Was ArieForce One a Bad Financial Decision?
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- Опубликовано: 10 апр 2023
- Did Fun Spot make the right call here? ArieForce One just debuted in Atlanta as the largest single investment the comany has ever made. This massive roller coaster is sure to reach world class status... but will it be worth the price they paid? It's sure to have a big impact on what the Fun Spot parks in the future- either in a good or bad way!
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I went there on Easter and there was 12 people in the entire park.
Poor fun spot :(
But it was Easter
Yeah that’s normal for theme parks on Easter. I went to Carrowinds a few years back on Easter and you could literally walk on Fury 325. The longest I waited was 5 mins
Lies. I was there on Easter too and there were AT LEAST 13 people there.
@@a_goblue2023I'd have thought most parks would be packed on easter weekend because of spring break. Hershey always gets busy on easter weekend
Before AF1, Fun Spot Atlanta was largely a place for local kids’ birthdays. REALLY small scale. For AF1 to get a return on investment, it will require further developments in the park to make the whole place more of a destination. So further risk.
One factor in Fun Spot’s favor: SFoG is a great park in theory, but it has the worst operations in America (yes, worse than Mt. Olympus). I don’t think enthusiasts often realize how fed up so many of the locals are with the way it’s run, and how many just refuse to return. So in that light any alternative park in such a major metropolis has a chance.
Absolutely agree. I grew up in lithia springs and douglasville and i loved going to six flags but hated the way it was ran.
@@richtrae99999 A great park terribly run.
Yep, that's why I think Fun spots push for another coaster or two, maybe a few more flat rides, plus a water park section, would easily just gobble up visitors. It's really can he keep the momentum going while accumulating the debt currently until it's at the point to pay it off
I think SFOG has better operations than SFDK and Mt Olympus for sure, and they actually have topped SFOT on my visit to that park. But yes they are well below average as a whole. Especially if you compare them to Carowinds or Dollywood. I've heard a lot of positives about the Fun Spot Ops from someone who went last weekend. I will be going this weekend.
SFOG was the only option for a LONG LONG time. Dollywood only grew to be a truly worth competitor within the last decade or so and the same could be said for Carowinds. I lived in Atlanta from 92 to 2010 and during all that time I looked several times at both of those parks instead of SFOG but I could never justify the added cost of an overnight hotel room based on the rides available. All of that has now changed as the last time I looked either Fury 325, Lightening Rod and several other top quality coasters have been added to those competitors. Now if I lived in Atlanta it would be hard to ignore the other options within half a day's drive of the area. With this coaster getting added to the mix it just ratchets up the competition, because if I live on the North Side of Atlanta and drive to Fayetteville I've made the worst part of the drive I'd need to take to Wild Adventures in Valdosta so why not combine the two parks instead of SFOG?
Gosh darn it. I can't help but root for these guys to be the Little Park That Could. They just seem so nice and earnest, and that coaster...what a beauty!
this feels like an old school coaster studios video, great stuff.
I saw an ArieForce billboard in Marietta last week
This ride is the reason to go to Fun Spot. But, they need to add more for people to want to come back. This is a smart financial decision if they add more attractions. You can't just plop an rmc down and expect to make a profit long term. Hopefully this is the start of something big for this park
John did mention in iappa wanting a water park there along with more coasters. We will see how much can be added to make it a destination park
@KrimsonStorm As was mentioned in the video, step 1 has to be making the park look nicer. Right now it screams county fair but with a giant RMC as the centerpiece. After that, I'd add a few new flat rides and a smaller coaster.
Arieforce is great, but you want people spending time and money at the park, not just for 1 ride. It will be a slow process, but if done right, within 5 years, it could start to be somewhat of a destination park. They have their Michael Jordan, now you have to build the rest of the team around it
@@kingpiniv lot to be said for county fairs. Lots of people who grew up in the south have very fond memories of going to the county fair as a kid. Cumming County Fair in the North Atlanta area is absolutely positively PACKED with people every year.
@Ashleigh Elizabeth I love county fairs, but with an RMC, fun spot really has to move past that kind of look. And I have faith that they will
@@kingpiniv oh I agree they need a park upgrade certainly. But the cost of that compared to the cost of this coaster is negligible.
