Read time: 12 min.

I wouldn’t call Indiana a Mecca for thrill-seekers, but there was a time when the Hoosier State’s amusement park landscape was far different from what it is today. Near Angola, what began as a modest roadside attraction slowly transformed into the home of Indiana’s first looping roller coaster! Nearly nothing remains of Fun Spot today, but I’m going to try to tell its story. 

I’m doing something unusual by writing about a place I never managed to photograph. Posts like this are rare for me, but Fun Spot has been on my mind ever since I uncovered some old pictures that inspired my recent piece on Indiana Beach. One of my lingering regrets is that I never made the trip to Angola while Fun Spot was still operating! By the time I really learned to appreciate quirky little regional amusement parks, the place was already gone. Maybe writing its eulogy now is my way of finally making peace with that regret. Fortunately, someone who actually visited the park made their photos available under the Creative Commons license. I’m grateful for the chance to illustrate this post and catch a glimpse of the place I missed. 

Fun Spot’s origins are unclear. Many sources, including the park’s archived website¹, say² it opened in 1956³. If that’s the case, it must have been established somewhere other than the corner of Orland Road and North 200-West. Aerials from 1957 and 1958 show nothing but corn⁴! That said, two other “amusement parks” operated nearby at the time: a country music venue called Buck Lake Ranch was home to a Kiddie Coaster, Ferris Wheel, and merry-go-round in the mid 1950s⁵. Just a mile west of town, the Hamburger Circus drive-in was purported to feature a driving range, miniature golf, rifle range, and a Kiddieland of its own⁶. 

The earliest confirmed chapter in Fun Spot’s story dates to 1967, when Verl and Lurline Holly opened Holly’s Follies⁷, a modest place with things like a go-kart track and batting cages⁸. What started as a small operation didn’t stay that way for long, though: by 1974, the three-acre park had go-karts, mini bikes, bumper cars, kiddie rides, an arcade, a pitching machine, a moon walk, miniature golf, and even two houses! Despite its expansion, the entire operation was put up for sale that June⁹.

I’ve dug as deep as I can into Fun Spot’s history, but much of the early timeline remains frustratingly hazy. It’s unclear exactly when the park adopted the Fun Spot name, and I haven’t been able to confirm that the property actually sold when it was listed in 1974. In fact, land records seem to suggest the site didn’t formally change hands until 1987¹⁰! What is certain, though, is that Berkley Roberts acquired the park, if not the land it stood on, in 1984. By then, Fun Spot was home to seven rides. Roberts poured money into the place by upgrading infrastructure and steadily adding new attractions¹¹. 

In 1987, Fun Spot found itself connected to one of the country’s most prominent amusement parks when news broke that Roberts had purchased the old Screamin’ Demon at Kings Island. The announcement created so much excitement that Kings Island publicly pushed back, insisting that negotiations were still ongoing! Still, the possibility of Fun Spot acquiring such a landmark ride firmly elevated its profile. So did Roberts’ other investments, which brought the park’s ride count up to seventeen¹². 

Kings Island’s Screamin’ Demon was no ordinary roller coaster. Built by Arrow Dynamics, the ride was a rare Launched Loop centered around a single vertical inversion between two platforms. Riders climbed six flights of stairs to reach the loading station before boarding a five-car train. Once pushed forward, the train descended a forty-seven-foot drop into the loop and climbed the opposite hill. After it slowed on a straight segment of track, the train was sent back down the hill and through the short course in reverse. Unfortunately, Fun Spot’s deal with Kings Island never came together and the Demon found a second life at Camden Park in Huntington, West Virginia, as Thunderbolt Express¹³.

Back at Fun Spot, Roberts had made one thing clear: he wanted a roller coaster to cement the park’s status as a legitimate destination for thrill seekers. At the time, the state’s coaster scene was humble: the sprawling destination now known as Holiday World was anchored by a single aging coaster- a small factory-model Pinfari Zyklon known as Firecracker¹⁴. Meanwhile, Indiana Beach offered its own pair of modest classics: the Galaxi, S.D.C.’s version of the Zyklon¹⁵; and a Schwarzkopf Jet Star called Tig’rr¹⁶. 

