Episode 9: Six Flags Over Georgia & ArieForce One (Peachy Keen)

I headed north to the Peach State Easter weekend for my first visit to Six Flags Over Georgia, and to ride the brand new ArieForce One at Fun Spot America Atlanta.  Weather forced me to visit both parks on Easter Sunday, and I had a blast!  Join me for my in-depth first-time reactions to Georgia Scorcher, Goliath, Twisted Cyclone, and of course ArieForce One.

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Transcript

Welcome to Episode 9 of Coaster Redux.  My name is Erik and I am a life-long roller coaster enthusiast, but up until lately, I’ve been kind of a lazy one.  I was a full-on coaster nerd in high school and college, then life got in the way and theme parks took a backseat to other interests.  During the pandemic, I was inspired to rekindle my coaster obsession through podcasts and social media.  Last year, in 2022, I embarked on a week-long road trip to visit four bucket list parks and ride some of the most elite attractions in America today.  I want 2023 to be even better, so I’m planning another road trip this coming summer, and several other weekend romps throughout the year.

This is the story of my revived roller coaster fandom, and I’m now on a mission to ride as many new coasters as I can.  I contemplated visiting Six Flags Over Georgia last June on my road trip, but I decided to wait.  You see, Fun Spot America Atlanta was building ArieForce One, a ground-up RMC IBOX coaster, and its layout looked absolutely wicked.  I thought it made more sense to wait for that coaster to open and make this trip a two-fer.  Plus, with both of these parks open year round, I figured this would make a perfect long weekend getaway during the off-season.  I kept an eye out for ArieForce One’s opening day, and it debuted to the public on Friday, March 31.  I couldn’t make it that day, but I had a window the following weekend, so I laid my plans to head north to the Peach State.         

I know as a roller coaster fan that one of my favorite parts of the hobby is getting the reaction of somebody coming off of a ride they’ve never ridden before.  That’s what I want to share with you.

And with that, join me for my first time visits to Six Flags Over Georgia and Fun Spot Atlanta, right here on Coaster Redux.

The internet was abuzz about ArieForce One, and who could blame them?  Fun Spot America Atlanta is a small family entertainment center, yet they had just finished construction on a massive 155 foot tall RMC.  My feeds were blowing up with videos of the new coaster, and I made the conscious decision not to watch any reviews until after I had ridden.  The social media hype machine has an interesting way of manipulating opinions, and giving away surprises.  Surely I could avoid watching those videos for a week.

As I was driving to work on the Thursday before my trip, I heard on the news that the Masters golf tournament in Augusta was hindered by torrential rain which was forecast to continue throughout the weekend.  My heart sank.  I had already booked my hotel, and I wasn’t about to drive ten hours to Atlanta to be skunked because of rain.  When I got to work, I pulled up the Atlanta forecast.  Saturday was going to be a complete wash out, but Sunday would have clear skies and highs in the upper 60’s.  Perfect theme park weather.  If I had to drive through a deluge to get to ATL, then so be it.

I loaded up my car Saturday morning and hit the road.  My preferred plan was to go straight to Fun Spot to ride ArieForce One Saturday night so I would have all day at Six Flags on Sunday.  I put Fun Spot into my phone as my destination, and crossed my fingers.  This was Easter weekend, known to be the unofficial end of the Snowbird season in Florida.  As I merged onto I-75 from Florida’s Turnpike north of Orlando, the combination of construction and Snowbirds making their seasonal exodus slowed traffic to a crawl.  

Fortunately, I did have some great entertainment for the drive.  The night before I left, I found a podcast called Airtime Traveler through my favorite roller coaster Facebook group.  Co-hosts Nathan and Hayley Grace do deep dives on the histories of individual roller coasters.  These are great long-form episodes that are well-researched and very entertaining.  It was a perfect way to pass the time, and I always enjoy listening to coaster-related content when I’m road tripping to a park.

