I hit the Myrtle Beach amusement park as part of a church choir tour when I was in college, and while nothing quite carries the sense of fun that the word "condomenium" does, especially if you rewrite the phrase as "...tearing it down to build luxury condoms," it's sad to see yet another one go. Is it Six Flag's fault? Or are these places really not financially viable?

(Libertyland had two sets of books: one to show profitability for the owners to get bonuses, and another to show huge losses to sell the assets at auction. I think the two coasters they had still have a chance of being saved, however.)

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Wow. That Libertyland anecdote sure is telling. Are those Rock & Roll Museum guys going to get an extension on their coaster move date, by the way?

Six Flags isn't really in direct competition with the Myrtle Beach parks; their closest park is in Georgia. The real cause of the closure is development greed, pure and simple. The waterfront property is prime real estate, and apparently one of the developers made an offer the owners couldn't refuse.

There's talk about moving some of the rides at the Pavilion to either the nearby Hard Rock Cafe theme park (which I've never been to; no roller coaster, why go?) or the Family Kingdom complex a few blocks down, or maybe the carousel will go to the new "Broadway By The Sea" entertainment complex, but I'm pretty sure most of the park is going to disappear, never to return.

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I haven't heard definitely, but there have been newspaper accounts of the possibility of cranking up the ride again (after an inspection) for the Mid-South Fair (on the existing site) at the end of September. Come visit!

After that, there's talk of moving it to another Memphis location: I don't think there's room behind the Statue of Liberation, but they have a driving range at "The World's Largest Putt-Putt" that could accomodate it and add an extra element of thrill to the coaster if occasionally a rider got beaned by an errant drive. They could double the profits by renting helmets.

But that's just my awesome fantasies. I've not heard any real facts.

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Has competition from Carowinds (near Charlotte) hurt Myrtle Beach?

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Competition from other parks really isn't doing the Pavilion in. On the Saturday I went, it was doing brisk business, and nobody blames any other park (heck, there are two other amusement parks located right in Myrtle Beach, and numerous Putt-Putt courses, waterslides, bungee jump attractions and Family Fun Centers) for the closure.

It's all because the landowners got a big buyout offer from some developer and they went with it.

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Did you happen to catch the last days of the (sadly depleted) Pirate's Fun Park in Salisbury, MA? I think it was finally put out of its misery last year.

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(another reason why I didn't go to the Hard Rock park: It ain't open or even built yet. Well then! No wonder there's no coasters.)

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Once the phrase "Hard Rock--Myrtle Beach" comes into existence, does the phrase "Hard Rock" mean anything at all anymore? Is it now cool in an ironic, Napoleon Dynamite sort of way?

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Well, Myrtle Beach is home to the Shag, but I'm gonna hafta agree with you on that one. Hard Rock Myrtle Beach just doesn't have the same history to it as Hard Rock NYC or London, perhaps.

Speaking of Napoleon Dynamite, as we drove up 95 towards Dillon, we were half expecting South Of The Border billboards reading "VOTE FOR PEDRO!" Sadly, the most current reference they had was "South Of The Border -- The Final Answer!" Hello, welcome to 2000, here's your Regis Philbin reference. SotB doesn't exactly have their finger on the pulse of pop culture, but perhaps in a few years' time they'll have one up.

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http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local/article/0,2845,MCA_25340_4834789,00.html

It looks a lot better for them than, say, Williams Grove.

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I was on Ocean Isle Beach about two weeks before you, so I was thrilled to see your pictures. Hope you had a good time there.

I live about an hour north (recently moved there) and we have most of the same bizarre souvenirs. I've no idea why. I can however tell you that the happy little captain is a wine bottle holder, so he's supposed to look like he's already been in the sauce.

I'm sad to hear about the pavilion, and wish it surprised me more. I really enjoyed your pictures though, lots of great texture and pattern.

Clawdia (an old friend of mine) says you have a work filter. I'd like to be on it if you don't mind adding me. I enjoy reading your posts. Thanks. Silvair

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