Fun Spot Atlanta to close permanently on August 2

It goes without saying that there’s the potential for horrible loss here, and it’s not the park itself.

Maybe the RMC would be a fairly easy move/reconstruct and it’s a no-brainer for Fun Spot to relocate this stellar attraction to one of their busier parks. Or maybe the hands of park owners across the nation, eager to take it, are going up as we speak. (I know mine would).

At any rate, ArieForce One deserves to have people lined up to ride. And a new name.

Well there is, of course this

I love a good online petition (still waiting for my bran muffin).

I'm still wondering what they were thinking installing an A+ coaster into a small FEC. Amusement parks should grow organically and incrementally. Kind of reminds me of when we lost Dania Beach Hurricane. Small FECs should start off with little carnival roller coasters. The money they spent on that coaster could have been used so much more wisely.

A ride like Arieforce One does not attract the same kind of clientele that arcade games and go carts attract, imho. Attractions need to support each other. Every time I hear about the coaster, it's from people who tack on the ride to their Six Flags over GA visit.

Now it's time for me to dream. Would Arieforce One make a great addition to Kings Island or Carowinds?

^ What you said LostKause is exactly what I was thinking on the day we arrived there right after opening. I got 12 laps on AF1, a lap on the Hurricane Coaster, and rode all the different go kart tracks in a little over 2 hours. We got to SFOG a little after noon for a full day there.

It's been a long time since I've been to the Orlando or Kissimmee parks. Wouldn't they have room for it at one of those parks? I'm sure someone else will move it if fun spot doesn't.

Perfect addition for Knoebels!

The Orlando and Kissimmee locations are pretty land locked, and the shape of that ride is very specific. They couldn't easily move it down here.

The land isn't exactly flat, either. The fact that the support foundations were poured as large concrete pads make finding a new home for it substantially harder, too. When rides like Dominator were moved, the cylindrical footers could easily be formed taller to match the previous grade. For AF1, it feels like you would need to extend or shrink the supports in places, which would require a whole engineering analysis.

While I'm not a structural engineer, on the surface I would disagree. (and of course I could be wrong.) But it seems to me that because of it's all steel supports it's infinitely customizable. Like an Erector set or Lego kit. Look at how the structure was built over the gift shop. Pieces were just subtracted from what would've been a standard bunny hill and replaced with a bridge. If the land rises up, just remove some of the lower framework and reinforce as necessary. If the land lowers, add more metal framework below the existing structure, or taller pillars.

I feel that there are plenty of parks that could easily add something of this size to their existing footprint with a small amount of creativity and engineering. Not going to bother looking up land plots, but of course the first park that comes to mind from an open land perspective is a little park in Western Michigan that's long overdue, hahaha.

As others have mentioned, this just screams Holiday World. Correct size for market, capacity would work. While seemingly perfect color scheme for the 4th of July section, the shape might be hard to cram in to that section of the park.

There was initial chatter (foolish, I would imagine) that indicated that the ride had zero chance for relocation. The reasoning was bs, but that doesn't mean that it's easy either. I'm not an engineer, so know nothing about the costs involved, but if HW's new Mack water coaster is going to cost $25MM, then surely someone could make an investment thesis to relocate this one.

Now, I have no clue about the financial situation of the Georgia Fun Spot entity. I haven't seen if there's a BK filing, or if this is simply an orderly cessation of business. Absent any data, my initial thought would be that the coaster has some value to someone. The biggest block would be someone else having immediate need for the land and caring not for what has to be bulldozed in the immediate short term.

Tommytheduck:

While I'm not a structural engineer, on the surface I would disagree. (and of course I could be wrong.)

I agree that due to their erector-set nature, adding/removing supports would be a simpler task than reconfiguring a typical B&M-esque structure. But I don't think anyone would insure a ride that's been moved and fundamentally changed without a thorough engineering reanalysis.