The ride didn’t get any easier as I continued north through central Georgia.  The rain was relentless, and I encountered constant construction.  Nobody was working, but they still had lane closures creating frequent bottlenecks.  I decided to punt on Fun Spot for Saturday.  A drive that should have been ten hours took almost twelve.  I resolved to rope drop Six Flags Over Georgia in the morning, and leave late afternoon to ride ArieForce One in the evening.  I passed Goliath on my way to the hotel.  The parabolic airtime hills on were nudged right against the highway.  They sure looked sweet!   My hotel was the Marriott SpringHill Suites, just a few minutes from the park.  It was drizzling and 48 degrees when I arrived to check in.

I ordered a pizza for delivery and started anticipating what was coming up tomorrow. Goliath topped my hype chart for Six Flags. It’s a B&M hyper with an intriguing layout.  The ride features airtime hills and a 540 degree helix turnaround located on a small plot of land outside the park’s gate. Next was Twisted Cyclone, RMC’s conversion of the original Georgia Cyclone wood coaster.  It’s supposed to be short, but that wave turn placed against the lift hill looks amazing. There were some of the usual Six Flags suspects like Batman: The Ride and Superman: Ultimate Flight, B&M inverted and flyer clones, respectively.  As far as more unique rides, the park is home to Georgia Scorcher, a compact B&M stand-up, Daredevil Dive, a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter, Riddler’s Mind Bender, a Swarzkopf double looper, and Blue Hawk, a Vekoma multilooper featuring new trains with vest restraints.  After a long travel day, I headed to bed anticipating a packed park day tomorrow.

I awoke the next morning to perfectly clear skies, yet temperatures were in the upper 50’s.  I wasn’t sure what to expect for crowds at Over Georgia.  It was spring break week, but it was also Easter Sunday, so I hoped many would go to church in the morning, and spend the remainder of the day preparing to go back to school the next day.  Maybe the chilly temps would keep others away.  Maybe the park would be slammed.  Only one way to find out.

I left my hotel and drove a few miles east on Interstate 20.  When I exited, there was a line of cars with police officers directing traffic.  What was this?!  The park opened at 11, and it was 10:30.  Were there really this many people coming to the park this early?  

It turned out there was a mega church attracting throngs of parishioners for Easter service off to the right.  I was the only person going straight through that intersection towards Six Flags.  An officer looked at me kinda funny, then waved me through and I entered a mostly deserted park entry plaza.  I passed beneath the massive airtime hills of Goliath as they dwarfed Georgia Scorcher.  Twisted Cyclone stood right next to the entrance.  I continued around to the back of the property and parked my car with views of Batman: The Ride and the Gotham City area.

I entered the park about 15 minutes before opening.  It’s got a short but charming main street with sweets shops, and the Looney Toons Emporium gift shop.  I heard that Twisted Cyclone will often open 30 minutes early, yet on this day, an employee informed me that the ride was not yet running.  I looked around and didn’t even see any test trains.  Goliath had yet to cycle.  As I walked back to the left from the gate, Georgia Scorcher sent its first train through the course.  After my day dodging downtime at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, I was wary of the chain’s operations in this park.  I was anxious to get my day started because I had a lot to ride before heading to Fun Spot, so I jumped right in line for the back row on the stand-up.

Georgia Scorcher opened in 1999 as the last stand-up coaster built by B&M.  Its dimensions are paltry in comparison to its larger cousins like Mantis (now Rougarou) at Cedar Point, Riddler’s Revenge at Six Flags Magic Mountain, and Green Lantern at Six Flags Great Adventure.  I really liked Mantis when I rode it the same year the Scorcher opened because it had a smooth layout with whippy turns and graceful inversions.

Since then, my stand-up experiences have done little for me, so I didn’t have high hopes for this one.  It’s 107 feet tall with 3,000 feet of track and two inversions, yet its convoluted red track and B&M roar made a solid first impression.  Dispatches were slow as molasses.  They were running two trains, but the second one was stacked on the brake run for at least five minutes while the crews checked restraints, then had to repeatedly unlock them, and re-adjust.  

