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Park Hoppin’ In association with Park Hoppin’with Susan Storey
this month’s column, I kept thinking of the phrase, “All Coasters Great and Small” — a playful nod to the classic James Herriot books and television
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series. The idea began with August’s National Roller Coaster Day, which immediately brought to mind two very different rides: one massive, powerful, and already deeply missed; the other small, simple, and full of promise. Earlier this year, Fun Spot Atlanta announced
it would close for good. The regional park had seen its share of ups and downs, and despite significant investment and support from owner John Arie and his team, it never quite found its footing in the Atlanta market. But in 2023, Arie took a bold swing and
opened something truly remarkable: ArieForce One. The Rocky Mountain Construction steel coaster
is a work of art. Its red and blue track seems to ripple like ribbons against the stark white lattice of the ride structure. Inspired by John Arie Sr.’s love of flying, ArieForce One does just that. It soars, dives, twists, and never lets up. At a top speed of 64 mph, the coaster
delivers the kind of bold, distinctive elements that enthusiasts love. It features the longest zero-gravity stall in the country, giving riders a few suspended seconds of weightlessness, as if they are flying through space. Other highlights include an 83-degree, 146-foot drop and a first- of-its-kind inversion dive loop called the Raven Truss Dive. I’m still not sure I can accurately describe that element — but I know it leaves an impression. Every time I rode ArieForce One, I smiled. It
was one of those rare coasters that never seemed to lose momentum, finishing as powerfully as it began. On the park’s final weekend, Fun Spot hosted
a celebration, and guests traveled from all over to Georgia for one last ride — or two. Arie and RMC coaster designer Joe Draves rode alongside guests and listened to their stories about what the coaster meant to them. Among those fans was Fayetteville, Georgia
resident James Fordham, whose passion for ArieForce One was extraordinary. By the time the park closed for the final time, he had ridden the coaster 28,466 times. That certainly put my own roughly 30 rides to shame. On the opposite end of the coaster spectrum, a small family ride opened last month in upstate
DARK RIDE EDITION 2026
New York. Paul Bunyan’s Log Haul debuted at Enchanted Forest Water Safari during the park’s 70th anniversary season. The Log Haul is Water Safari’s first-ever roller coaster, and it is a simple one: guests as small as 37 inches coast along a figure-eight track while seated in a free-spinning car. It may not be the flashiest ride in the coaster
world, but it, too, makes me smile. As a New Yorker, I grew up visiting Water
Safari with my family during summer camping trips. We posed for photos with the park’s icon, a 19-foot statue of Paul Bunyan, and built the kind of memories that become part of a family’s summer tradition. Coaster thrills were not part of our Water Safari experience then, but family memories certainly were. Now, a new generation of young families
can share a first coaster ride with their children. Paul Bunyan’s Log Haul, complete with a front car themed to look like Babe the Blue Ox, is a beginner’s coaster — colorful, fun, smooth, designed for future thrill seekers. And that brings me to the tale of these two
rides. In our industry, we celebrate grand openings.
We love new rides, new technology, ambitious investments, and first-of-their-kind experiences. But I believe we should honor closings, too — especially the people behind the parks and the risks they take to create something memorable. With two successful locations in Central
Florida, Fun Spot America is a recognized regional brand. Expanding into Georgia and rebranding what became Fun Spot Atlanta seemed like a natural next step for the Arie family. Bringing a world-class ride like ArieForce One to the park was exciting, ambitious, and admirable. But today’s market is competitive, and one
great ride is not always enough. At this time, there has been no announcement
about whether ArieForce One — or the park’s other rides — will find new life at another location. Still, there is plenty of hope in the coaster community. Social media is full of comments, speculation, and heartfelt suggestions
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hile pulling together
about where the coaster, with its legacy of 16 individual moments of airtime, might operate next. That is the beauty of this industry. A great
ride can become more than steel, wheels, and track. It can become a shared memory, a family tradition, a rite of passage, or a reason to gather one more time before the gates close. According to the Roller Coaster DataBase, there are 6,290 roller coasters around the world, with 1,006 in North America alone. Those numbers are impressive, and they tell a larger story. Our industry continues to innovate, imagine, and build experiences that bring people together. Today, the next generation is filled with engineering students, budding designers, high school ride operators, and young coaster fans dreaming about the rides they may build one day. I believe that is why National Roller Coaster
Day was created. This year, we’re spending it at SeaWorld Orlando, trying to ride all eight of the park’s coasters in one day — from the charm of Super Grover’s Box Car Derby to my son’s favorite, Mako, a B&M hyper coaster with a 200-foot drop and speeds up to 73 mph. It is the perfect place to experience the range of rides our industry creates. ArieForce One and Paul Bunyan’s Log Haul are on opposite ends of the coaster spectrum, but they are united in their purpose. One was built to amaze. The other was built to begin. And somewhere between those two experiences is the heart of every great roller coaster: the belief that a few moments of motion, laughter and surprise can stay with us long after the train returns to the station.
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