Fun Spot America permanently closed its Fayetteville, Georgia, amusement park on August 2, 2026, after 36 years of operation. CEO John Arie Jr. said low attendance and financial pressures led the company to close the location.
Arie called the decision “extremely difficult.” He said, “Our Atlanta team has poured their hearts into serving our guests and creating a place where families could have fun together.”
The company said it was helping Atlanta employees find resources and, where possible, jobs at its other parks. Fun Spot continues to operate locations in Orlando and Kissimmee, Florida.
Arie said he was “proud of the memories created in Atlanta and grateful to everyone who has been part of this chapter of our story.”
The park's signature attraction, ArieForce One, will operate again. Six Flags acquired the Rocky Mountain Construction steel coaster and plans to reopen it at a location it has not yet announced during the 2028 or 2029 season. The company said the ride will keep its name.
Arie said the coaster's large footprint prevented Fun Spot from moving it to either of its Florida parks. The Six Flags acquisition saved what he called an “incredible masterpiece” from demolition.
ArieForce One reaches 64 mph and features a 146-foot first drop and four inversions. Six Flags describes one of those elements as the world's largest zero-gravity stall.
The Georgia park opened in 1990 as Dixieland Fun Park with miniature golf and a 75-foot bungee-jump tower. It added go-kart tracks, bumper boats, laser tag, and batting cages over the years, and it was renamed Fun Junction USA in 2012.
Fun Spot acquired the park in 2017. Arie envisioned the property as the company's flagship park, with a water park, an RV park, and additional dry attractions. The water park and RV park were never built, but Fun Spot expanded the amusement park. It added an elevated go-kart track, smaller rides, shaded party areas, and a larger arcade. By the time the park closed, it offered about 25 rides, including the Hurricane and Sea Serpent coasters, a Ferris wheel, and a carousel.
Arie cited low attendance and the park's location as factors in the closure. The park was about 20 miles south of Atlanta and roughly 12 miles from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, but it never drew crowds comparable with Fun Spot's Florida parks.
Arie said attendance was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the park to close temporarily. During that shutdown, he worked with Rocky Mountain Construction to develop ArieForce One.
The project encountered costly delays. Initially expected to open in 2021 or 2022, the coaster required about $6 million in additional work, according to Arie. Storm drains, a parking lot, and a septic system had to be added before the ride could open. He said those unexpected expenses weighed heavily on the relatively small park.
ArieForce One opened on March 31, 2023, and quickly attracted coaster enthusiasts. Its layout has almost no straight track, moving through turns, climbs, drops, and inversions.
In 2023, Amusement Today gave ArieForce One its Golden Ticket Award for Best New Attraction. The coaster also placed among the top 10 in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice voting for best roller coaster in 2024, 2025, and 2026.
ArieForce One was named for John Arie Sr., the father of John Arie Jr. The younger Arie described the coaster as a tribute to his father, his work for the family, and his achievements as a pilot.
The acclaimed coaster did not produce the sustained attendance increase the Georgia park needed. Arie said a new attraction at the Orlando park can lift attendance by about 30 percent for several years, but ArieForce One did not have the same effect in Georgia.
After spring break in 2026, Arie concluded that attendance remained too low. Despite the team's efforts and the company's investment in the property, the park was not financially sustainable. He said the company did “everything we could” before deciding to close.
With ArieForce One headed to Six Flags, Fun Spot is auctioning other assets that it will not move to Florida. The company plans to sell the Fayetteville property after the auction.
