. Tiffany Loeper said they decided to come because her husband is a firefighter, and the park was offering free admission to military members and public safety personnel.
"We hope we'll have fun," Loeper said. "We want them to make it. We want it to be more of a success than what it was."
Carlos Sanchez compares a Hard Rock Park 2008 annual pass with a Freestyle Music Park annual pass from 2009.
I love it when things like this offer discounts to military or public safety personnel!! Makes me want to support them even more. Thank you for doing that for those that serve us!
Posted by: VerdeOjos5 | May 23, 2009 at 07:16 PM
"they did say that with the Atlantic Beach Bikefest going on this weekend, they were not expecting throngs of visitors because families, one of their main demographics, may be avoiding Myrtle Beach during the rally. " NOT 'may be avoiding', ARE avoiding! Locals, tourists, all are avoiding rally weeks! Good business' need to see rallys gone from the county!
Posted by: Captain | May 23, 2009 at 07:19 PM