Fun Spot Atlanta closing - fate of ArieForce One?

Sad news;

https://amusementtoday.com/2026/06/fun-spot-america-announces-closure-of-atlanta-park/

If you haven't ridden it yet, get down to ATL while you still can...

Later,
EV

Man. Sad times for the amusement park industry outside of Disney and Universal

Way too many parks closing…..

Sad news for sure. I feel bad for the Atlanta team. Very happy I was able to make a stop back in early April of this year. I found the staff to be very friendly and nice. However, the park needed some love

It will be inserting to see if / what rides are relocated.

Let's hope Arie Force One gets relocated as it is to good and too new to be scrapped. I am sure it could fit well at many other amusement parks given it is built on a flat surface. RMC could also step in to alter the layout so it could be easier to make it fit somewhere else (straight out and back).

It’s not built on a flat surface. There’s about a 40ft elevation change underneath? Not to mention part of it is built on top of an arcade.

Wasn’t AF1 pretty cheap (as far as big coaster go) to build? Does that make it less cost effective to move vs build a new coaster? Who would be in the market? I see a lot of people saying Carowinds but I’d think a park would want to move it somewhere it wasn’t previously on people’s radar. Enchanted Parks is talking about making EP Mid-America their flagship. Do they have room? Worlds of Fun? Maybe Herschend sees an opportunity for Kentucky Kingdom (or is AF1 to tall, I think there’s an airport nearby)?

Well, Ky Kingdom already has a big, fast RMC conversion already. Not to say that they couldn’t…

I think Fun Spot in general, as a business, is an odd bird. I know FEC’s and Go Kart tracks are commonplace but something about Fun Spot sits a little off center to me. (Not counting extreme political leanings). It all seems a little on the cheap, and maybe because they’re in Orlando and the contrast to other parks is glaring. Or maybe because go kart tracks and carnival rides never look expensive. I dunno, but whenever I’ve been there I’ve always had the feeling those families told their kids they were going to Disney and then… didn’t.

So that leads me to think about this Atlanta location, which (disclaimer) I’ve never been to. From shots and vids the vibe seems about the same as Orlando and Kissimmee, including that one stellar coaster. But perhaps success is restricted by a couple of things. One is location. A city the size of Atlanta can certainly support a smaller park, but they do have a lovely Six Flags already. I think it’s safe to assume that Florida entertains enough long-stay customers that their parks naturally feed off the others. A zillion motels nearby, stuff like that. But I understand the Georgia location is kind of, not exactly out of the way, but not very vacationy, either. Fayetteville Ga or something. Once again, never been there.

Or maybe they shot themselves in the foot by thinking too large too soon. Or too scary too soon- I know this RMC, like most, is not everyone’s cup of tea. There’s no doubt the place is empty, like, America’s National Mall State Fair empty. And that’s never good. I shake my head every time I read where some enthusiast blogger is squealing with delight because they clocked 30+ laps on A.One simply because they could. Awesome, right? And that’s never a one-off, or a freak lucky day, that’s any day of the week. My comment, if I feel like being a D, is to ask in what world a place with no business can survive?

For relocation, I’m sure there are parks aplenty that would love to have it, and be willing to bear the cost of retro-fitting whatever. But would FS benefit most by moving it to one of their other parks? Or could they use the cash? I think I-Drive would be the choice, and maybe I’m wrong, but I think they have the most room. In fact, when that park underwent their big expansion wasn’t it to include land along Grand National there on the other side of the lot?
Anyway, I’m sitting here looking at the calendar and the rest of my summer trying to figure out how I can make it down there.

ShaneDenmark:

I’d think a park would want to move it somewhere it wasn’t previously on people’s radar

I can assure you no park gives an eff about that. Zero. Even SFoG (within 30 miles) would take that ride if the economics made sense. It's a great ride, visually stunning (though the layout might prevent proper placement for viewing in most existing parks), and would be a great addition to almost any park that takes it.

Off the top of my head, without looking at plots and dimensions: HW, Lagoon, Several of the Enchanted Parks locations, etc. Even Kings Island could benefit, though the most obvious choice for placement is most likely already "spoken for" in the current development plan.

The audience that would provide the return on investment for moving the ride has probably never even heard of Fun Spot Atlanta. Even people in Atlanta would probably say, "you mean Six Flags, right?"