Sabrina's Brochure Spotlight: Fun Spot 2007

This week we'll take a look at a park which may or may not open its gates again. Fun Spot Amusement Park and Zoo welcomed visitors to the northeastern corner of Indiana for more than 50 years before announcing in March 2009 that it would not open that year. This 2007 brochure provides a good overview of what we're now missing.

One of Fun Spot's signature rides was (is?) Afterburner, an Arrow Launched Loop coaster. This coaster originally operated at Circus World (which then became Boardwalk and Baseball) in Florida until that park closed in 1990. It was then moved to Fun Spot, where it has been thrilling riders ever since. Shuttle loops may not be the most exciting coasters in the world, but Fun Spot gets bonus points for that sweet paint job on the lead car.

Afterburner is one of more than 20 rides that are presumably sitting around collecting rust at Fun Spot these days. (I seem to remember reading somewhere that Afterburner was put up for sale at one point, but I can no longer find any documentation to that effect so perhaps I'm mistaken.) But rides aren't the only thing that would-be patrons are missing. Fun Spot also has miniature golf, go-karts, water slides, and even a zoo! (Hence the title "Fun Spot Amusement Park and Zoo".) The zoo alone would make it worth a visit for me. I'm a huge fan of exotic animals. We have an unspoken bond.

Looking at a closed park's previous operating schedule sure does tug at the heartstrings, eh? Fun Spot had a very limited operating schedule compared to most parks, but that's better than no operating schedule at all. The park's web site still proclaims that it will not be open for the 2009 season "due to the economy". As for 2010, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. Let's hope for the best!