To me it seems like they put a massive coaster thinking people will come but it’s just one ride when most of the park is kiddie rides
People will come if it’s that good
You mean enthusiasts will come. They do not keep these parks afloat. It will be like I305…
John Arie told us directly $13 million to RMC. $6 million to the property in Georgia. Total investment $19 million
I could see that!
I share the same concerns, but I have faith in thier decisions. I REALLY hope the GP loves this ride as much as enthusiasts do.
Hopefully, but it really might be too much for the GP. The Aries took a big risk building their first major coaster for enthusiasts. A small Vekoma Tilt coaster might have been a smarter choice.
So, I had family that went last weekend and I'm going this weekend and their comment was the GP was a bit freaked out by it. I'm not sure the locals knew what they were getting into as it is so different than anything else in that park compared to SFOG, where you pretty much know what you are getting into.
I saw a lot of people loving Iron Gwazi at busch gardens, a lot of them probably aren't ethusiasts, and thats a super intesne ride. i know thats not a super fair comparison, but i think people who enjoy rollercoasters will still give AF1 a try
I really, really appreciate it whenever you take time to discuss the business and engineering aspects of parks and rides.
Glad you liked this style of video!
I live in Fayetteville and I’m suprised this place still exist 😂. Grown over the years for sure though.
You guys work so hard to get all that off ride! Great job :)
I am remaining positive here. When I did my lunch break rides on Thursday last week, the park had a decent crowd at noon. 3 school buses, plus maybe 1/4 full parking lot. I assume each of the kids on there got a pass. If 3 school buses had maybe 40 kids per, that's 120 kids, or
4,800 dollars on its own. I try to buy food from there on top of my season pass to support the park. They theoretically only need 450,000 day passes to be sold to make 18m, of course minus taxes.
I got to speak with John Jr himself that day and he mentioned the TV/net ads and billboards will be coming out in the few two weeks. That lines up with the park readying itself for being open every day starting in june. But you're absolutely right, a lot of GP don't know it's open. I was at the grocery store down the road the day after, while wearing the AFO red shirt, and a family asked if I was media or worked at fun spot because they didn't know when the ride would be open.
Spread the word!!
Glad to hear they’re going to be starting their ads soon!
I was there yesterday and the park had a decent sized crowd. Arie Force One was running one train ops, but was leaving the station with a full train in the afternoon into the evening
from what I gathered from several different coaster channels that covered the opening of ArieForce One, it seems like they already have plans to work with RMC again to beef up the rest of the park and expand on the amount of land that they have readily available to use. it’s probably gonna take some time to get some type of return, but I think creating the initial hype with a world class coaster like ArieForce One was a smart idea. Now they just have to capitalize and move quickly to revamp the rest of the park
It’s so sad that non coaster enthusiasts don’t care about roller coasters like we do. I’m about an hour from the park, and I rode opening weekend and it was unbelievable. I tried to convince my non enthusiast friends to come and they were like “I already went on the ones at 6 flags, why am I gunna waste my time.” I tried to explain to them how awesome it is but they just don’t care. Sadly I think a lot of people in Georgia don’t care, so I’m worried this RMC is going to be collecting dust 😞
literally same like they just don’t get it
You need to change friends.
The first time I heard about AF1 was on an advertisement at Fun Spot Orlando last year. As an enthusiast from the ATL area, I was like "whaaaaaatttt?!" because I wasn't aware such a big ride was coming to a park within an hour from me that I had barely even heard of. I got the chance to ride it multiple times on Easter with an enthusiast friend of mine (who had never heard of it until I brought it up) and every time it was either a walk on or station wait. While it was a win for me and the other enthusiasts who could lap as many times as we wanted, I agree with your concerns because of the lack of people in such a populated area. They did scan wristbands that day so it may have just been untrained employees. All that being said, this ride is freaking AMAZING and made my top 3. I did this, Hurricane, the go karts and the Screamin Swing - and AF1 by far left the other rides in the dust. Keep up the amazing content you guys!
Yeaa I agree it’s crazy you guys lived here and didn’t even know about it. Also, when I go to the fun spots in Florida I get walk on rides pretty much everytime so I think this park will be fine they just gotta add more to get more guests coming in
As someone who lives in Atlanta I can confirm that there are billboards. They are just electronic ones and there aren't too many. As for crowds, I went on the Thursday after opening day and it maintained a stair wait the entire time though there were 3 rows closed off due to the brake run issues (They were running 2 trains). The considering the fact that it was raining while i was there and it was still pretty crowded, I think FSA will be fine. But that's just from my perspective from going to opening day and that Thursday.