Onboard after 10 minutes, I bent my knees to let the bicycle seat drop down a few inches between my legs, then stood up straight for a proper ride experience once locked in.  I was standing back row right.  The train left the station and started the short climb up the lift and it was time to put my feet to the fire.

I was surprised by the pull down the first drop.  The vertical loop was good enough, then you bank up into a turnaround, and twist back to the ground before another turn through the loop.  Next is a wave turn before the corkscrew, and I think I got some standing floater through that element.  After the corkscrew, there are a few more whippy Mantis-like transitions before the final turn into the brakes.  

This was a surprise!  Georgia Scorcher is a delightful little stand-up with a sublimely twisted layout featuring some excellent whip and a ride experience that is smooth as can be.  I didn’t bang my head once.  This roller coaster was built as a stand-up, and I really enjoyed riding in that position.  I hope it continues to deliver rides as good as my only one for the day.

As I left Georgia Scorcher, I looked up and saw Goliath’s first train running the course.  I always love a good hyper coaster, and Goliath is rated pretty highly by enthusiasts.  Its lift hill can be seen from anywhere in the park, and those airtime hills look killer.  The coaster is praised for its unique layout that travels beyond the park’s gate and traverses a small grassy plot surrounded by the access road.  My recent B&M hyper experiences have been pretty darn good, so let’s see how this one rides.

There is no theming to this ride at all, and unfortunately only one train was running.  The orange track with seafoam supports looks great in the park, but it’s definitely time for a repaint.   I only had to wait a few cycles before taking my seat in the back row right.  Six Flags does not have seatbelts on this coaster like Cedar Fair parks, so it’s just me and the clamshell, and I love it!  

With the Six Flags visual scan complete, the dispatch order is given and the train rolls outward towards the lift.  Goliath stands 200 feet tall, yet its first drop is only 170 feet with its second being five feet taller.  I find it interesting that I’ve never heard this ride’s hyper status questioned by coaster nerds when there is a stronger argument for this not being a hyper than for Orion not being a giga.  Semantics.  Anyway, the train begins to fall down the first drop and I have my hands up in the chilly Georgia air.  The drop is good, but it seems to pull out prematurely since it does not go all the way to the ground.  

You rise up again and get that first dose of B&M floater on the descent from the second hill, and it’s not the strongest.  The track banks left at the bottom of the hill, then heads up again into a large parabola, before you’re whipped to the left into the 540 degree helix turnaround with strong positives.  You exit the turnaround before hitting the obligatory B&M hyper trim.  At least this one is on the ground, so you aren’t slowed while you’re climbing an airtime hill.

Next is another larger airtime hill followed by a sharp right hand turn leading into three bunny hills before a left-hand turn into the brakes.  So, Goliath is a good roller coaster, but it was hampered by its relatively short first drop, and pronounced B&M rattle in the valleys between hills.  There really isn’t a single stand-out moment.  The hills do not provide sustained floater airtime.  Riding in the back, you only float on the second half of the hill.  I hopped back on for a second ride in the middle of the train, and found only weak floater through the whole hill.  To be fair,, I only got two rides on Goliath and it was early on a cool morning, so maybe it typically runs faster.  Still, Mako, Intimidator, and Diamondback do the B&M hyper thing better and smoother than Goliath, so as of now, this one is in the bottom tier of this ride type for me.

I left Goliath and headed down a sharp grade into the Gotham City section.  This park has some serious terrain with the center of the park feeling like it’s atop a mountain.  Gotham has some good Six Flags theming, and it was starting to get busy.  I really wanted to ride the Riddler MindBender, the classic Schwarzkopf looper, but the line was over an hour despite running two trains.  I was nervous about getting on everything in my short timeframe, so I resolved to return to this once I’d ridden some of the other rides in hopes its line would be shorter.

I continued all the way to the back for a lap on Batman: The Ride.  This one had some pretty good theming elements in the station and was running two trains. I rode in the back row left, and it was smooth and forceful like the others.  No rattle, but like some of these older B&M’s, there is some minor roughness, particularly in the corkscrews.  It’s still an enjoyable roller coaster, but being a clone, one ride was enough.

