Located on the site of the defunct Fantasy Harbor indoor outlet mall, the original plans for this location were for a movie theater. However, plans changed and a music-themed park was planned for the area.
The amusement park opened in April 2008 and was called the Hard Rock Park. The name was licensed at a cost of $2.5 million a year from Hard Rock International, operators of the Hard Rock Cafe restaurants. The park was planning to operate throughout
the entire calendar year, but in September 2008, the park closed, employees were laid off, and the park's owners filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The stated reasons for the park's rapid failure were the 'macroeconomic conditions' of the 2008 economic downturn, however
location, competition, and marketing may have all played a factor in the park's quick demise. In January 2009, the company converted to Chapter 7 liquidation, and the park was sold to FPI MB Entertainment for $25 million. After all of the Hard Rock merchandise
was destroyed and the rides were renamed, the park reopened as Freestyle Music Park in 2009. Although the owners were sued several times for non-payment, park management had fallen behind on repaying debts racked up by the original owners,
and the 2009 attendance was less than expected, park owners claimed in early 2010 that the park was here to stay. A few months later, it was announced that the park would not open for the 2010 season. The property sat dormant for several years.
A few rides were sold to other parks in 2013, but the majority of the rides were removed from the property in 2014. These days, much of the land where the park was remains undeveloped. The northwest corner of the park is now a FedEx distribution center, and the
southwest corner of the property is overflow parking for Beach Church.
Five roller coasters were at the park for the two years it was open. Click on the pictures below to read about the fate of each of the coasters after the park closed in 2009.
