Fun Spot America Atlanta Discussion Thread

[jarmor]

he said modern, good. 

lol lol. . .

[TEDodd]

14 hours ago, jarmor said:

he said modern, good. 

lol lol. . .

Well, I know plenty that like both.

And my understanding was they are new, modern versions not old refurbished ones.

 

 

[thrillseeker4552]

So excited to ride this in two weeks. The zero-g roll over the building is giving big mosasaurus roll vibes, which can only be a good thing. I'm still shocked this tiny park added this thing.

[grsupercity]

On 4/8/2023 at 9:39 AM, thrillseeker4552 said:

So excited to ride this in two weeks. The zero-g roll over the building is giving big mosasaurus roll vibes, which can only be a good thing. I'm still shocked this tiny park added this thing.

The roll over the arcade was easily my favorite element on the ride

[tndank]

Quick report here.  April 21-22

Drove down Friday. Got to the park quarter til 8.  AF1 was down.  They sent a few test trains then had us load.  Sat down on the train, but seat 3 wouldn't lock.  Watched several workers on phones run  around the station for an hour and half before they called it for the night.   Didn't think we'd get shut out after sitting in a locked train ready to go.  Got off in hopes they would fix it but that didn't happen.  It had been running fairly well the first hour or two that day, I'm told.

Went back around 4 on Saturday.  Got a few rides on AF1 without issue.  Then someone barfed and they closed the ride, evac'ed the train on the brake run and cleared the station.  45 minutes later I got one more ride and took off.  

So, roughly 5 hours at Fun Spot the last 2 days.  AF1 was running for a little over an hour of that.  Probably more bad timing on a new coaster than anything else.  Dispatches are still pitiful here, but the workers are fun and nice.

As for the ride.  No way this is in my top 5.  It's a hell of a ride and 80% is fun as hell, but the ending and awful RMC trains really detract from the overall ride.  It takes too much speed through the last hills and the brakes are just brutal. It hurts too much.  Riding with a few different people and talking with others, I kept hearing 'the end hurts'.  Lots of people were saying this.  The coaster needed more length to burn off speed.  

That aside, I still had a blast riding it half a dozen times today. Park was active and looking good.  Been to this one a few times but never during a beautiful, busy Saturday.  The park seemed to be doing well.

First part of today was at SFoG.  That park was also having a good day.

ps. The budget Orion station they built for AF1 is great.  Also just learned after I left, it overshot the brakes again and they were doing another evac off the brakes.  This seems to be happening a decent amount.  Can't imagine warmer weather is going to help that.

[TEDodd]

On 4/22/2023 at 10:14 PM, tndank said:

Also just learned after I left, it overshot the brakes again and they were doing another evac off the brakes.  This seems to be happening a decent amount.  Can't imagine warmer weather is going to help that.

I'm going to have to get there soon before they install trim brakes before the quad down.

No, warmer weather will not help at all. I was waiting till mid-late May for it to get faster but that may be a double edged sword now.
 

[Invertalon]

On 4/22/2023 at 11:14 PM, tndank said:

Quick report here.  April 21-22

It's a hell of a ride and 80% is fun as hell, but the ending and awful RMC trains really detract from the overall ride.  It takes too much speed through the last hills and the brakes are just brutal. It hurts too much.  Riding with a few different people and talking with others, I kept hearing 'the end hurts'.  Lots of people were saying this.  The coaster needed more length to burn off speed.  

 

Typical RMC. I think this same exact thing about Vengeance, Twisted Timbers, Storm Chaser,  etc.... The endings are just too much, too abrupt and it's just terribly uncomfortable. I don't "get" it, personally. The endings are the worst part of most RMC's.

That is why Iron Gwazi is an easy top RMC for me... Larger elements, don't need 50 abrupt little bunny hills to snap my shins in half. It also gets super repetitive.

Ever since Arie was announced, the ending looked horrible to me. The first half looks really great, but that finale sequence is a big nope.

[xVicesAndVirtues]

It's been a while since I've posted a review of a coaster or park on here, but I figure I'll give my $0.02 on AF1.

We road tripped it from Orlando to Atlanta on Saturday night the 22nd. We got there a little bit later than we wanted to, but still with about 2 hours to go before park closing, around 8PM. When we arrived, we purchased our wrist bands and eagerly headed over to ArieForce One. As it came into view, a train was going up the lift hill...then it stopped. Uh oh.