I walked back uphill to the Goliath midway to ride the area’s other headliner, Dare Devil Dive.  It’s a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter with a vertical lift hill, and a beyond vertical drop.  The ride’s tower is placed above the entrance, and it’s a magnet for the GP marveling at its extreme angles. 

The coaster is lightly themed to a pilot training school, and the single cars look like delta wing jets.  Each car seats only six riders, and three were on the course.  The operators were not proactively filling every seat which made the line crawl.  I waited about 25 minutes.  

I was pleased to find only lap bars when I finally boarded the middle row.  The car turns around out of the station and engages the vertical lift.  There’s no pause before the drop which is short but intense.  The flying machine inverts through an Immelman, then traverses a cutback, and a dive loop before a mid course brake run.  It’s smooth and the trains operate almost silently through the course.  You then bank left around a control tower before a heartline roll with some gnarly hangtime and you’re back in the station.  Dare Devil Dive is delightfully different, and I dig it.  I suspect this will always have a longer line, so it’s probably a good coaster to hit early.

With four of the park’s eleven coasters under my belt, it was time to break for lunch.  As I continued around the main loop, I happened upon Macho Nacho, where I grabbed a delicious chicken burrito bowl.  It was fresh and flavorful, and I would recommend this restaurant as an alternative to some of the more standard theme park fare.

I continued clockwise around the park, passing the Dahlonega Mine Ride and returned to the front of the park to find Twisted Cyclone’s lift hill and wave turn staring me in the face.  Looks like it’s time for some sideways airtime!  The original Georgia Cyclone wood coaster’s structure remains its original white, though the paint is far from pristine.  This gives the coaster a weathered look that fits the theme perfectly, and the rustic appearance is oddly beautiful.  Twisted Cyclone’s slogan is, “Ride it out,” and it’s themed to a beach town in the path of an Atlantic hurricane.  This scenario is all too common in my Florida life, so the hurricane party theme hit home. 

I pulled up the Six Flags app, and the wait time for Twisted Cyclone was listed at 60 minutes, but the queue in the entry shed wasn’t even a quarter full.  I only waited about 15 minutes before climbing the stairs into the station.

The trains are themed to ‘57 Chevys.  They look great, but I’m not sure how this ties into the theming.  I hopped into the back row left, and got a bit stapled by the ride attendant.  The train left the station and I got warmed up on RMC’s pre-lift hits.  Twisted Cyclone has the shortest track length of any IBOX coaster at 2,400 feet.  It’s only 100 feet tall and features three inversions.  Many enthusiasts criticize this ride for being too short.  The climb up the lift is quick, so I’ll soon find out.  We passed signs warning of rough weather before the train crests the top, and it’s time to ride it out!

The back row gets yanked down the first drop which has an awesome lateral kink like Iron Rattler.  There’s a frightening head chopper with a support before entering the first turnaround.  It’s a sort of reverse cobra roll where the train flips outwards in two rapid fire heartline rolls.  Both are profiled to provide perfect hangtime.  You then barrel down into the wave turn against the lift hill.  It’s a stellar moment of sideways ejector airtime before an upwards hop into an overbanked turn and another hump leading into a zero-G roll.  Two more airtime hits are followed by another overbank through the structure, before a whippy S-bend leading into the brakes.

So Goliath may be tall and strong, but this hurricane is insane.  It’s short and sweet.  Every element hits perfectly.  The first drop is sharp and snappy.  The three inversions create amazing floating hangtime, and the wave turn is the star of the show.  The pacing is flawless, and for its size, Twisted Cyclone is a perfect roller coaster.  It’s quality over quantity.  This is why I prefer Iron Gwazi to Steel Vengeance.  I’m not saying it’s my favorite RMC.  Not by a long shot.  I’m just saying that I wouldn’t change anything about this ride.  It’s not too short.  It’s a short ride done just right.  It’s yet another RMC masterclass on creating a top notch roller coaster in a small footprint with modest dimensions.

