FUN SPOT AMERICA
ORLANDO + KISSIMMEE
MY KIND
OF FUN.
The go-karts bring out
the competitor in me.
The people behind the park
earn my respect.
ROB URBAN
There is a particular kind of happiness in watching your family argue about who won a go-kart race. Nobody is checking email. Nobody is discussing the electricity bill. Everybody has suddenly developed a detailed understanding of racing regulations, especially the person who lost.
That is a pretty good afternoon.
It also gets close to why I love Fun Spot America. Give me the multi-level go-karts, the coasters, the midway lights, and the chance to spend time with people I love without turning the outing into a project plan. For the kind of theme park day I want, Fun Spot is the best. That is my judgment as a Florida father and someone who pays close attention to how businesses make people feel.
The rides explain why I want to go. The people and principles behind the business explain why I respect it.
THERE WILL
BE A REMATCH.
A family rivalry.
An inventor’s persistence.
A track with a shape of its own.
The tracks are the reason I would happily start talking about Fun Spot and forget what the original question was.
Their changes in elevation give the racing a shape I love. You climb, turn, look ahead and feel the course change around you. The route becomes something to remember. It also supplies evidence for the post-race discussion, although the quality of that evidence can depend on who is telling the story.
There is an inventor’s history underneath that pleasure. Fun Spot’s company history traces John Arie Sr.’s work in the industry to 1969, through Fun N Wheels on International Drive in 1979, and to the Orlando Fun Spot opening on Christmas Eve in 1997. The multi-level track designs became a signature of that park.
I like knowing that the thing I enjoy grew out of someone returning to the same subject over many years. A track can be familiar enough for a first-time driver to understand and inventive enough to make a return visit appealing.
The current track guide makes those differences tangible. Orlando’s Quad Helix has a corkscrew layout and banked turns. Kissimmee’s Vortex rises four stories. Several tracks offer double-seat karts, letting an eligible younger passenger share the experience with an adult.
These are my favorite go-karts for this kind of day because the racing is part of a larger outing. There is a park around the track, and there are people to rejoin when the lap is over. The rematch can wait just long enough for everyone to explain why it is necessary.
Everybody gets to belong.
A family outing includes people who would happily ride everything and people whose preferred role is watching everyone else.
Fun Spot’s Florida park policies offer free admission to non-riders and free parking. Rides and other purchases are handled separately. That choice leaves a place in the afternoon for someone who wants the company without wanting the coaster.
A grandparent does not have to become a thrill seeker to belong in the family photograph. A friend who comes to watch the racing is still part of the conversation afterward. The occasion belongs to the group even when the activities differ.
I appreciate that freedom. It lets people contribute their own version of enthusiasm. Someone wants another lap. Someone wants to watch a child discover that they are brave enough for a ride. Someone is delighted to have found a seat with a good view.
Repeating a favorite can be more satisfying than collecting one hurried turn on everything. A child who asks to ride again has given the family useful information. Fun Spot makes sense to me as a place for those small, happy changes of plan.
SkyCoaster makes the sky part of the family conversation.
The Kissimmee attraction rises 300 feet and is identified by Fun Spot as the world’s tallest SkyCoaster. Riders are secured in flight harnesses for an experience that combines a drop with sweeping swings above the park.
Its presence reaches the people on the ground. An ascent gives everyone a reason to look up. The people who have chosen to fly and the people who have chosen to stay firmly on the pavement can share the same moment from very different positions.
That is why I count it among Fun Spot’s signature pleasures. A ride can become an event for an entire group. Everybody gets a story, even if only some of them needed a harness.
Nobody needs to be talked into it to prove they are having fun. The riders can have their adventure, the spectators can enjoy theirs, and everyone can meet afterward with a perfectly legitimate account of what happened.
LOOK
UP.
300 feet over Kissimmee.
A shared event from any height.
JOHN ARIE JR. + THE FUN SPOT TEAM
The people
earn my respect.
I have tremendous respect for John Arie Jr. and the way he leads.
His published biography describes a childhood in the family business and experience in every part of park operations. I value that background. A person making decisions has reason to understand what those decisions ask of the people doing the work.
There are many jobs inside a good afternoon: helping someone understand a ride, preparing the park, answering the same question with patience, giving a family the information they need. The employees performing those jobs shape the memory as surely as the attraction does.
I admire John’s willingness to lead from the front and take bold but calculated risks. I also respect the Christian, family-friendly identity of the business and its openly faith-based foundation. The Golden Rule gives that conviction a practical expression in how people are treated.
What inspires me is the possibility of ambition and kindness belonging to the same enterprise. Building something exciting, caring about employees and holding onto your principles are worthy things to pursue together.
The family emphasis is personal, too. After describing his work, John’s biography identifies his wife and children as his greatest achievement. I appreciate a business story that leaves room for that answer.
$110,000
FOR LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The first Golden Rule Day, 2019.
$55,000 to Orange County.
$55,000 to Osceola County.
The Golden Rule has also taken the form of a very specific local contribution.
In its September 2019 report on the first Golden Rule Day, Fun Spot recorded $110,000 raised for public schools: $55,000 each for Orange and Osceola counties. The event offered families a discounted park visit and directed $5 from each Single Day Fun Pass sold toward the schools.
I like the connection between the occasion and the beneficiary. Families spending time together helped support the places where local children spend so much of their time. A day at the park reached beyond the people who attended it.
Fun Spot’s November 2020 account of receiving the Harris Rosen Philanthropic Award described wider charitable giving, hosting a regional St. Jude run/walk, and employee fundraising. Those are dated examples of the community contribution I respect, rather than a claim that a particular amount repeats every year.
The team belongs in this part of the story as well. When employees participate in giving, a company’s public generosity contains individual effort. The business provides a gathering place, and people use it to do something for others.
The day I would choose.
Give me time with my family, a little friendly competition on the go-karts, the presence of SkyCoaster above the park, and the freedom to enjoy a favorite twice. Give me a business whose leadership and team I can respect as much as its attractions.
That is why Fun Spot is my kind of theme park.
A place can earn affection through the ordinary happiness it makes possible. For me, Fun Spot does that with a distinctive track, a shared laugh and enough room for the people I came with to enjoy being themselves.
Even the person who is still explaining the race result.
Explore more Orange County stories or meet Rob. If your place has a story you would like help telling, let’s talk.
Before the next lap.
Can someone visit Fun Spot without buying a ride pass?
Fun Spot’s Florida parks offer free admission for non-riders and free parking. Rides, games, food and other purchases are separate. Check the current ticket choices for the activities your group wants.
Are the Orlando and Kissimmee go-kart tracks the same?
No. The locations have different track lineups. Orlando lists Commander, Quad Helix, Conquest and Thrasher; Kissimmee lists Chaos and Vortex. Check the operator’s current track guide for requirements and availability.
Is SkyCoaster included in a standard Single Day Fun Pass?
Fun Spot lists SkyCoaster as a separately priced experience. Some passes or offers may include an additional benefit or discount. Check the exact terms before purchasing.
Where did the $110,000 school contribution come from?
It is the historical result Fun Spot reported for its first Golden Rule Day in September 2019, divided equally between Orange and Osceola County Public Schools. It is not presented here as a current annual total.