Fayetteville Roller Coaster ArieForce One Gets New Life With Six Flags

Fayetteville may have lost Fun Spot America this summer, but the park’s biggest roller coaster has escaped the wrecking ball.

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation has acquired ArieForce One, the massive coaster that became the signature attraction at the former Fun Spot America Atlanta. Six Flags plans to dismantle and relocate the coaster, then reopen it at one of its parks during the 2028 or 2029 operating season.

The company has not yet revealed which park will become ArieForce One’s new home.

“Part of the excitement is that the story isn’t over,” Six Flags Chief Operating Officer Mark Pauls said. “We know fans will immediately begin theorizing about which Six Flags park is the perfect fit.”

Six Flags also plans to keep the ArieForce One name, maintaining the coaster’s connection to Fun Spot America founder John Arie Sr., for whom it was named.

For Fayette County residents, the coaster’s rescue is another chapter in the story of an amusement park that entertained local families for decades.

The Fayetteville park began as the locally owned Dixieland Fun Park, becoming a familiar destination for birthdays, school outings, and summer days for generations of Fayette County families. Fun Spot America purchased the park in 2017 and invested millions of dollars in new attractions over the following years.

The biggest of those investments was ArieForce One.

The Rocky Mountain Construction coaster opened March 31, 2023, towering 154 feet above the Fayetteville park. Its 146-foot first drop sends riders toward a top speed of 64 mph before taking them through approximately 3,400 feet of track and four inversions.

The coaster helped transform the longtime local amusement park into a destination for serious roller coaster enthusiasts, drawing visitors from across the country and around the world.

But ArieForce One’s run in Fayetteville lasted only a little more than three years.

Fun Spot America announced in June that it would permanently close its Fayetteville location after Aug. 2. As The Citizen reported at the time, the closure ended decades of amusement park operations on the property, stretching back to its years as Dixieland Fun Park. Fun Spot’s Orlando and Kissimmee, Florida, parks remain open.

ArieForce One gave its final Fayetteville rides Aug. 2.

Its future was uncertain after the park closed, but Six Flags’ acquisition means the coaster itself will survive.

Six Flags has not announced when it will reveal the coaster’s destination or exactly when dismantling and reconstruction will begin. For now, the company appears content to let roller coaster fans speculate about where the Fayetteville coaster will rise again.

Wherever it lands, a piece of Fayetteville amusement park history will be going with it.