Freestyle Music Park

It reopened under the Freestyle brand on May 23, 2009,[3][4][5] but it closed permanently at the end of the season due to mounting financial problems and lawsuits.

[6] Jon Binkowski, a businessman from Florida who had worked in the amusement-park industry, bought a small theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in 1999[7] or 2000.

Binkowski and Rank Group executive Steven Goodwin began developing plans for an amusement park around the Ice Castle known as Fantasy Harbour.

[8] Early in the planning process, Binkowski and Goodwin considered theming the park to the four seasons of summer, spring, winter and fall.

However, as Binkowski and Goodwin were reluctant to submit detailed business plans, members of the county council refused to approve the bond financing.

[17] As late as March 2007, few details had been revealed about the park, even though its operators had begun hiring the first of 3,000 employees and were looking for a $3 million tax abatement from the government of South Carolina.

[30] At opening, the park had amusement rides, live shows, interactive elements, kids' play areas, gardens, shopping and dining attractions.

[16] The attractions were divided between six zones and included three major roller coasters, in addition to a water playground themed to the country of Jamaica, several stores, and a 1960s-themed cafe.

The Times of London's writer Chris Haslam concluded that America's newest theme park brought the genre "from the preschool plastic of Disney to a new age of insubordinate adolescence through a combination of nerdy attention to detail, startling irreverence and sly wit.

"[31] Beth J. Harpaz, Associated Press travel editor, declared Nights in White Satin: The Trip as one of her all-time favorite rides from any park.

[32] However, in light of the frozen credit markets during the financial crisis of 2007–2008, the park could not secure sufficient financing to underwrite its planned advertising campaign.

[33] As the 2008 economic downturn deepened during the summer, high gas and hotel prices coupled with limited advertising by the park led to lower-than-expected attendance.

The park cited "macroeconomic conditions that significantly depressed overall demand in the travel and leisure industry" and a lack of cash to advertise.

[37] Hard Rock Park then announced that they were ending the 2008 season over a month early, laying off most of the employees, and had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

[44] However, a Delaware federal judge said on March 30 that some of the previous owners still owned intellectual property rights relating to the original theme.

[46] On June 22, 2009, the county planning commission agreed to change the name of Hard Rock Parkway to Fantasy Harbour Boulevard.

FPI also introduced Kids in America, a 17,000-square-foot (1,600 m2) children's section with four rides named after hit songs purchased from Zamperla of Italy.

On September 8, VenCore, claiming FPI MB owes the company over $1 million was granted the right to repossess the property.

[62] FPI MB stated in a letter that VenCore was correct that the property "is currently uninsured and not subject to a hurricane contingency plan.

[73] Dozens of the rides were listed for sale with Nashville-based Ital International; exceptions were the Wave Swinger and Balloon Race, previously sold to Seabreeze Amusement Park.

They were reassembled in Asia Park in Da Nang, Vietnam with the exception of the Led Zeppelin/Time Machine, Maximum RPM!/Round About, and Slippery When Wet/Soakd’ coasters (They were set up, but never operated and were dismantled in 2017).

On February 20, 2014, The Sun News reported that Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament bought roughly four acres of the park which it used prior to 2008 for its horses to exercise and graze.

[82] On January 1, 2019, it was reported that the former Hard Rock/Freestyle Music Park property of approximately 125.14 acres as well as several other parcels was sold by FPI US LLC.

[99][100][101][102] On October 10, 2019, it was reported that Horry County received a rezoning application in which the property owner is requesting an update to the Planned Development District and to allow for additional uses on a portion of the site.

[103][104] On June 24, 2021, it was announced that any chance of the former park site being redeveloped into an amusement area would all but disappear if Horry County officials approved a land use change request for the property.

It was expected that the county planning commission would make a recommendation to expand the distribution district on the site to 125 acres, which would eliminate most of the amusement uses at what is now a former $400 million theme park.

If the land change was approved, then 27 types of businesses would be allowed on the property ranging from vehicle and equipment maintenance to RV and boat storage or even wholesale and distribution.

[107] On February 1, 2022, it was reported that a permit application for a FedEx distribution facility at the site of the former parks was being reviewed by Horry County government officials.

In return for the investment FedEx would get a deduction in its property tax rate, only paying on 6% of its assessed value rather than 10.5% for the next 20 years, according to an agreement that was released by county officials on October 4.

The 11 characters were named Kira, Kimmy, Dot, Spin, Chase, Bounce, Trip, Jive, Jam, Cali and Zach.

Hard Rock Park sign