Rows being closed off would be a completely different issue from brakes. If I had to take a guess, that would likely have to do with the hydraulic locking cylinders. Glad to hear there are some billboards though.
I’ve also seen some billboards around Atlanta too. It will be interesting to see what happens. I wish them luck.
Cap
@@CoasterStudios They closed rows on both of the trains because the speed at which it has been running when full on warmer days is causing it to fault when it enters the break run.
@@CoasterStudiosfrom personal experience with RMCs usually rows are closed for seat sensors or power connector issues
AF1 was a vanity project, not a legitimate investment for the long-term growth of the park. It's way too extreme (especially with how aggressive the ending is) for the park's normal clientele, and the park lacks other attractions to appeal to enthusiasts seeking higher thrills. Sure, a lot of folks are going to be intrigued by the big new ride, but how many are going to want to come back?
Fayetteville is a growing area and Hollywood is moving their production more and more out there. So this park will get some looks in the future, maybe feature in a tv show or movie or two.
This is just the beginning for Fun Spot. They are going to add more to enhance the lineup. There is no way that they just add this and expect a lot.
Would have made a lot more sense to be at one of the Florida locations, now that you said it!
Shame that they didn’t have enough space. It would’ve been a top 5 coaster in Orlando.
As rough as mind blower is, fun spot Kissimmee is re-tracking the coaster fully with Brazilian wood. I was talking to the head manager at fun spot Kissimmee and he was talking about how the ride needs a retrack and they are going to do it sometime this year.
Making a spontaneous trip out this weekend. Lets goooo.
Very nicely put together video and very entertaining as well. Thanks for posting this.
Wow, thanks to this video I am able to realize that I actually have been to this park! Way back in 2012, I was in the area and was trying to make Goliath at SFOG my 100th coaster, but needed one more credit to do so, so I took a spontaneous day trip here and rode Hurricane and then completely forgot about it until now! The name change especially confused me lmao. I never would’ve realized it was the same park…
Just rode this thing today. One ride. Back right seat and WOW I was blown away!
As someone who lives 10 mins away from fun spot, I went with some gp friends the Wednesday after it opened... I assumed everyone here at least knew about AF1 but even though we'd go all the time in the past to hang out and race gokarts they weren't aware there was even a roller coaster there until we got to the park. I think that says something about the marketing... If the target market in the same county as a world class roller coaster isn't aware it exists, that might be a problem. Even still, we got maybe 40 rides in just a few hours because we were able to stay on the ride. Obviously Im not complaining, but it seems like a coaster like this shouldnt be a walk on the week after it opens, especially with that week being spring break in the area. It's definitely going to get more publicity before the summer season, and I have seen a few billboards around ATL and online ads. Hopefully fun spot is able to maintain it and redirect some income across the chain to AF1 because it really is a great ride.
Remember their tagline: IT"S HHUUUGGGEE! The Aries are putting money where their mouth is! So regardless of the long term outcome of AF1, I salute them and tip my hat for staying true to their motto!
I was there yesterday and there was almost no one, a couple of locals, my group of enthusiasts, another group of enthusiasts, and Theme Park Review. So trains were almost full the entire time, but it was all the same people. I really hope they add more to the park because there is so much potential and they need to add a lot more to make a return on investment!
I live in Atl but consider Carowinds my home park now lol so am hopeful that Fun Spot will keep this trajectory going
While I did go on a day with miserable 40 degree weather, there was a SINGLE other guest at the park. This is no exaggeration. However, the ride operator, who I also saw in construction/funspot updates, did state they were very pleased with the attendance of the first week…
I live in Ky and can’t wait to get there to ride it.
Was great meeting and talking with you outside mythos!
I think that 240 off 1 train was really where they were thinking and wanted to go cause that is actually stupid insane the fact you can get $240 off 1 full train. They were probably thinking it would be popular and get even just medium lines and make insane money from that if everyone payed per ride.
When school gets out, FunSpot will be a madhouse trust me.
I hope everything goes well for Funspot. I’ll continue to do my part in showing support by visiting as much as I can and buying beer and food while I’m there 😎
My guess is that they're funneling money off the Kissimme locations to maintain this park. Like you said, their other parks make plenty of money. They probably figured it would take a while, and just wanted a big ride that they could make a big splash with.