Fun Spot finally landed its first roller coaster in 1990: a Pinfari Zyklon Z47¹⁷. Designed as a portable coaster, the Zyklon series was most commonly found at fairs and traveling carnivals. Fun Spot’s version rose 38 feet, featured 1,427 feet of winding track, and was essentially identical to the Firecracker down in Santa Claus. Its addition helped, but Roberts still had his sights set on an elusive Launched Loop.

Fortunately, opportunity knocked when Arrow Dynamics’ prototype, Zoomerang, became available in 1991¹⁸. Rechristened as Afterburner at Fun Spot, the coaster completely changed the little park’s reputation. Not only was it Indiana’s first looping roller coaster, it became the state’s premier thrill ride! By my estimation, it held that title until Indiana Beach unveiled the wooden Hoosier Hurricane in 1994 and Holiday World followed with the landmark Raven a year later.

By 1992, Fun Spot had expanded to twenty rides across sixty acres¹⁹. Two years later, local business owners Ralph and Sheri Trine, philanthropists whose name would later grace Angola’s Tri-State University, bought the park²⁰. The Trines continued to grow Fun Spot by adding new rides and even a small zoo with rescued exotic animals²¹. In 1995, the couple proposed relocating Fort Wayne’s shuttered Old Fort replica to Fun Spot²²! That plan never materialized, but investments kept coming. In 2002, the park added a Balloon Race, a Bayern Kurve, and an Allan Herschell Kiddie Coaster renamed the Safari Kiddie Coaster²³. 

Fun Spot made headlines in 2006 when Afterburner failed to complete its trip through the loop. The incident stranded about a dozen riders until firefighters nudged the train forward with ladder trucks²⁴. Despite the harrowing event, the park continued to expand in 2007 with the addition of a Calypso, Kiddie Ferris Wheel, and Kiddie Swings²⁵.

At its peak, Fun Spot packed an impressive collection of attractions into its small footprint, like the Afterburner, Balloon Race, Bayern Kurve, Bumper Cars, Calypso, Ferris Wheel, Flying Scooters, Go Karts, Glass House, Paratrooper, Round Up, Safari Coaster, Scrambler, Sea Dragon, Tilt-A-Whirl, Troika, Water Slides, and Zyklon, along with a fourteen-ride Kiddieland. Fun Spot was also home to Willie the Whale, a whimsical concrete sculpture created by Ball State art professor Dick Kishel that originally stood at the old Indianapolis Zoo²⁶. 

By then, I’d known about Fun Spot for a few years and had finally gotten my driver’s license. Even though I lived nearby in Elkhart, I never got around to making the trip. I had plans to go with friends during the summer of 2009, but that March, the park announced it wouldn’t reopen. Ownership blamed the struggling economy, which sharply reduced advance bookings from businesses and group outings. There was discussion about relocating the Steuben County Fairgrounds to land just south of the park so the two could operate together²⁷, but the idea never moved forward. In the end, the chance to visit Fun Spot disappeared just before I planned to go. 

That’s not to say Fun Spot vanished overnight. For nearly a decade after closing, much of the park still stood abandoned as its rides slowly rusted away. The place became a magnet for urban explorers and curiosity-seekers drawn to the surreal sight of silent amusement rides! I passed it several times on my way to Caruso’s for fried calamari and caught glimpses of the Afterburner through the overgrowth, but I never stopped to take photos. The brush was thick, and more importantly, I had no interest in trespassing the way others did. Eventually, all the rides were sold.

The Zyklon and Troika went to Santa’s Village, and the Safari Coaster went to Bell’s Kiddieland. Fun Spot’s Bayern Kurve was sent to Knoebel’s, and Holiday World bought the Calypso. Afterburner was dismantled in 2017, and portions of the ride were shipped to Frontier City. In a way, the coaster still survives today in the form of replacement parts used to keep the park’s own Launched Loop coaster, Diamond Back, in operation. 