I left Twisted Cyclone and set out on a mission to knock off as many other credits as I could.  It was 2:00, and I wanted to be on road to Fun Spot by 5:30.  I headed next door to ride the mine train before heading back to the Metropolis area.  It was a mine train.  Enough said.  

The walk to Metropolis is an unusual wooden boardwalk that winds around a hill with the park’s carousel standing alone at its peak.  The antique car ride circumnavigates this hill as well.  It’s a cool location for these classic rides in a well-shaded area of the park.  Metropolis offers no shade whatsoever.  It’s a concrete plaza home to Superman: Ultimate Flight and the Justice League shooting dark ride.  The line for Superman was an hour despite running two trains.  Flying coasters don’t do much for me, and I’ve ridden its clone at Six Flags Great Adventure, so I headed over to Great American Scream Machine.

It’s a 1973 PTC L-shaped out and back wood coaster celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.  The layout is gorgeously placed around a lake, and being freshly painted, it’s one of the prettiest roller coasters I’ve ever seen.  The structure is white with red trackwork and blue handrails.  I really wanted some good pictures of this ride, but the Sky Coaster built over the same lake obstructs pretty much every vantage point.

I walked into the station and it was clean and fresh.  The trains look like they were also just refurbished.  The ride originally operated with three bench PTC’s, but were replaced with Georgia Cyclone’s two row trains when it was RMCed.  I sat somewhere in the middle and this ride was just fine.  It ran smoothly due to recent re-tracking, but it also did absolutely nothing.  There was no airtime, and few laterals.  Unfortunately, this roller coaster just is.  It’s very pretty, but the ride experience is about as unremarkable as can be.

I then headed next door to Blue Hawk.  This Vekoma multilooper was relocated from the defunct Dinosaur Beach in Wildwood, NJ and operated as Ninja until 2016.  That year, the notoriously rough roller coaster received new trains featuring Vekoma’s vest restraints, as well as a fresh paint scheme and its current name.  This is another picturesque ride with the entire layout placed high over water.  Two trains were running, and I walked onto the back row.

It’s a decent ride.  The twisting track has some great near misses and head choppers, and it pulls some strong positives.  The vest restraints make the experience pleasant enough, though I couldn’t imagine the discomfort of riding this coaster with its original trains given the way it shakes through the course.  

Next I returned to Metropolis to try out Justice League.  I had heard great things about this interactive Sally dark ride, and with only a five minute wait, it was well worth checking out.  I’m admittedly not a big superhero fan, but I was interested in the theming on this ride, and it was absolutely top notch!  The quality was right up there with anything you might find at Universal, and the shooting element was a great addition to this attraction.  After riding this, and Dr. Diabolical’s Cliffhanger at Six Flags Fiesta Texas, I’m hoping Six Flags invests more in theming on future projects.  They’re certainly capable of doing good work in this area given the budget.

It was 4:00 pm.  I had 90 minutes left, and three things I wanted to do: ride Mindbender, take a second lap on Twisted Cyclone, and if time permitted, get the flying coaster credit.  I hightailed it to Gotham City and hopped in line for the Schwarzkopf.  The app showed 40 minutes, but the line wasn’t that long.  I stood in the shaded grove outside the station for a few minutes, and it wasn’t moving.  Then the ride ops came over the PA.  The coaster was down for a mechanical problem.  

I headed back to Twisted Cyclone and got that second ride after about 20 minutes.  This cemented my opinion that it’s the best ride in the park, and definitely an underrated RMC.  Knock it all you want for being short, people.  This roller coaster is pure joy from start to finish.

With Mindbender still down, I circled back to Superman.  I got in line, and it also wasn’t moving.  I know B&M flyers have slow dispatch times, but this was painful.  They had two trains on the track, but when the second train is stacked on the holding brake for five or more minutes, it almost doesn’t matter.  The line stretched well outside the station to the pretzel loop, and would definitely be longer than the advertised 30 minutes.  The app showed a 25 minute wait for Mindbender, and given the choice between a classic Schwarzkopf and a cloned flyer, it was a no brainer.  