Keep in mind, there are other parks who made similar (not quite to this scale, but still) of investments. Look at Beech Bend Park with Kentucky Rumbler and ZDT's with Switchback. I've been to ZDT's and it still boggles my mind that THEY are in business with that single wooden coaster in the middle of nowhere.
Give it time and I think this park will be bumping along pretty well. This is definitely a park to keep your eyes on.
I had those same concerns with seeing how slow the park has been since open. I’m sure they’ll continue funneling money from the Florida parks into this one to flesh it out and attract more GP
EDIT: happy to hear the confirmation about remaining trimless 😊
The closest comp I can think of to this is Desperado at Buffalo Bill's. Literally in the middle of nowhere, over 30 miles from the Vegas Strip. But it worked because it was at a casino that could cover its losses. FECs obviously don't have that revenue base, so it's hard to see FSA add much more than a Vekoma STC and family boomerang in the coming years.
There are specific ArieForce One billboards on I-285 between the airport and Six Flags. Let’s see how much publicity picks up as summer approaches.
As someone who lives in Georgia. They did market the coaster. They had tons of billboards off all highways. They started that a year ago. I was actually very surprised to see billboards specifically for a new coaster from such a small park. So yes, they did market the coaster.
I remember seeing a few too
I used to live in Atlanta. I'd never heard of this place until I saw it on your channel.
Honestly, I think AF1 is a good start for good things to come. But...this is a huge BUT...if they intend to expand Fun Spot (which they intend to do), they gotta do it right. If they focus on the park/coaster enthusiast with installing huge rides, that could just turn away the GP, thus creating an investment drain for the park. But if they just install smaller rides (flats, another go-kart track, etc.), that could drive away potential park enthusiasts. I think the right approach would be the standard formula. Add something small, then install a major investment later on. That way, they can have more patrons coming to Fun Spot.
Hoping to ride it over the summer when I finally go to over Georgia with my family!
This seems like a big first step for a park that really has nothing else. I hope lots of people go ride it but it is a bold first move. If it cost 15 million you are now thinking of all the other rides they will have to add to get people there. Then in a couple of years they really will need another roller coaster to beef the park up. To me it seems like a big hole of endless spending. Hopefully there other parks pull in enough to pull this off. I wish them luck.
Exactly. It's a get people in the door and two to three years out another big move.
Six flags over Georgia isn’t busy this time of year either. They’ll start packing in around May. I didn’t even know fun spot existed in Atlanta until Aireforce one. I have an annual pass now.
Same!
As a Florida resident who often travels north for parks like Dollywood, sfga, Kentucky kingdom etc. I will be stopping here with my fun spot passes… the three park pass is 100% worth it for a amazing rmc.
And people from Atlanta traveling to Florida will do the same. Believe me when I lived in Atlanta and traveled to Florida if this thing had been open I would have definitely stopped. I'd also stop on my way to Savannah, GA or to St Simon's Island. I'd have stopped by when I went to the Georgia Ren Fest which is near by or if I went to an event at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. And if I'm driving from the North Atlanta Suburbs to ride it, then why not make a week of it and go down to Valdosta to Wild Adventures? Come to that there is a State Fair in the southern part of Georgia as well and the Vedalia Onion Festival as well...
When I visited the park, the entire station was empty and the only people were enthusiasts. I’ve barely seen any advertisements or posters about the ride in the area, so this does make me a bit worried. I could’ve just came on a slow day though.
The had billboards up all down hwy 85 for 2 years
Even Lost Island themepark had most likely a much less profitable opening year than ArieForce One is starting off with. Their situations feel oddly similar, and yet Fun Spot Atlanta has more potential for success, I'd say. So if Lost Island will be able to turn things around and stay in business (that is a mighty big *if*), I have no doubt Fun Spot can too.
I live outside Atlanta, never been to Fun Spot before. Always went to SFOG or Dollywood. Now we will probably get a season pass to fun spot just to ride this one ride, as it's way better then anything SFOG has
I feel like once they add a few more attractions to the park there will definitely be more people coming out.
Side note…I have seen more billboards for arieforce prior to them actually opening the ride back in 2021/2022 they had billboards all over saying that the ride would debut in 2022….that did not happen and slowly after that I stopped seeing the billboards. On opening week I just so happened to see a commercial for it on MTV which got me pretty excited.
