For more than a month, the Araujo family worked to build a roller coaster in the front yard of their Grapevine home.
But they were forced to dismantle it after a complaint from a neighbor about the amusement park-style thrill ride that became a labor of love and brought the family closer together.
The design of the ride was largely inspired by 9-year-old Felipe Araujo, whose dream came to fruition in August with the help of YouTube videos, family members say.
“I gave him a paper and a pen and asked him, ‘What do you want? How do you want it?’” the boy’s father, Fabio Araujo said. “Then he come with this little giant and crazy roller coaster, and I said, ‘Let’s make a smaller one that can fit.’”
Alongside his siblings, Evelyn Araujo, 9, and Emily Araujo, 13, the children dedicated weekends and spare time to work with the elder Araujo to bring the boy’s design to life.
“I felt very excited when I was riding it, I was very nervous to ride it, but I ended up really enjoying it,” Evelyn said. “And sad that we had to take it down.”
Fabio Araujo was the first one to strap into the roller coaster in order to be sure it was safe for his children.
“I rode it first to make sure it was safe, everything was good and then I let them use it,” he said. “At first my wife didn’t believe us, that we were going to make it. She just observed us.”
The ride not only provided the young children with thrills and chills, it attracted their school friends and other nearby neighbors.
“I invited a couple of my friends to ride it, and they really enjoyed. It was super fun, and they would do it again,” Emily said. “For some of them it was their first roller coaster.”
But the coaster’s twists and turns were brought to a screeching halt after city officials requested it be removed due to a complaint from a neighbor.
“I knew it had to come down, because I didn’t ask for permit,” Fabio Araujo said. “I knew it was temporary and eventually the city would come and tell us to put it down, but it was a neighbor complaint that took it down.”
For the Araujo family, the construction of the roller coaster will live on as a fun, memorable summer project that they tackled together.
“We enjoyed building it,” Fabio Araujo said. “That’s something that would be on our memories forever.”
“This is bringing joy for us, riding with the friends and a lot of kids on the neighborhood came to ride it,” Erica said. “It was fun and was special.”