The ride ended up being down for about 40 minutes after that, and from what we heard, it had some difficulty running Saturday. The staff ended up having to take a train off to resolve some kind of block issue, but we got three rides Saturday night, covering the cost of our discounted wristbands. It was moderately busy after AF1 opened, but that was to be expected for a Saturday night.

Fast forward to Sunday, we got to the park again around 7PM after spending most of the day at Six Flags over Georgia. The ride experienced no downtime, running one train, and was mostly a walk-on. The staff also allowed re-rides without walking around, which was a nice touch. We got about 10ish rides on Sunday in various rows, including front and back.

My review of the ride: I think this is an excellent addition for the park. I'd rank it somewhere in the upper middle of the RMC coasters. Great first drop, the raven truss dive turn was a bit underwhelming but the airtime hill after it was great. The outward banked hill after the zero g stall was great in the front row, a little underwhelming in the back. The double up, followed by single drop is the best part of the ride in the back row. The rolls and quick directional changes are best in front row. I love the ending hills, they provide outstanding airtime in all rows. But I'll echo what others say- those brakes hit HARD. If you're in the back row, brace to be punched in the stomach.

For me, the only uncomfortable part of the ride is the extremely quick slow-down. The ride is a good duration and length, the airtime strong and enjoyable. The only RMC coaster I think I've ever felt was "too much" in terms of airtime being painful was some rides I had on Twisted Timbers in the back car on a hot day; moving up to the third-to-last row fixed that. It's so awesome that these intense machines exist and the more parks build them, the better.

Our Saturday night view just before the dispatch and breakdown.

Our view of the queue shortly after arrival on Sunday night.

Sunday night, just as the sun was setting. Night rides on this coaster are awesome.

I'm not sure when we'll be back, but hopefully some time soon. Occasionally, we road trip through the mountains to take the scenic route to Pigeon Forge. This would be a great stop to break up the drive. If you're asking yourself "should I get out there and ride this?" the answer is yes.

[thrillseeker4552]

^Great review. I was actually there Saturday too, but in the morning. I agree about the brakes. That was really my only complain about the ride.

Harsh slow-downs are fine, but when you have strong airtime directly into the harsh brakes, it's a real gut punch. Overall I really enjoyed the ride though. I can't believe this park built this.

[The username]

Got another 10-15 rides in last night, still hauling and only getting faster. Only had one short breakdown where it overshot the brakes in the station when it was trying to park. They were letting everyone re-ride and coolest of all, they let you set your lap bar!! For super tall guys like me, it made a HUGE difference. Hope they keep this up!

[Zand]

This is gonna be a fun Saturday night!

 

Saturday report for my brief stop at Fun Spot...

Flew into Atlanta this afternoon and after it took nearly an hour to get my rental car I felt like I was kind of running on borrowed time as I finally arrived at the park around 7:30. Turns out 2.5 hours was more than enough time to ride AF1 a ton as well as lap the park for some of the other offerings and get a bite to eat. I was expecting it to be busier, and maybe by Fun Spot standards it was a good crowd, but at the same time I felt like I had free reign of the place.

First off, Arie Force 1 is the real deal folks, and it just feels so bizarre having a coaster like that in a park like that. Rode it 8 times today, with 2 in front, 4 in back, and 2 in the middle of the train. Good first drop, and then the Raven Truss Dive has good air in front and is a great visual from all seats. The stall is great, especially in the middle where you get the most hang time. The outerbanked turn is typical RMC wonkiness, but then the highlight of the ride is the 2nd half of the double up into the low barrel roll. The airtime on the drop off the double up is massive and the barrel roll might be my second favorite ever because nothing will ever touch VelociCoaster in that regard. But the speed at which is goes through that roll and the next one feels illegal but its all so smooth. Then that last stretch of bunny hops...not quite as brutal as the ones on Steel Vengeance but this thing is still absolutely hauling through them. And then the brakes...yeah they hit suddenly and quickly but Nitro does the same damn thing so quitcherbitchen.

