All Access Plaza

We’ve taken some time here at Theme Park Tourist to discuss the importance of the “entry land.” Put simply, most parks need a “Main Street, USA” equivalent. It’s functional and it’s part of a park’s narrative. Hard Rock Park was no different. But there was something different about what went into All Access Plaza.

It’s obvious from the start that the creative forces (or at least inspiration) behind Universal’s Islands of Adventure’s Port of Entry were mixed into the stew of Hard Rock Park’s All Access Plaza. Like Port of Entry, All Access Plaza departs very narrowly from the Main Street formula by creating a curved avenue of shops and restaurants, blocking visual access to the park’s center (rather than highlighting it like Disney’s castles.)

Conceptual and philosophical alterations aside, All Access Plaza kept to the law of the land: one side of the street – disguised as different facades – contained the massive All Access Merchandise (the park’s main souvenir shop) while Amp’d Coffee (the ubiquitous breakfast café serving pastries and caffeinated beverages) was across the way. If Main Street is designed in 1900s Midwestern style and Port of Entry is an international mythic port, then All Access Plaza is entirely designed within the Mission Revival architectural stylings of Southern Californian Spanish missions – the same style shared by many of the Cafés.

At Islands of Adventure, the picture-perfect moment is an ancient red stone bridge carved with the park’s operational thesis: “The Adventure Begins.” Clearly taking a note from its predecessor, guests en route to the central lagoon at Hard Rock Park step under a red brick bridge emblazoned with the words:

“Here we are now, entertain us.”

- Nirvana

Painted underneath the bridge was one of those spectacular detailed touches that Hard Rock Park contained: a spoof of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel's ceiling. Hard Rock Park’s version was entitled “Fiat Saxum.” Let there be rock. Let the painting set the mood for a park that was certainly unlike anything Disney dared do. Like the Hard Rock brand, it was a bit edgy. And for all the praise Disney and Universal get about designing “details,” Hard Rock Park matched them blow for blow. It also might've turned off locals in the deep Bible Belt of Myrtle Beach.

On the other side of the bridge, the pavement would take on an odd pattern. It should make sense why. You were standing on the neck of a guitar embedded in the pavement. Follow the frets and strings down to the Gibson Vegas High-Roller Plaza, the wide-open plaza that overlooks the park’s central lagoon. Like Islands of Adventure’s Port of Entry Shores, this giant guitar signaled the start of your descent into rock offering your first panoramic views of the park that lay before you, with water fountains erupting from the pickups.

The Whammy Bar nearby was appropriately staffed by live rock performances each night and had an outdoor patio positioned along the park’s main promenade, somewhat like Islands of Adventures’ Confisco Grill. 

Here at the water’s edge, the path diverged left and right. We’ll head right and tackle the park counterclockwise. 

Cool Country

As you leave All Access Plaza, you pass under a wooden archway signaling your arrival in the first real, themed portion of the park. As the rocky coasts of All Access Plaza give way to a dense wetland and the lagoon, you know you’ve entered Cool Country. As you might expect, Cool Country celebrated some of the most prolific genres of American music – bluegrass, rock and roll, and – of course – country music. But more than just the music itself, Cool Country did a pretty nice job of representing the lifestyle synonymous with that music.

The area was filled with wooden structures and rusted shacks that recall a country music album cover – the kind of place you’d want to drive a pickup truck. Wetlands and fields and mud pits… Immediately upon passing under the entrance archway, guests faced Muddin’ Monster Race, an unusual custom family flat ride disguised as muddy off-roading vehicles. Truthfully, it set the stage perfectly for a park that seemed to customize almost every since attraction to fit its theme. Observing guests were even spritzed with "mud" (water) as the ride revolved. 

Even the park’s chair-o-plane aerial swings, Just A Swingin’, fit the grittier country vibe with a dark canopy and a body devoid of the typical dainty murals. Along the water amid the reeds and cattails was the Cool Country Stage, set perfectly for live bands to set the atmosphere at night. And just to round out the offerings stood the Rockabilly BBQ and the Wheelhouse Canteen bar.