Nearly twenty years after Fun Spot closed and almost a decade after its rides were dismantled, the place still fascinates me. Unlike so many lost Indiana landmarks, I never experienced it firsthand. Instead, Fun Spot exists for me as a ghost assembled from newspaper archives, fading aerials,  photos others took, and the memories of people who actually made it through the gates. In some ways, that almost makes it more compelling.

There’s also something improbable about the whole story: for a while, a little roadside park outside tiny Angola managed to punch far above its weight by bringing Indiana its first looping roller coaster! Fortunately, traces of Fun Spot survive in unexpected places, like other parks that purchased its rides and in the old photos that inspired me to write this piece. I guess that’s fitting: a place called Fun Spot probably deserved to leave behind at least a little fun after it disappeared. 

I’m grateful for Jeremy Thompson. Without his photos, I couldn’t have written this post! Check out his trip report from 2008 at Roller Coaster Philosophy.

Sources Cited
1 Fun Spot Amusement Park (2007). Fun Spot Amusement Park [Angola]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
2 Fun Spot featured in book of abandoned amusement parks (2018, January 6). WANE 15 [Fort Wayne]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
3 Salerno, R. (n.d.). Fun Spot (Former) Amusement Park and Zoo. Ronny Salerno [Cincinnati]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
4 Fun Spot park site (1958, October 31). USGS [Washington, D.C.]. Aerial image. 
5 Buck Lake Ranch Announces Attraction (1958, May 28). The Angola Herald. p. 10. 
6 Hamburger Circus Will Open On Wednesday (1956, April 25). The Angola Herald. p. 2. 
7 Oberlin, A. (2018, May 13). Fun Spot still a local landmark. KPCNews [Kendallville]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
8 Kimpel, B. I grew up in Indiana (2025, September 19). Spent many summers going there when we vacationed at Lake Gage, in the 70’s when it was called Holly’s Follies and [Comment]. Facebook.
9 For Sale (1974, June 2). The South Bend Tribune. p. 54. 
10 Parcel 760609000013000011 (2026). Office of the Assessor. Steuben County [Angola]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
11 Wilkerson, R. (1992, September 3). Fun Spot Park worth crossing border to enjoy. The Jackson Citizen Patriot. p. 52. 
12 Fun Spot may get roller coaster (1987, June 20). The Marion Chronicle Tribune. p. 1. 
13 Thunderbolt Express (n.d.). Roller Coaster Database. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
14 Firecracker (n.d.). Roller Coaster Database. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
15 Galaxi (n.d.). Roller Coaster Database. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
16 Tig’rr (n.d.). Roller Coaster Database. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
17 Zyklon (n.d.). Roller Coaster Database. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
18 Boardwalk and Baseball (n.d.). Roller Coaster Database. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
19 Hoosier Treasures (1992, May 6). The Corydon Democrat. p. 29. 
20 IRM closes door on Fun Spot (2020, October 13). Park World. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
21 Glader, P. (1997, March 5). Fourteen animals die at Old Indiana park. The Indianapolis News. p. 1. 
22 Fort teaming up with amusement park? (1995, March 18)). The Muncie Evening Press. p. 5. 
23 Fun Spot Amusement Park (2002, June 1). Fun Spot Amusement Park [Angola]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
24 Mishap leaves dozen people trapped on roller coaster (2006, July 3). WTHR [Indianapolis]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
25 Fun Spot Amusement Park (2007). Fun Spot Amusement Park [Angola]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026. 
26 Mitchell, D. (2015, April 26). WIllie The Whale. The Indianapolis Star. p. A6. 
27 Shilander, J. (2009, March 25). Fun Spot won’t open this season. The Greater Forty Wayne Business Weekly [Fort Wayne]. Web. Retrieved May 13, 2026.