This thing is definitely the most intense I-Box RMC I've ridden and probably slots in behind Steel Vengeance and Lightning Rod but ahead of Iron Gwazi for my favorite RMCs. The amount of speed this coaster carries through the 2nd half of the ride is insane. Get down here and ride it, the hype is real.

Elsewhere in the park, the mid sized Miler was a hoot. It doesn't have the roughness of the Old Town coaster since it lacks low to the ground curves, but a couple hills produce insane ejector and then that last turn before the brakes it just absolutely SLAMS into so hard that I was cackling with laughter when we hit the brakes. These stupid things are so fun, I'm not sure why there's not more of them. They can't cost much to build since theyre about as janky as a backyard coaster.

I don't usually whore up kiddie coasters, but I did today because I apparently needed more Miler in my life. I also hit the infamous Paratrooper which is as advertised and actually started making me nauseous which takes a lot to do.

The weird restaurant/arcade/indoor bumper car building was a total clusterf*ck but fits the charm of the park so well. The whole place feels like a backwoods carnival that just happens to travel with a massive new RMC. 

And so, to the 3 people actually reading this, I leave you with this: book some sure to be super cheap airfare to Atlanta and come ride one of the best coasters in America. You won't regret travelling for this one.

First ever visit to SFOG tomorrow, which means more RMC goodness plus B&M Hyper goodness and a few other things I'm really looking forward to checking out!

[teacherkim]

Got a chance to ride AFO last Sunday. I didn't mind the hard stop on the brake run but holy hell that thing has some extreme ejector air, particularly on the bunny hills at the end, but all in all I thought it was great. Note, I usually really like rmc's and the restraints do not hurt my shins like others report. I will say I only rode it in the front, my son rode once in the back and he was almost speechless about how wild it was and after a back seat ride followed  immediately by a front seat ride he needed a break. Which I think is a first for him. So, for those that haven't ridden it keep that in mind!

The whole vibe kind of reminded me of Thunderbird in the sense that there just shouldn't be a B&M launched wing coaster in a corn field but.....there it is. That RMC just shouldn't be there at a fun spot on the side of the road, like a carnival ride, but there it is 

[bert425]

^ so basically. . . I'll *hate* AFO

 

 

too bad.

[teacherkim]

14 minutes ago, bert425 said:

^ so basically. . . I'll *hate* AFO

 

 

too bad.

Yeah........I don't think this one is for you. Sorry.

[ryder]

Yeah, I basically liked the entire ride until the bunny hops at the end.  They're a bit *too* intense, especially in the back seat.  I actually found the middle seats to be the best in terms of intensity, but even that pushes it.   The entire rest of the ride is a blast, especially the two heartline rolls.

As for the Miler... I generally enjoy their craziness, and after the first turns and drops, I was thinking, "hey, this isn't too bad!"  Then the second half hit, and I was thrown like a rag doll (not in a good way, IMO).  There was one insane air time that was to the point that I seriously wondered if I'd be ejected from the car, and maybe a seatbelt would be a good idea.  And the remaining turns were right angles.  It was bad, IMO.  And I was in the middle seat, FWIW.

The park does have a very quirky, carnival like charm to it.  But I was also disappointed they didn't seem to be able to staff their own rides.  I'd say 75% of their rides had no ops at all 45 min into park opening.  The ones that were there were friendly, but if a crap load of rides aren't open, it doesn't help much.  And the ops on Aero were pretty slow. 

[coastersandhockey]

Hi all, visiting for the first time this coming Friday. Seeing the weather it looks dry. But pretty cold, only a high of 45. Does anyone know if Arie tends to or to not operate in colder weather? We're driving to Orlando and want to stop in and get a couple rides in on the new hotness!

Thanks in advance!

[Midgetman82]

I got to take a spin on this coaster last Summer. First time there, I stopped by for a couple quick hours, which I liked (compared to a full-day's commitment seemingly needed for SFOG). Particularly hot day, so I didn't do many laps, but wowee this thing was an absolute beast. Likely the most intense RMC I've ridden. 4 front laps and 1 in back, and basically walk-on waits, sending mostly empty trains.

I must also add, the other major coaster in the park, Hurricane. That was... quite an experience itself. Really fun lil bunny hill hops on that, but oh my goodness those turns were so violent, lol. Made me giggle, but that was a one and done.