ArieForce One

ArieForce One is a steel roller coaster at Fun Spot America Atlanta in Fayetteville, Georgia. Manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, the ride was first announced by representatives of the Fun Spot America chain in May 2021, and the coaster was formally unveiled at the IAAPA Orlando Expo on November 16, 2021. At an accumulated cost of $18 million, ArieForce One represents the single largest investment on any ride in Fun Spot America's history. ArieForce One officially opened to the public on March 31, 2023.

History

Background

Fun Junction USA originally opened as Dixieland Fun Park in 1990 with Go-kart tracks, batting cages, and a miniature golf course. Management eventually added a small selection of rides over the years, including the Hurricane Coaster in 2007. In July 2017, Florida-based Fun Spot America Theme Parks announced the acquisition of Fun Junction USA as their first property outside of the state, with plans to roll out new attractions and branding. Chief among these investments was a new go-kart track for the 2018 season, but Fun Spot America CEO John Arie Jr hinted at a signature new coaster to perhaps eventually be built at the park.

Land was first cleared for this purpose in early 2019, with deforestation taking place where the lift hill and first portion of the coaster are now. Sometime during the following two years, Fun Spot began accepting proposals for a new coaster; GCI and Gravity Group – the respective manufacturers of the chain's White Lightning and Mine Blower wooden coasters – both reportedly (and unsuccessfully) bid on the project.

Announcement

On May 25, 2021, Fun Spot America Atlanta announced that they had selected Idaho-based Rocky Mountain Construction (otherwise known as RMC) to construct a major new steel coaster for the 2022 season. Management attempted to secure a naming rights deal with the Atlanta Hawks professional basketball team, although such efforts fell through the following month. Fun Spot America Theme Parks subsequently trademarked the name "Arie Force One" on June 11, 2021.

Throughout the summer, Fun Spot socials systematically released conceptual renderings of the coaster. ArieForce One was officially unveiled on November 16, 2021, at the IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Florida. The coaster train's lead car was also unveiled that day at RMC's event booth, and was kept on display at Fun Spot Orlando for a few months before moving to Atlanta. Budgeted at $13 million at the time, the coaster would represent the single largest investment ever put into a Fun Spot park. An animated onride point-of-view video was released on Christmas Day.

Construction

Work on ArieForce One was marred by serious delays, with progress bogged down by supply chain bottlenecks, zoning woes with Fayette County, and a modest construction crew. The issues ultimately pushed back ArieForce One's scheduled opening into 2023. In August 2022, John Arie Jr. stated that, " heproject has been delayed by about eight months. We have had to invest $5 million more into property changes to satisfy the county". Fayette County officials ordered the park to construct a new parking lot and more storm drainage, which required the removal of their miniature golf courses. As stated by Arie Jr, "Basically, we had to remove one income source to build another”.

Steel first began arriving for the coaster in late 2021. Fun Spot America held ArieForce One's groundbreaking ceremony on January 6, 2022. The first pieces of the support structure were installed in February, with construction continuing up until the end of the year.

Ride experience

Departing the station, the train traverses two bunny hops before ascending the tall lift hill at an angle of 45°. Upon reaching its peak, the train plummets down a first drop at 83°, reaching an advertised top speed of . Riders rise up into the coaster's first inversion, a dive loop (dubbed as a Raven Truss Dive) acting as a turnaround. A speed hill directly proceeds such, leading up into the second inversion, a large Zero-G stall underneath the lift hill. A large outwards-banked airtime hill follows, redirecting the train 90° to the left and into the park. After speeding through a double up, riders sharply drop into the third inversion, a tight barrel roll overtop of the arcade. Behind the park's main buildings, the coaster twists through an off-axis hill, right-hand turnaround, and a final Zero-g roll. A second low hill above the arcade leads riders into the coaster's final stretch, consisting of an extended quad-down. Riders pop up into the final brake run and proceed back to the station through a 90° turn to the right. One ride on ArieForce One is advertised to last 100 seconds.

Characteristics

ArieForce One stands tall, long, and reaches a top speed of throughout the ride. The natural topography results in a total elevation change of throughout the ride layout. The coaster runs two 5-car trains, each car of which seats riders in two rows of two, resulting in an occupancy of 20 passengers per train and an estimated hourly capacity of 900 people per hour. In terms of the layout, ArieForce One contains an 83° first drop and four inversions, including a headlining " Raven Truss Dive" and the largest Zero-G stall in the United States. G-forces throughout the ride vary, with riders being subjected to vertical G-forces between 3.75 g and -1.0 g, as well as lateral forces of +/- 1.25 g.

Awards

ArieForce One received the 2023 Golden Ticket Award for Best New Attraction Installation from Amusement Today. It also ranked at position 25 for the world's best steel roller coasters its debut year.

References

External links

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{{Golden Ticket Award for Best New Attraction Installation

Hybrid roller coasters
Roller coasters in Georgia (U.S. state)
Best New Attraction Installation