The visual center for Cool Country was, without a doubt, the towering Ice House Theater.

Binkowski’s existing ice theater – now incorporated into the park – fit the area perfectly. Most would’ve assumed that the theater was custom-built for the park, unaware that it really was an icehouse and a pre-existing theater.

In terms of starring attractions, there was only one: Eagles – Life in the Fast Lane was the marquee attraction of Cool Country. The 1976 hit song probably wouldn’t be classified as “country,” but the ride’s aesthetic felt right at home in Hard Rock Park’s country zone. The coaster was a modified Vekoma Mine Train (similar in style, size, and scale to Disney’s Big Thunder Mountain) boarded via a wooden shack being gripped by menacing, claw-like trees.

The coaster’s finale was a helix around metallic rock-and-roll scarecrows, which shot plumes of fire into the sky (an effect that Six Flags installed heavily in its parks as it renovated existing coasters the same year, 2008).

Included here were the well loved and iconic (or, as “iconic” as something can get in four months) Rock-Cow-Billys – eight foot tall bronze sculptures of cows modeled after famous music artists. More than just great photo opportunities, the cows were “living,” conversing statues using the same technology as Islands of Adventure’s delightful Mystic Fountain. And like their forbearer, a wayward, nosy, or eager guest would be squirted from hidden water nozzles in the cows’ udders or… well… elsewhere. The unusual Heavy Metal Graveyard – a walkthrough garden of outrageous art installations – rounded out the land.

Born in the USA

It’s not easy to encapsulate the American rock dream in a few acres at a seasonal amusement park, but Hard Rock Park did all right. Passing through the patriotic land’s entry arch and billboard, guests first passed an entire interactive play zone for kids called the Kids Rock State Park. The nicely themed zone featured climbable lookout towers, slides, nets, rocks, pathways, a high and low ropes course, and soft-floored play areas.

Like the rest of the park, the area would’ve looked spectacular given ten or twenty years for the trees to grow in, but altogether the play area was a worthwhile seasonal variation of California Adventure’s Redwood Creek Challenge Trail, and certainly on par with what you might expect from Dollywood.

The State Park was reigned over by Slippery When Wet, a Premier Rides suspended family coaster seating four back-to-back riders per train. Hoisted to the top of an elevator lift, the cars were set loose down a meandering, winding track that twisted over the State Park, gliding through geysers, misters, and fountains.

Exiting the “State Park” and crossing the street, a mini-area recreated classic Americana boardwalks (the likes of which had existed near Myrtle Beach, even). The star there was the Shake Rattle ‘n’ Rollercoaster, a typical and classic Vekoma junior coaster, identical to Flight of the Hippogriff or the Barnstormer (which, yes, are clones of one another, along with 77 other copies).

Along with the 60s-inspired Great Meals Diner (with its neon sign so coincidentally flashing only the center letters: “eat Me,” the street terminated in the disguised façade of the abandoned mall, dressed as carnival games. This is the first appearance of the Waccamaw mall, which will play a very important role as our trip around the park’s perimeter continues… So let’s follow the sidewalk (or should we say, “pavements”) as we continue into the park’s second and most impressive half.

British Invasion

It is indeed a British Invasion! Named after the cultural phenomenon of the 1960s when rock and pop music immigrated to the United States from the UK (largely thanks to the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and the Who), this land celebrated the quirky and indivisible influence of British pop culture on global music.

It was here in British Invasion that the park housed many of its family rides, like London Cab Ride (a trippy and totally customized scrambler) and All The King’s Horses Carousel. You couldn’t forget the outstanding Magic Mushroom Garden (certainly one of the most uniquely themed family flat rides) located on the edge of the lagoon.

Nearby was the chuckle-inducing Phonehenge Stage – yes, a recreation of Stonehenge built entirely with the instantly recognizable red telephone booths of the UK.

