What's in a name?

Air Time is back! Well, it was barely here in the first place. I've decided to try and get things going again. I'm going to aim for one update a week. Stay tuned!

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For those who don't know yet, the 'defunct' Hard Rock Park has been sold for $25 million.

CNBC Article

The park plans to honor season passes from last year, lower gate prices, and add a few more rides.

From what the new owners are planning on doing, I think they may actually be on the right track. It will be very interesting to see what happens this summer. Hopefully they'll advertise a lot more.

Myrtle Beach is a huge tourist area, but I doubt whether it will be able to support such a 'big name' park. With the Hard Rock name, the park automatically sounds expensive. The Hard Rock Cafe is known for being a fun, clean, quality place. As a result, I think people almost expect HRP to be a Busch-caliber park.

This brings me to my point:

Does the 'Hard Rock' label help or hurt the park?



In my opinion, it puts the park at a disadvantage. It raises the expectations of visitors. I have never visited the park, but I have been to several Hard Rock Cafe restaurants. From what I can see from pictures and reviews of the park, the quality levels don't match up. HRP is by no means at the same level of Busch Gardens, Sea World, Universal, and Disney. However, I feel people expect it to be.

Would people have the same expectations if the park didn't have such a recognizable name? I don't think so. People wouldn't be as disappointed when they find that the park isn't mind-blowing in terms of what it has to offer.

I never thought a name could hurt a business as much as it did for HRP.