A Family-Owned Theme Park Is Closing After 36 Years
Fun Spot America Atlanta is shutting down. After nearly four decades of operation in Fayetteville, Georgia, the park will close permanently following its final day on August 2, 2026.
"This was an extremely difficult decision," said Fun Spot America CEO John Arie Jr. "Our Atlanta team has poured their hearts into serving our guests and creating a place where families could have fun together."
The park will continue running daily operations from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. through that final date. Fun Spot's flagship locations in Orlando and Kissimmee, Florida will remain open and unaffected.
A Park That Started With Mini Golf and a Bungee Jump
The story of this park goes back to 1990, when it first opened in Fayetteville under the name "Dixieland" with nothing but a miniature golf course. It added Georgia's only legal 75-foot bungee jump tower in 1992, then batting cages, go-kart tracks, bumper boats, and laser tag by 1994. The park's first roller coaster, Scream'n Eagle, came along in 2007. By 2012 it had 22 rides and a new name — Fun Junction USA.
Family-owned Fun Spot America bought the park in 2017, rebranded it, and then made a big bet in 2023 that was supposed to change everything.
The Coaster That Couldn't Save the Park
ArieForce One is genuinely extraordinary by any measure. The steel roller coaster features a 146-foot first drop at an 83-degree angle, hits speeds up to 64 mph, and holds the record for the largest zero-G stall in America — an inversion that takes riders uphill, flips them 180 degrees upside down, hangs them in weightless suspension, then returns them upright. It ranked number 7 on a major national roller coaster list in 2026 and drew serious attention from enthusiasts across the country.
It just didn't draw enough of them to Fayetteville.
"It definitely forced them to take on what I can only imagine to be a massive amount of debt," said Elizabeth Ringas, president of the American Coaster Enthusiasts. "I don't think they've seen the return on it with the attendance that park was able to draw, even with such an amazing coaster."
The location, she said, was a real problem. The park sits more than 20 miles from Atlanta, tucked into a residential neighborhood that isn't particularly easy to reach. "The fact is, the park was quiet. It's in a neighborhood. It's not an easy-to-access location."
It's a story that's played out before in the amusement park industry — a park makes a massive investment in a headline attraction, hoping the ride alone will generate destination traffic, and finds that location and accessibility matter more than any single ride can overcome on its own. ArieForce One was world-class. The infrastructure around it wasn't built to convert casual Atlanta-area visitors into repeat park guests.
What Happens to ArieForce One Now
The closure raises an uncomfortable question for coaster enthusiasts — what happens to a record-breaking, top-ten-ranked roller coaster when the park around it shuts down?
Ringas is cautiously optimistic. Roller coasters, particularly steel ones, can be disassembled and relocated, and a ride with ArieForce One's reputation has real market value. She's hoping another amusement company steps in — either to purchase the individual attractions and redistribute them to existing parks, or potentially to acquire the property outright and reopen it under new ownership.
"ArieForce is an incredible coaster," she said. "So we really hope that someone will snatch that up or snatch up the whole park."
No announcement has been made about the fate of the rides. The clock is running until August 2.
For anyone who's been meaning to ride ArieForce One and hasn't yet — now would be the time to go.
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