Me and a group of friends got unbelievably lucky at Fun Spot Atlanta yesterday; as we were walking around the perimeter of ArieForce One, John Arie Jr. - the CEO of Fun Spot America - recognized us wearing shirts featuring the ride’s logo and has a quick talk with us. Afterwards, we got the opportunity to ask him questions about the park and coaster while taking a backstage tour of areas currently not open to the public! It should be noted we were given permission to release all of the information included in this report.
We entered the ride area near the entrance - under the double up/quad down - and walked into the ride’s main plaza/walkway area. Arie Jr told us how some landscaping and theming would be finished before opening, but there may be some aspects of theming that won’t appear until after the ride opens- they’re prioritizing getting the ride open at long last. Decals will cover the station building alongside the entrance arch that goes under the ride’s double up/quad down - this will feature sci-fi theming and the ride’s logo.
The surrounding areas such as the pavilions, old ticket booth, and bumper boats will also eventually be re-themed to have a space aesthetic sooner than later (the old ticket booth will be the merchandise store but sadly may not be ready for opening day). One sign that was up was the ride safety, which can be seen in one of the photos. Arie Jr. also stated the plot where the now closed golf course was will likely receive a flat ride collection for families to enjoy.
Next, we headed into the lower station area/ queue. The line is quite short in terms of length and will feature sci-fi theming while also explaining the name of the ride - this queue is in a cool position, being right under the load platform- you’ll be able to see the ride dispatching from above. This is probably the area with the most progress remaining, making me very curious to see what shows up here in the future. According to Arie Jr, the in-house team is repurposing objects left from the previous park owners into theming for the ride (ex: old playground tubes being painted into hangar-theming such as pipes)
Arie Jr proceeded to tell us how he’s already enjoying the coaster and despite him knowing he has a bias, AF1 is within his top 3 coasters he’s been on; his favorite element was the raven truss dive. Additionally, Arie Jr stated he loved the ride so much that another rocky experience could potentially be planned for the Florida parks. Speaking of the Florida parks, Arie Jr. addressed his awareness regarding the roughness of Mine Blower in Kissimmee, stating it would likely be re-tracked around late summer-fall and appreciates the patience.
Afterwards, we got to visit the Engineering/Programming room. The president of Irvine Ondrey Engineering was quite busy in here but was still generous enough to give us a brief tour! We got to see components for key aspects such as the lift and station motors.
If you recall when the coaster was first announced, Fun Spot announced it would potentially be themed to a sports team. While we never got to know which one, now we do- it was the Atlanta Hawks! Apparently a future ride could still be on the table with the team, but this one unfortunately didn’t happen.
After this, we all thanked him for the tour and headed on our way. It was a very enjoyable experience and Arie Jr appears to be very passionate about expanding all of his parks in a great new direction! They have a long way to go in becoming a full-fledged park, but Arieforce One should be an awesome start.