Fun Spot USA

NB: This is the Kissimmee location on 192. Stopped by last week - won a FB contest and had a couple armbands to redeem. Now that my school semester was over, we decided on a short overnighter to Tampa/Kissimmee. Had visited before for credit laps, the now-removed double wheel, and the skycoaster. But this time we were going to do the whole park and gather some information others could use. So here goes, in no particular order:

Arrived after a few hours on Sat. morning/early afternoon at BGT and the hour-long drive on I-4 to Kissimmee. It was still daylight hours and Fun Spot doesn't really get cranked up until after UO and the early Disney park(s) close, so the place was fairly empty until around 6pm. First stop was the flying skooters adjacent to the lake. With breezy conditions, some slight snappage could be had with good piloting. Unfortunately, *my* piloting is kinda hit-and-miss, but the first lap proved somewhat successful, with a little bouncing and the op celebrating a good ride (more PCar than the harsh ops you sometimes get at Knoebels). Certainly, the other patrons were not snappers, so I guess it's nice for the op to see people at least TRY...

Moving along, I see the old Herschell/Schiff(?) model is no longer at the park, nor is the weird Watkins oval-shaped paratrooper thingy. But, the classic kiddie was replaced by a newer Miler kiddie - credit score (not that I keep track any more, LOL). But it was a sweet ride, pretty fun and aggressive, and 3 laps. Jill even rode, although she normally skips kiddie coasters, since there was one seat left and the op encouraged her.

Went on the dry sack slide adjacent to the main arcade/office building. Always love those things, ending up sliding all the way to the indoor-outdoor carpeting at the end.

Zamperla Surf's Up is pretty cool, a stand-up miniature version of KI's Avatar or CGA's Survivor. Not quite a spinny, but the surfing theme and surfboard-shaped ride vehicle made a nice touch. Flying Bobs is pretty much what you'd expect, a little too loud but fun....the speed in reverse was pretty intense.

Extreme spinnage on Power Trip - the ride ops help patrons load for their chosen ride -lot of spin, little spin....we opted for "push the limits", and did very well. Jill always compares the best spinning coasters to Opa! since we got some MAGICAL rides on the Mt Olympus version a few years back. This one was pretty close...and we got a few mroe of those before closing.

S&S Swing - very nice ride, standard air-launch, etc. The ops were nice enough to leave a little extra space...very much safe, but also a little flight-room which is SO nice on the backward push...

Finally, the go karts. Vortex and Chaos are the two main tracks, with lots of elevated wooden track. Vortex goes up and up and up in helical fashion, then has one HUGE drop near the end...good thing the left turn at the bottom is highly-banked, LOL. With the speed of the karts, this may have been the most thrilling go kart I've ridden since Mt Olympus took out the triple-down (Medusa's Drop, IIRC). There were some minor crashes here and there, but it was FUN. Those things go faster than I thought they would. Chaos was just as fun, but more heavily-banked track and without that one defining moment. There was also a road course and a slick track....tried those, but ended the karting with another ride on Vortex...that drop in INSANE...

Caught another couple rides on the flying skooters, and one more "decent" ride on Power Trip before heading out. The rides were all fun, and we had a great time, but I refuse to end this without mentioning a real highlight of our visit....the EMPLOYEES. They get a real shout-out, kudos, and some applause...friendly, engaged, helpful.

We picked up some SPs to the Orlando location in anticipation of White Lightning (and apparently some version of an Afterburner according to the preview map)....but the two are jointly-owned, and doing really well. The "Extreme Orlando Fun Park" dealio may never come to pass...but Fun Spot is poised to take over the nighttime "Celebration City" (Branson) market assuming that park never does come to fruition.

edit: Cobra - Venture/Watkins Cobra... http://www.flatrides.com/Ride%20Index%20Pages/cobra.html

rollergator said:

There was also a road course and a slick track....tried those, but ended the karting with another ride on Vortex...that drop in INSANE...

I never would have thought a go kart track would be anything very memorable until I did that one. Holy crap was that fun!