Kings Island's long wait for a new headline coaster isn't over. Six Flags has confirmed that ArieForce One, the acclaimed Rocky Mountain Construction coaster rescued from a shuttered Atlanta park, is being rebuilt at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California — not at the Mason, Ohio park that had been floated as a finalist.
The news closes out roughly two months of speculation among coaster enthusiasts about where the ride would land, as detailed by WCPO 9 Cincinnati. Six Flags purchased ArieForce One after Fun Spot America Atlanta closed over the summer, and the ride had been built by Rocky Mountain Construction and originally opened at that Georgia park in 2023, according to Six Flags. The company says it plans to keep the ArieForce One name at its new home.
Six Flags Chief Operating Officer Mark Pauls said the company recognized the coaster's importance to both enthusiasts and guests, framing the purchase as a rescue. Six Flags was thrilled to preserve the coaster's legacy, invest in its future and bring it to a new generation, Pauls said, per the WCPO report.
Why Kings Island Missed Out
Kings Island had been considered a finalist to land ArieForce One, and the park has gone six years without a major new coaster addition — its last big arrival was Orion in 2020, while the Vortex coaster that once stood on the grounds was torn down in 2019 and has sat as a vacant plot ever since, per the same WCPO account. Kings Island currently has no coasters built by Rocky Mountain Construction, a ridemaker known for intense airtime and barrel rolls. Carowinds in North Carolina was also floated as a contender but likewise has no RMC coaster in its lineup, while Cedar Point in Sandusky already boasts Steel Vengeance, an RMC ride, the station notes.
Kings Island fans will not get to experience ArieForce One at their home park. Riders hoping to try it will instead need to travel to Valencia, located just north of Los Angeles, WCPO reports.
Trucks Already Rolling Into Magic Mountain
The move became tangible Thursday, Oct. 29, when the first truckloads of ArieForce One's track and supports arrived at Magic Mountain, according to the Redlands Daily Facts. The park has not yet announced exactly where on its grounds the ride will be built, the outlet reports. Six Flags purchased the coaster from Fun Spot America after the Georgia park closed in August, the same report notes.
Six Flags' own announcement described ArieForce One as being relocated to an unspecified Six Flags park during the 2028 or 2029 season, while the Redlands Daily Facts report states the coaster will debut at Magic Mountain specifically in 2028 — a timeline gap that has not been fully reconciled. ArieForce One stands 155 feet tall and reaches 64 mph along 3,400 feet of track, per the same local account, though InPark Magazine lists its height at 154 feet.
Joining Magic Mountain's RMC Lineup
ArieForce One will become the third ride built by Rocky Mountain Coasters at Magic Mountain, joining the 2022 single-rail Wonder Woman Flight of Courage and the 2015 conversion of the wooden Colossus into the hybrid Twisted Colossus — the same ride Clark Griswold and his family famously boarded in National Lampoon's Vacation. The new coaster is expected to open after Magic Mountain debuts the Vekoma-built Thrill Glider in 2027, the Redlands Daily Facts reports.
Six Flags has described ArieForce One, Thrill Glider, a reimagined Looney Tunes Land and a refreshed Hurricane Harbor as part of a broader evolution at Magic Mountain, with the company hoping the multiyear investment will boost attendance at the Los Angeles-area park. That overhaul comes as Magic Mountain works through a stretch of ride closures and retirements; the park's X2 fourth-dimension wing coaster, which had faced a string of lawsuits over injured riders, was permanently retired in September, according to the Orange County Register.
Coaster fans had pushed hard to see ArieForce One land at their own home parks after Fun Spot's closure was announced, with enthusiast communities filling with theories about its fate, according to Amusement Today. For Kings Island, that vacant lot where Vortex once stood remains empty for now, as the Cincinnati-area park continues waiting for its next major coaster.