Fun Spot has every opportunity to be the best park in Georgia. I know coaster enthusiasts enjoy SfoG’s lineup, but there are few companies that I have felt like could care less about in-park experience than SfoG. It sucks. They know you’re there for the coasters and not much else. The locals are so tired of it. To pay $30 for a day at Fun Spot, and be able to leave the park and come back, it’s fantastic. Arieforce One is amazing, they need another great coaster and I will be campaigning relentlessly for them. Cheering for Fun Spot as a Georgia local.
This does strike me as extremely risky, but I think we should wait until summer to really see if people will start to show up. Hope it works out for them!
Update: went it summer. Was still dead
We have been thinking the same thing since opening day, it was so quiet and again when we returned on the Sunday night. Would love to see it pay off.
This has been a worry of mine from Day 1 with this ride at this park. I really REALLY hope it gets the attendance it needs cause if it doesn't, then they might not gain enough profit in return to put back into Fun Spot Atlanta after ArieForce One. That being said I'm really hopeful this addition will help this park's profit.
I think Fun Spot by Atlanta will be expanding. This is one of likely several other rides.
If they want this place to become a location similar in size to the other fun spot parks, I’d start by buying something like a vekoma suspended coaster as well as a few modern permanent flat rides, and just spruce up the place a bit, targeting younger families initially. Then after it’s a more established location, I’d build the signature large coaster.
Visually, it looks a lot like what I imagine an RMC American Eagle could look like.
I saw one billboard down the street from my school, and my school is in the Atlanta Metro area. I've also heard some of my classmates talk about the ride I've been trying to let my school know to go ride ArieForce One
About the over shooting the brakes thing, I was there last Friday and I never actually saw it happen because I left mid day to go to Over Georgia, but when I came back for night rides, they had rows 3 and 4 closed and the enthusiasts who were there at the time claimed it was because the train over parked slightly outside the station. I took a video of the two rows being out of service and it’s in my vlog on my channel. So I can’t verify whether or not it did actually over shoot, but it certainly overparked, and Fun Spot shut two rows down.
Rows being closed off would be for a completely different issue
I live not quite half way between Six Flags Over GA and Carowinds so I'm a couple hours away from Fun Spot. A friend and I stopped by on Sunday as part of a road trip so I didn't have a lot of time. My friend isn't a coaster enthusiast like I am but she did ride a couple of time. We also did several of the other rides while there that I probably would not have if I were by myself. I'm planning on going back several more times and next trip I will be getting a season pass. While we were there, the crowd was mostly enthusiasts for AF1 but we there before the crowd started rolling in. I for one hope AF1 puts them on the map and the gamble pays off. My understanding is they have way more undeveloped land than what they are using and they have big plans for the park.
I went to Fun Spot on a Sunday, which should be one of their busiest days, and Aireforce was a walk-on. I also live in the greater Atlanta metro area, and I haven’t seen a single ad for this ride. I really hope they know what they’re doing because I’m not sure if they can maintain a ride of that size.
I think they definitely need to market this amazing RMC. Someone like me from Chicago is definitely making the trip again to ride it but granted will need to hit up a few parks like kings Island, six flags over GA, and Dollywood. I honestly hope this was a great investment for the fun spot family. It definitely was for RMC
I was wondering if they were planning on beefing up the entire park to make it a real contender for Six Flags over the years. Like turn it into a legitimate, full day amusement park. But the location really isn't ideal, like you've stated. But if it was a nice full day park, could it turn into a destination, and perhaps cause the area to grow?
Keep in mind Fayetteville is growing rapidly. I mean, hell, pinewood studios (where guardians of the Galaxy is filmed) is right there. My next door neighbor did the sets for guardians 3.
They gotta market them selves in Atlanta even my family in Atlanta didn’t know this park existed and they go to Florida semi annually and even go to Fun-spot in Florida
I think we need to wait until summer to judge attendance.
Depending on how good that friendship has become developing this ride.. maybe this is an opportunity for RMC to branch beyond the giant clients (which many have an rmc now).. and, like The Gravity Group, start to offer kids/ family coasters?
Or even branch into... other types of rides.. in hopes to help this park
One way they are paying for it is a huge increase in annual pass prices. Our passes went up $40 or so and they stripped out tons of the benefits and put them on a new platinum pass at $299/year. We weren't happy with these new neutered passes but we go to both Orlando parks so much we got them anyway.
