Fun Spot Orlando adding coasters, thrill rides and water park

A tiny Orlando, Fla., family entertainment center plans to add seven attractions over the next few years in a bid to become a small amusement park with a collection of new rides that rivals its better-known neighbors.

Any of the new additions — from a pair of roller coasters to a trio of towering thrill rides to a quartet of water park slides — would be the envy of any regional theme park.

PHOTOS: New rides coming to Fun Spot Orlando

The $20-million investment will expand the Fun Spot Action Park located along Orlando’s International Drive corridor from 5 to 15 acres in three stages:

The first stage will add a wooden roller coaster, a Screamin’ Swing thrill ride and a double-decker carousel by February 2013.

The second stage would see the addition of a SkyCoaster thrill ride and a water park with four slide complexes by May 2013.

The third stage would add a suspended steel roller coaster and a Windseeker swing tower by May 2014.

The family-owned and operated Fun Spot has secured financing for the first stage and is seeking loans for the two subsequent stages, according to officials.

The 65-foot-tall wooden coaster by Great Coasters International would feature an out-and-back design with a steel support structure painted to look like wood that would likely classify the ride as a wood-steel hybrid.

According to Roller Coaster Database, the new GCI ride would become the only wooden coaster in Orlando and only the third operating wooden coaster in Florida, joining Gwazi at Busch Gardens Tampa and Coastersaurus at Legoland Florida.

Fun Spot also plans to add a 65-foot-tall Vekoma suspended steel coaster similar to Kvasten at Sweden’s Grona Lund park.

The water park would feature four Splashtacular slide complexes: a SplashRally figure eight racing slide, a Double BowlsEye with two tubes that feed into a single bowl, a 360Rush with vertical drop capsules and a TwistedRacers mat racing slide. A lazy river with a spin-out lagoon, in-water seating areas and racing lanes would wind around a water playground.

The trio of new thrill rides include:

> A 220-foot-tall Mondial tower swing similar to the Windseeker rides installed at Knott’s Berry Farm (California), Kings Dominion (Virginia) and Kings Island (Ohio).

> An eight-seater S&S Power Screamin’ Swing relocated from Georgia’s Wild Adventures that rockets riders 50 feet into the air at a 100-degree angle. (Similar rides can be found at Ohio’s Cedar Point, Pennsylvania’s Kennywood and Tennessee’s Dollywood.)

> A 250-foot-tall SkyCoaster sky diving tower themed to look like the St. Louis Arch. (Similar rides can be found at several Six Flags and Cedar Fair parks.)

Fun Spot also plans to add a Chance Morgan double-decker carousel relocated from Cypress Gardens (now Legoland Florida) and move an existing 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel to the top of a new entrance building.

Family entertainment centers typically include miniature golf, carnival rides and occasionally a wild mouse coaster. With 14 rides and a video arcade, Fun Spot Orlando is currently known for its unique multi-level go-cart racing track.