Perhaps the most unique attraction ever at a major park, The Punk Pit was a giant walkthrough maze of inflatable slides, climbing walls, tunnels, spikes, and bounce rooms for everyone (which includes adults).

The land’s roller coaster is a most unusual one: Maximum RPM, designed by Premier Rides. The roller coaster’s queue is contained in an old British factory. But this queue has a twist: karaoke. Really! Amid the warning signs supposedly left from the “factory,” guests were encouraged via an Uncle Sam spoof, “YOU Are Responsible For Your Entertainment.”

Once in the station, you might’ve noticed that the ride’s vehicles look suspiciously like BMW’s MINI Cooper line (yet not QUITE like the ones Premier used on the licensed Italian Job: Stunt Track coasters at the Paramount Parks. Hard Rock Park’s quasi-Coopers would be the subject of a lawsuit later on).

Altogether, Maximum RPM is a pretty traditional family coaster of swoops and turns, but with one very unusual feature: a Ferris wheel lift. The first of its kind, the roller coaster dispatches a single car into a Ferris wheel, which rotates to bring the train to the ride’s highest point. Once the track connects, the car zooms down the hill while another car is loading below. The Ferris wheel lift, of course, is practically a landmark for the park and coaster.

The backdrop for the entire British Invasion area was the former mall, its façade built out to resemble a row of British flats. While the flats disguised the huge mall, they also concealed the one of the park’s most famous attractions, which was contained inside of the mall.

Hard Rock Park offered a single dark ride that’s often regarded as one of the most incredible dark rides ever built. Free of plot, characters, and (mercifully) laser guns, Night In White Satin: The Trip was sincerely supposed to be a trip. As in, an LSD trip. Which is appropriate, since they say that if you remember the 60s, you didn’t live in the 60s.

The attraction was – of course – presented in mind-melding 3D all to the sweet, supple sounds of Nights in White Satin, the 1967 track by the Moody Blues. Satin drapes, an old man, a unicorn. Dead trees, rainbows, floating candles, skulls, spinning geometric shapes, smoke rings. The smell of candle wax, star fields, and projection domes…

The totally incomprehensible dark ride was sincere art. Your best chance to get an idea of the attraction would probably be the video above, released by its manufacturer, Sally Corp. (Yep, the same folks behind the blast-the-ghosts cartoon dark ride at your local park).

Rock & Roll Heaven

The park’s crowning area – its “Fantasyland” if you will – is Rock & Roll Heaven. Entering from All Access Plaza (that is, having turned left at the lagoon where we turned right to Cool Country) guests would pass through the entry above. To enter from British Invasion, though, is to cross a floating boardwalk on the park’s central lagoon. So named for its 350 memorialized musicians with carved brick pavers, Rock & Roll Heaven is filled with an otherworldly mist that might’ve made you feel as though you were walking through the clouds.

Home to Reggae River Falls (a family friendly splash playground) and Malibu Beach Party, a live lagoon-side dive show / music extravaganza, Rock & Roll Heaven might’ve thematically amounted to a catch-all, trying to get at least one mention of everyone’s favorite music.

However, at the end of the path, an identity began to develop. In a sort of metal wasteland, stones and sheet metal began to appear alongside sleek white architecture. The towering statuesque Hermit specter from Stairway to Heaven presided over the wasteland. In that central plaza, barren trees curled around a massive stone guitar with water streaming down it as strings. Breaking the stream of water would emit a sound like plucking a string.

The one thing that gave the land its own identity and style was the centerpiece of this metal wasteland: Led Zeppelin – The Ride. Truly the only outright “adult” coaster at the park, Led Zeppelin was a beauty. The sleek white track of the super-smooth B&M coaster was 150 feet tall and containing 6 inversions. The ride raced at 65 miles per hour along a twisted course built against the lagoon, always projecting a picturesque reflection.

The coaster experience began with four unique pre-show rooms (different rooms depending upon the row of the coaster you chose) leading to deluxe trains that, of course, featured on-board audio of Led Zeppelin tunes synchronized to the ride experience, all entered via – you guessed it – a lead zeppelin station.