I walked back across the park to find that Mindbender was still down, despite the app showing it was open.  I was out of time for the day, and was bummed to leave these two credits on the table.  Still, I had a good time at Six Flags Over Georgia.  I had been told that quote unquote Six Flags days were common at the park, and to be prepared for some disappointing operations.  Sure, I would have liked to see two trains on Goliath, quicker dispatches on Superman, and Mindbender without downtime, but things happen, and it’s still the off-season.  

Overall, the park was clean and very pretty.  It’s got a great setting among the hills, and the themed areas are on point for Six Flags.  My lunch was good, and I enjoyed my time here.  Twisted Cyclone and Goliath are the best rides in the park, though neither are in the top tier of respective ride types.  Georgia Scorcher was a great surprise, and the rest of the line-up is pretty alright.  I didn’t have any bad rides, and I can definitely see myself coming back to try Goliath on a warmer day and ride Mindbender.  After all, I’m working on plans for my next road trip, and this park is an easy stopping point when leaving or returning to Florida.

I left Six Flags and set my GPS for Fayetteville, GA.  I left Interstate 285 and was then directed onto a small two-lane road.  I love the feeling of getting outside the city, and Fun Spot Atlanta feels like it’s in its own country world.  I was driving south, turned a corner and then bang!  There it is!  ArieForce One is built right against the road, and it’s a stunning sight.  The white lift structure with red and blue rails, raven truss dive, and zero-G stall command attention.  The sun hung low in the west; its rays radiating off the shimmering new paint.  The golden hour was approaching as I parked in the dirt lot and walked towards the gate.

Signs were posted everywhere announcing that ArieForce One is now open.  There was no doubting the pride this small park took in sharing its new creation with the world.  I bought my unlimited ride wristband and entered the park.  

It’s a small collection of go-cart tracks, some small flat rides, a cafeteria, and a video arcade.  There’s also a kids’ coaster, and the Hurricane, a compact EF Miler family thrill coaster.  The park is clearly in transition.  The main midway leading from the gate towards ArieForce still has parking spaces painted on it.  The arcade building has a western town facade.  There is a picnic pavilion placed over a lagoon, and a few food trucks also line the midway.  Landscaping is minimal, and there are few trees to provide shade as I walked to the back of the park. 

The story of ArieForce One began in 2017 when the Arie family purchased Fun Junction USA.  Shortly after, they rebranded it to Fun Spot America Atlanta.  The family owns two other Fun Spot parks in Orlando and Kissimmee, FL, each one featuring a wooden roller coaster.  White Lightning at the Orlando park is a GCI wood twister, and Mine Blower in Kissimmee is a Gravity Group installation featuring a barrel roll.  

The Atlanta park reportedly has a lot of expansion room, and the Aries were looking to build a true headlining attraction right against the road to draw people in.  They did their research riding roller coasters across the country, and got proposals from several manufacturers, settling on none other than Rocky Mountain Construction.  The project began during pandemic shutdowns, and was slated to debut in 2022, however it was delayed due to a relatively small construction team, and modifications to the site required by local governments.

The ride is themed to aviation and space flight, and is named in honor of John Arie, Sr’s love of flying.  His son, John, Jr. is now the CEO of the company, and his passion ultimately led to building this milestone attraction.

The story and the people behind this roller coaster are equally as impressive as the ride itself because it’s so unusual to see a world-class coaster built by one of the leading manufacturers at such a tiny park.  It’s not like most larger parks who budget and plan a major roller coaster every few years.  The family spent over $14 million in a gamble to put their park on the map.

The double-up airtime hill stands tall at the end of the main midway.  The path bends off to the left, and I passed beneath the structure to enter the queue.  The lower level of the station building has plenty of theming, and it’s a pleasant surprise.  It looks like a hangar and there’s a white board with mathematical equations above an old desk in the front, and several barrels of Superior Ultra High Performance Rocket Fuel in the back.

