Fun Spot Atlanta announced today that they would be partnering with Rocky Mountain Construction for a new roller coaster in 2022. With absolutely no rumors circulating, the deal seemingly came out of nowhere and the unexpected anticipation is now growing.
The park had the following to say about their new investment:
Fun Spot Atlanta Announces New Coaster
Fun Spot America Atlanta partners with Rocky Mountain Construction on the next BIG thing for Atlanta, in fact, it’s so big you’ll say…it’s HUGE! A new roller coaster design process is underway and scheduled to debut in 2022. Roller coaster enthusiasts, and theme park lovers, will soon be buzzing about the impact this partnership will have on the Atlanta area. Hold on tight because this will be Fun Spot America’s largest Roller Coaster investment ever.
The new roller coaster will be the first of many new marque rides and attractions yet to come to Fun Spot Atlanta. “RMC is a highly sought-after designer and manufacturer of award-winning roller coasters. We’re pleased to be able to provide HUGE thrills for families and coaster enthusiasts at our Atlanta park,” says CEO John Arie Jr.
Rocky Mountain Construction, often referred to as RMC, is a fabricator and manufacturer of extreme roller coasters located in Hayden, Idaho. Over the years, RMC has been known for its transformation of wooden roller coasters into new hybrid attractions. Founder and owner, Fred Grubb created RMC’s notable steel Ibox track which uses steel I-beams to replace the traditional layered wooden track design. The idea of this was to reduce maintenance costs and increase the coaster’s longevity while providing awesome high-speed twists, turns, and inversions. “We’re excited to be working with Fun Spot America and thrilled to be bringing a fantastic new RMC coaster to Atlanta,” said Grubb.
John Arie Jr. said, “We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with RMC because we love their world-renowned products, family-owned and operated business mindset, and know this is a perfect fit for the Fun Spot family. We can’t wait to see the final project and the HUGE positive impact it will have on the park for years to come.”
Fun Spot America has yet to announce additional details about the coaster, but the park is pursuing a naming rights sponsorship opportunity with one of Atlanta’s major sports franchises.
Fun Spot Atlanta 2022 RMC Speculation
This announcement comes just days after members of the Coaster101.com team made their first visit to the park. For those not familiar with the park, check out this video from our visit:
While we were there we did notice the large amount of unutilized space and there is no doubt that this park will benefit from a new ride, let alone a brand new RMC. Fun Spot Atlanta doesn’t dive into the specifics of their new coaster, but it is fun to speculate what kind of coaster they will build.
What we know:
- This will be Fun Spot America’s largest roller coaster investment across their three parks:
- Mine Blower – $6 million
- Freedom Flyer – $5.5 million
- White Lightning – $3.5 million
- It’s going to be “HUGE”
- Fun Spot makes sure to mention this multiple times in their press release:
- Mine Blower – 83 feet tall
- White Lightning – 70 feet tall
- Scream’n Eagle – 38 feet tall
- There is not a name yet, but it could potentially be named after one of Atlanta’s major sports franchises:
- Atlanta Braves
- Atlanta Falcons
- Atlanta Hawks
Our first reaction to hearing this news was that the new RMC Family Hybrid coaster would be the perfect fit for this park. Fun Spot Atlanta caters more towards local families while Six Flags Over Georgia up the road has the market cornered on thrills. The Family Hybrid model would surely be “HUGE” for this park, since their largest coaster, Scream’n Eagle, tops out at only 38 feet.
If we can speculate even more, the prominent use of “HUGE” in the press release makes us think (or hope) for maybe something even larger. Could we see another Raptor clone here or possible a new custom Raptor track design? If this coaster is going to be large compared to all of Fun Spot’s coasters, it will need to be taller than Mine Blower’s 83 feet. Other RMC Raptor coasters would likely be taller than that; Stunt Pilot at Silverwood is 113 feet tall, RailBlazer at California’s Great America is 106 feet tall, and the Jersey Devil Coaster tops out at 130 feet.
There is also the price point to consider. If Fun Spot’s current largest investment to date is $6 million, would a Family Hybrid coaster surpass that cost? The Raptor track coaster costs are unknown, but are believed to be between $4 and $7 million. Or maybe we are missing the mark altogether and we will see a ground up topper track coaster? That may be a long shot, but the park certainly has the room to expand.
Personally, I’d love to see the new Hybrid Family model come to Fun Spot Atlanta. I think it would be an excellent fit for the small park, while still leaving room for the future expansions mentioned in the announcement.
You can see the park has the largest available space on the western border, behind the midway buildings. Other potential (smaller) spots are on other side of the Sceam’n Eagle coaster.
It’s awesome news that Fun Spot will be investing in their Atlanta park. With a little work this permanent carnival-like park could easily become a hidden gem south of the city. Whatever kind of coaster is built, we are excited to get back to the park in 2022!
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