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. Follow the frets and strings down to the Gibson Vegas High-Roller Plaza, the wide-open plaza that overlooks the park’s central lagoon. You were standing on the neck of a guitar embedded in the pavement. On the other side of the bridge, the pavement would take on an odd pattern. It also might've turned off locals in the deep Bible Belt of Myrtle Beach. And for all the praise Disney and Universal get about designing “details,” Hard Rock Park matched them blow for blow. Like the Hard Rock brand, it was a bit edgy. Let the painting set the mood for a park that was certainly unlike anything Disney dared do. Hard Rock Park’s version was entitled “Fiat Saxum.” Let there be rock. 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.
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.Īt 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: 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.)Ĭonceptual 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. 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. But there was something different about what went into All Access Plaza. It’s functional and it’s part of a park’s narrative. 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.
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