The other 2 parks dont really get much attendance during the day either. Those 2 are really night parks for after a day at disney or universal. Once I went during the day and the ride ops just followed us around since there was essentially nobody else there
I rode this for the first time this past weekend. Yes, it is a PHENOMENAL roller coaster. However, most of the people who were there were locals and coaster enthusiasts. As someone who grew up in an Atlanta suburb (I live in Savannah now), I admit that I never knew this park existed until ArieForce One got announced. I told all my friends who live near Atlanta to definitely check this out, but it will take more than “word of mouth marketing” to get more people to the park. Still, I’m sure Fun Spot Atlanta is seeing an increase in attendance overall.
The fact you got a clip of someone standing RIGHT next to the coaster while it’s running should tell us everything we need to know lol.
This used to be called Dixieland Fun Park and had about what you would expect at your local fair
they're gonna have to get rid of the carnival rides and bring in permanent flat rides. they could try to develop it like owa or alabama adventure. and wild adventure.
0:05 Love the Field of Dreams reference.
The leap from FEC to small thrill park is a pretty huge one, and that ultimately comes down to flat rides more than coasters. I'm sure that'll be the park's focus in the coming years, along with improving the general appearance. But it's hard to argue that a small Vekoma Tilt coaster wouldn't have the same effect on attendance and spending - at about 2/3 the cost. No doubt Herschend's paying attention to how this plays out. If FSA's struggling to pay off debts in 5-7 years, they'd probably be interested in buying those parks.
This park is going to be a work in progress for the years to come to bring it up to par with their other parks. The ATL location still needs upgrades to their flat ride line up and to the overall appearance of the park. They also lack a mid range family coaster like the Orlando park has. I think Arie Force One is only the beginning. They're just going to have to do it a little at a time as their budget allows being a small chain like they are.
I agree!
Barely related, but this park reminds me a lot like Arizona's biggest park (somehow) Castles and Coasters, which I know you're a HUGE fan of ;)
Now that Metrocenter Mall (C&C is in the parking lot of that mall ) is officially dead, I unrealistically dream of C&C taking over the property and turning it into a real park. It's right off the I-17 in the middle of town. We're one of the largest metro areas in the country and (until Barbie Land finally opens) Desert Storm is still our biggesst, best coaster. So basically, we need our own AZ version of ArieForce One. A random, world-class RMC next to a tiny family fun center.
As an Atlanta native they have potential. Six flags is also outside of the perimeter and white water is even further. They do have some public buzz. If they take advantage of six flags inability to add anything significant they can succeed with this.
I’d also say investing in something less intense than Arieforce would be a smart move. Some guests may be turned off by the intensity of AF1, thus leaving those guests to stay at SFOG. Vekoma could do wonders here with an STC or SFC.
Even a family boomerang would be fine if they can't afford a STC right away. I kinda wish they'd built North America's first Tilt coaster instead of an RMC, though.
A quality woodie would also do the trick. Aren't those decently cheap comparatively?
@@KrimsonStorm Yeah, but FSA might not want to build a Gravitykraft considering how badly MineBlower has aged in < 6 years. A steel family coaster could be a safer pick.
@@brianfoss571 I mean there's more than one wood manufacturer 👀
@@KrimsonStorm I don't think Fun Spot Atlanta would want a woodie over 2,000 ft long. At least not in the next 5 years. White Lightning is GCI's 2nd shortest coaster, and that's still 2,032 ft.
It’s beginning to pick up. I went this past Sunday. Now maybe it’s because the day prior was six flags GA opening day so all the enthusiasts came here the next day. In the morning it was dead. However in the afternoon each car was full of riders every time
This feels like the Dania Beach Hurricane. They build a kick-butt coaster as part of a fun center with small rides and a huge arcade. I went there one day before boarding a cruise in Miami and had the coaster to myself pretty much the entire afternoon. This coaster was visible from a major highway, was in the midst of a popular vacation spot in Florida, and yet, the whole thing was a bust.
I was just thinking the same thing. I used to live near there and it was a good coaster but it wasn’t enough for the place to stay relevant forever
Exactly! The Dania Beach Hurricane was a great ride in a busy city easily accessible and viewable from the freeway, and even it couldn’t survive.
