People are crossing oceans for a Fayetteville roller coaster
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Roller coaster aficionados are flocking to Fayetteville for ride ArieForce One. GIF: Thomas Wheatley/Axios
Roller coaster connoisseurs from around the globe are making a pilgrimage to a Fayetteville amusement park before one of the world's highest-rated rides disappears.
Why it matters: Fun Spot America Atlanta's closure on Aug. 2 also means the likely end of ArieForce One, a stomach-flipping, gravity-defying 64-mph roller coaster that enthusiasts currently rank as the world's eighth-best.
Catch up quick: The ride — named after John Arie, who founded Fun Spot America — opened in 2023 following a reported investment of $18 million. That represented a bold bet on a boundary-breaking ride in an amusement park with low foot traffic.
Zoom in: Built by Rocky Mountain Coasters, one of the industry's most acclaimed manufacturers, ArieForce One amazed enthusiasts — or as they call themselves, "thoosies" — for cramming huge drops, inversions and moments of weightlessness into a ride that lasts roughly 100 seconds.
"The rapid-fire elements, the smoothness, the variety of the elements... you get hit with all these different sensations," Stephen Gurr, a Hall County defense investigator who logged his 300th ArieForce One ride this week, told Axios.
- On a Wednesday morning visit, Axios met thoosies from Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and North Carolina, most of whom wore roller coaster T-shirts from other parks.
- Gurr said he's ridden with roller coaster fans from Germany, France and Japan.
What they're saying: "I couldn't not come and miss out on an opportunity that, if they close it, I'm never going to get again in my life," Andre Dionne, who took a $60 one-day round-trip flight from Baltimore to spend the morning riding ArieForce One.
Yes, but: The lack of lines helped make ArieForce One legendary among fans — and likely doomed the park that built it. "People loved that. But that's the reason we're losing it," Gurr said.
Yes, but: The lack of lines helped make ArieForce One legendary among fans — and likely doomed the park that built it. "People loved that. But that's also why we're losing it," Gurr said.
What's next: Coaster aficionados hope that another park buys and relocates ArieForce One. But dismantling, transporting and reconstructing the ride could prove cost prohibitive.
- Fun Spot spokesperson John Chidester told Axios the company had no other comment to share. The company's two locations in Orlando and Kissimmee, Fla. are unaffected by the Atlanta park's closure.
The bottom line: "I'm treating this like it's goodbye," Dani Field, who drove from Charlotte on her day off, told Axios. "With the possibility that it's 'see you later.'"