I walked up the stairs to the load platform, had my wristband scanned, and there were more cool theming details.  The operator’s booth is labeled “Mission Control,” and the typical monitor showing ride crews which restraints are in place also displays the name of each train.  It refers to them as Flight Shuttles named Vision-Arie 1 and Extraordin-Arie 2.  It’s a cool little touch, and yes, both trains were running.

There were just about enough people riding ArieForce One to mostly fill each train.  As I glanced around the station building, a substantial number of the riders were enthusiasts sporting T-shirts with coaster logos from around the country.  I expected this ride would be a magnet for us coaster nerds living within a day’s drive, and I wore my Maverick shirt to be part of the club.

Vision-Arie 1 dispatched, and I was first in line for the back row on the next train out.  I hopped aboard on the right side and buckled my seatbelt.  The procedure on this ride was to wait until instructed to lower the lap bar.  When cleared to do so, I brought mine down with a bit of room to spare for airtime, and the crews only pulled up when they checked it  Properly secured, it was time for the countdown to my first ride.

ONBOARD SOUND 

The train slowed for a second on the lift.  This was to allow the other train to fully clear the brake run before we crested the top.  It then sped up and it was time to fly.  I was ripped down the 146 foot first drop at an 83 degree angle before climbing up into the Raven Truss dive.  It’s basically an Immelman, but unlike B&M’s version of this element, it rises straight up, more like an airtime hill with a slight bank to the right.  At the apex, it snaps hard to the left and inverts beneath itself with the unique visual of flying through the supports.   Initial roll program complete.

You race over a speed hill providing ferocious ejector before entering the largest zero-G stall in America.  It’s beautifully designed to shoot across the sky with endless hangtime, but more on that later.  Next comes a wicked outerbank turn to the left while banked right, and your thighs are pinned to the lap bar while you soar above the station.

You then enter that massive double up with two more ejector pops, the latter sustained for several seconds before leveling out into a barrel roll over the arcade.  The turnaround features a series of elements that I can only describe as aggressive.  It starts with a second outer bank that throws you out of your seat followed by intense positives in a hard right hand turn before the fourth and final inversion.  It’s another delightfully whippy inversion that leads into the ejector laden finale.  You rise out of the inversion and enter the chili dip and quad down.  These humps hit hard as your legs become one with the lap bar six times in ten seconds. You’re still getting airtime in the back row, when you‘re slammed to a stop on the short brake run as if the landing chutes just deployed.  

The Arie has landed, and its mission was a resounding success.  It’s an elite roller coaster located at a tiny family-operated park.   The ride maintained its speed as if propelled by solid rockets, and it created weightlessness worthy of an astronaut.   I’d been riding all day at Six Flags Over Georgia, and no coaster in that park compares to this.  Fun Spot definitely has a game changer on their hands here.  As I returned to the station, the entire crew was applauding us, and we returned the favor with claps and screams of excitement.  They were genuinely thrilled to share this one week old roller coaster with us, and that energy exchange would make for a memorable evening.  I have to give a shout out to the ArieForce One crews whose efficiency and enthusiasm were second to none.     

It was about 6:30 pm when I left the station, and I paused to walk around the ride to take photos and videos.  The lighting was perfect as the sun shone directly onto the first half west to east.  There were fences right around the structure, but I walked around the lift and raven truss dive on brand new gravel roads getting up close and personal as trains filled with enthusiastic riders passed overhead.

With that out of the way, I returned to the queue to enjoy ArieForce One to my heart’s content.  I hopped into the front row for my second ride, and as good as the back was, the front was out of this world!  Sure, you don’t get that whip down the first drop, but every other element was way stronger in the front.  The airtime heading into the raven dive is more powerful, the outer bank is just as strong, and there was noticeably more whip through the rest of the elements. .

As I made my way around again, I started mingling with the other enthusiasts.  I rode in the front row the next time with Aaron from Chattanooga.  He drove two hours south to get his first rides on ArieForce.  He recommended riding on the left side, and that was better than the right.  As we rode more, we started getting more analytical, and just talking general coaster stuff.  I met a couple more guys from Chattanooga, two brothers from the Atlanta area, and a local superfan who took his 70th ride on the coaster that night.  It was like an impromptu ERT session, and we just kept walking back around and getting on the next train out.