@@Cheezbat land became far more valuable than the Hurricane and go karts sitting on it. That's South Florida in a nutshell.
Relevant questions. I hope they can take some constructive criticism.
Good job addressing the ending. I thought it could be amazing, like Hot Rod. But looks like more ejector air than the GP might prefer.
I305 suffers from low ridership from being too intense for the whole family. So, Trims for ridership sake?
But, I personally hope to ride it just the way it is.
I feel the intent is to transform Funspot Atlanta into the chain's full fledged theme park.
The Florida ones are limited in expansion, but the Atlanta one has plenty of room for growth.
I think them planning to turn it into a Kentucky Kingdom size park (minus the waterpark) would also make sense for the area since it is so far from anything else. Turning it slowly into a full fledged amusement park makes it more a destination to visit, not an attachment to another trip (which is what Funspot Atlanta needs).
I live in Atlanta and I had no idea. Lol
I live in in FL and have been to the 2 FL FS parks, never saw a reason to go to this one until now, one thing not mentioned is how many people will brave the awful traffic, just to get to FS GA? If you don't wanna get stuck in ATL'S rush hour timing is everything, both for when you arrive and depart
So I travel a lot because my sister is trying to do a marathon in every state. So I try and talk my family into going to a park, but most of the time I fail. Something like fun spot would be best since I can go in ride the ride and leave while my sister is in too much pain to deal with the restraints. But that’s my situation.
I will also add that this park doesn’t look far from the airport, which for me is a draw as if I have a situation like the last time I flew to Georgia where my sister’s flight was 3 h late I can just go do laps on Arieforce one.
I feel bad for fun spot😔 I wish i lived near there
I've ridden Switchback at ZDTs hundreds of times. It's a fabulous coaster at a super-friendly, well-run park whose owners are coaster enthusiasts. But, it's out in the middle of nowhere, 30 miles east of San Antonio, well off of I-10, in Seguin, Texas. Ever since Switchback was announced I've wondered about, and feared for, this park & coaster, which is usually a 1 train wait to a walk-on. ZDTs doesn't have much else. So, Fun Spot and ZDTs look similar in wisdom in finances, building landmark roller coasters. Great video! Perhaps a similar one on ZDTs would be a good idea? The owners are super-friendly & approachable.
When we heard of future projects with Fun Spot & RMC most thought Raptor, but I find a 208 retracking of Mindbender and/or White Lightning the most likely possibility.
They have said it is part of a huge expansion plan to this property to turn it into a proper amusement/themepark. So I am very curious how they will do that.
It will definitely be a place to keep our eye on!
Obviously it remains to be seen if this was a good investment. Looking purely at just the numbers, you have close to 50K per month just to service the debt on this build, and that’s not even paying anything towards the principle. I have no clue what kind of revenue Fun Spot Atlanta pulls, but I do hear the Florida Fun Spots practically ‘print money’. This is a long term investment play and as the ‘anchor’ for Fun Spot Atlanta, I’m hopeful this will pan out for them.
This seems a bit like having Zippin Pippin at that little public park in Green Bay, Wisconsin
They need more rides to make this a park more worth while visit in the long run. If they add like 2 more smaller coasters, then they could be rbinging in more people
It's like roller coaster tycoon where all you want to build first is a massive coaster.
FunSpot Atlanta would be great place for private events. They need to put a conference hall there.
If it fails I hope they will be able to move it to one of the Florida parks. The back section where hurricane is at the Kissimmee park seems like wasted space. I don't know if it would fit back there though. I'm just jealous that Atlanta got this, because Orlando needs an RMC and I don't see anyone else in Central Florida doing it.
I don't think that the FL Fun Spot parks have the space for AF1. That small plot where Hurricane is in the back is certainly not enough land
Need to use RMC is an intermediary to deal with Six Flags. Friendly hand shake can help both parks. AF1 ticket or FS wristband gets a discount at six flags and six flags does the same at FS. You’d be surprised what 10% off six flags food with an AF1 ticket, or 10% off the AF1 ticket with six flags pass would do
The only billboard I saw for ArieForce One was ironically about 5 minutes away from Six Flags Over Georgia.
The new ride looks absolutely sick but the park is kinda ugly. I know it's not what people come for, but some decent landscaping would go a long way. It looks like it actually has some decent attractions, but having vast areas of dead empty space kinda kills the mood in my opinion.