Florida Theme Park Closes After 27 Years—Demolition Is Coming Fast
If you grew up on Florida's Space Coast, there's a good chance Andretti Thrill Park has a spot in your memory somewhere. Go-karts, mini golf, laser tag, paddle boats, a rock wall, arcade games—the kind of place parents took kids on a Saturday when everyone needed somewhere to burn energy for a few hours.
After 27 years of that, it's gone. The Melbourne location has permanently closed, and demolition is expected to start within weeks.
Owner Eddie Hamann didn't sugarcoat the news, but he also didn't frame it as a failure. Because it wasn't one.
"There was no issue with the city, no issue with the county. Sales were still strong. We never lost money here," he told local outlet The Space Coast Rocket. "It's simply that the facility is 27 years old. It requires a lot of maintenance, and it was time to look at what the future holds."
Sometimes things just run their course.
How It Started
The whole thing traces back to a meeting in 1996 when Hamann crossed paths with NASCAR driver John Andretti. That connection eventually became a partnership and then a park—Andretti Thrill Park opened in 1999 on a 16.7-acre stretch of Melbourne and became a Space Coast staple almost immediately.
What started as a single location grew into something much bigger. That Melbourne park became the foundation for what is now a national brand—Andretti Karting and Games currently operates in more than a dozen markets, including Orlando, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, and Overland Park, Kansas. The original location that started it all is the one now coming down.
John Andretti died from stage 4 colon cancer in 2020. The company has been carrying his legacy forward ever since through cancer awareness efforts and fundraising to help people who can't afford colonoscopies actually get them.
"That's how we carry his legacy forward," Hamann said.
What's Going In Its Place
Melbourne and Palm Bay are growing fast, and housing is one of the biggest pressure points in the area right now. The 16.7-acre site is being redeveloped into a 324-unit apartment complex—11 three-story buildings—with an estimated construction start of May 1 and a projected completion date of March 2028. Hamann expects a lot of those units to house Florida Institute of Technology students and local workers who need somewhere to live as the area keeps expanding.
It makes practical sense. That doesn't make it any less of a bittersweet ending for the families who spent years there.
Hamann seems to have found a way to sit with it.
"I've shed my tears," he said. "Now it's time to move forward."
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