Mr. 70th was quite the analyst, and he asked me to join him in the 4th row which he considered the best.  It was because in that row, the zero-G stall hit that perfect weightlessness, where you could lift your feet off the floor and still not feel the lap bar.  I did that and it was heavenly. 

The more I rode, the more I really appreciated just how good this roller coaster is, as we geeked out over the nuances.  On most roller coasters, I prefer the back row because the whip over the first drop is the stellar moment.  ArieForce One’s first drop is good, but it’s not a superlative that overcomes other elements that are better up front.  The airtime on the first outer bank is sensational no matter where you sit.  Every element hits in every seat.  You can nitpick about the best place to ride, but you can’t go wrong.  

While everything about ArieForce One is exceptional, I find the middle part of the ride to be the best.  Super unusual, right?  The stall is otherworldly, the outer bank is endless, then that third inversion which everybody was calling the arcade roll may be my favorite element.  It’s so quick and whippy.  Plus it’s placed within a truss like the raven dive for some great near miss visuals.  

The turnaround is aggressive as I said, and I think the weakest part of the ride is where the negative G’s are the strongest.  Like Twisted Timbers and Steel Vengeance, I could have done without those repeated ejector pops on the chili dip and quad down.  It was a repetitive motion, and didn’t do it for me.  Listen to this……………..You can hear the upstops pegged against the rails six times in rapid succession.  It was too much.  Give me two or three sustained airtime moments in that finale and I would have enjoyed this roller coaster more.

That being said, I kept going back around, because ArieForce One was just that much fun.  I set a kinda target number of rides of seven in my head, then figured I’d go back to my hotel.  I had a long drive home the next day after all.  Yet, I was having so much fun riding with the group that we just kept going, never waiting more than one train.  It started to get dark, and at that point, I kept going so I could get a full night ride.  Once the sun set, it got dark really quickly, and the night rides were unbelievable.  The speed and intensity on this roller coaster don’t let up.  I left the park at 9:00 pm, and I lost count of my rides for the evening, but my best guess is 11 so we’ll go with that.   

ArieForce One is an outstanding RMC, and lapping it with a group of enthusiasts was one of the best roller coaster experiences of my life.  But that begs the question.  Is this situation sustainable?  They had two trains on the track, and there were probably 20 people riding over and over again during my visit.   We were all either passholders, or we bought the $40 wristband.  I know it was a week after opening, and it takes time to get the word out.  I really hope this works out for Fun Spot, because they have an absolute monster on their hands with ArieForce One, and I’d love to see more investment in this and their Florida parks.

It had been a legend-Arie day coaster riding, and I really needed to get to bed.  I had ten hours to drive back to Florida the next day.  My Chattanooga cohorts were driving the two hours back home that night, so they too hit the road.  I got on the pitch black country road and drove 30 minutes back to my hotel.

Overall, the trip was a delightful getaway.  I would have much preferred that my original plan worked out and I rode ArieForce Saturday night leaving all day Sunday at Six Flags.  Maybe I would have gotten on Superman and Mind Bender.  Then again, I really enjoyed ending the weekend marathoning the brand new RMC.  It was a night I won’t soon forget, and I could see myself returning to this area sooner than later.

Join me for the next episode when I return to SeaWorld Orlando to ride the brand new Pipeline: The Surf Coaster.  It’s a prototype re-imagined stand-up ride from B&M, so it will be something different to be sure.  Plus, I’ve yet to ride Ice Breaker, their Premier swing launched coaster that opened last spring.  While I’m in the neighborhood, I figure I’ll stop by Busch Gardens Tampa to check out the new Serengeti Flyer S&S Screamin’ Swing, just like Tidal Surge in Texas.  Finally,  I want to get some more rides on Iron Gwazi hot off the heels of ArieForce One for comparison.  A quick trip to Central Florida is coming up next time on Coaster Redux.