TheFlyerMan1

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• United Kingdom

Holy...

Wow. This is quite a lot to digest! I'll write this up as I go round the park.

To begin, the entrance plaza. This is beautiful. Absolutely stunning. At first I wasn't sure if it was meant to be Dutch or German, or somewhere between the two, but the architecture, the colours, the composition feels quite enchanting and is quite immersive. It took me a minute to realise that it's a whole melting pot of Europe, and I fell in love. It's gorgeous. Parts are quite wide open, which I wouldn't expect to see in a real park, but I'm suspending my disbelief here.

Moving over to Eastern Europe, the double decker carousel is genius considering how simple it is, and at first glance, one would think it's vanilla - at least, until one of them stops. The cart ride is really sweet, the little bay with the bridge over it is cute. One thing I'm not a fan of is the red and beige around the tower weenie. I'm not too sure what you were trying to achieve there, but it feels a little awkward - maybe it's the colours? The texture? I don't know. The tram, while I understand that it's only part of a diorama setting, feels like it spends too much time underground for it to really be believable. We've now come across Bohemia & Vltava - I'll talk about the bigger rides later. For our final stop in Eastern Europe, we come across Pilsener Hop - a boozy spinning flat-ride set amongst the hills. The architecture around here is really well built, and the ride seamlessly blends in. It has crunch, but it's not an overload. It's impressive!

We now hop over to Iceland. Home of an S&S Screamin' Swing, a shot tower and Fagradalsfjall, this area strays away from the common idea that Iceland is cold, desolate and barren. Instead, we're greeted with a volcanic hellscape and some hot springs, a village and a harbour. This area truly feels alive, and I love how the fire chimneys around Eldgos are intentionally masqueraded with rocks. The backstage areas are animated, and not a single area ever feels dull or dead to the eye. I'm particularly a fan of Eldgos and Solfar, and how they're incorporated in their areas - though from a realism standpoint, not sure how the lava would be done, nor how the drive tyres on Solfar would remain dry. In all, a charming, diverse area that keeps you interested.

Moving on to Thailand, Garuda is the first thing that catches your eye. From an aesthetic standpoint, the ride area is vibrant, the water fountains are a nice touch and the spine is an incredible detail. The waterfall adds a beautiful backdrop to the area, though from a realism standpoint, it seems like this area would be a nightmare to manage - inaccessible maintenance areas, tuk tuks roaming around, and minimal backstage areas. Talking of, the backstage areas around here don't feel as alive as in Iceland, which is slightly disappointing. As a transport nerd, I do approve of the inclusion of the BTS on the bridge - a very nice touch - and the wild mouse and the water ride are really well done.

India is next door, and this does not disappoint. Plenty of variation in colour, texture, flavour, with incredible architecture and detail work. The area surrounding the Dumbo ride is adorable, the palace is stunning, and the accoutrement flat-rides feel properly harmonised with the land. My main gripe here, however, is that there's absolutely no backstage areas, and nothing to suggest a back-of-house area either.

I can't say much on Aotearoa, as the area is dominated by rides. The landscaping, however, is incredible, and the detail in the general area is fantastic. It does leave me a little confused in the density of the buildings - what buildings there are are definitely fine examples of how to make a building in RCT, however it's the most sparse land in the park, and it feels quite jarring compared to its neighbours, Europe and India. Skydive feels like it'd be a temporary attraction, and I'm not sure it's the best ride for the area. Once again - limited backstage areas, but what detail there is doesn't disappoint.

Now onto the rides!

The first ride I'd imagine someone would see would be the Skyride. While on a micro level, it's incorporated well into the landscape, on a macro level I'm not sure it integrates well into the park itself. The views from the lake are only available from one side, and in reality, I'd guess that the skyride is a 5-minute replacement for a 15-minute walk.

The White Cross is a charming layout, perhaps inspired by older woodies. I'm conflicted, however, on if it feels like it's quite long, or if it's too short. The trains certainly don't help in that regard. A solid ride, but it could probably do with some block brakes!

Bohemia, while it strays from the standard Raptor layout, definitely still speaks the same design language. It's dense, it's compact, and it doesn't let up. The interaction with the buildings is quite good, however I feel like you could have cut down on its length. Not seeing much in the way of transfer tracks or ancillaries either, unfortunately.

Vltava is easily missed, being tucked away in the corner. This one doesn't spark much joy, unfortunately, being quite square and grid-constrained. It could have been so much more. Not small enough to be a small ride, not big enough to be anything else.

Fsfdlkjajsfhddsalksfjall is a pretty sweet layout. I'm quite partial to the double top-hat arrangement you have there, and it doesn't feel as forced as I was expecting it to. I love the level of care and attention that went into this layout, it's a really solid ride. Bring on those track pieces!

Oh, and the jojo roll's pretty sound too.

Meltdown is cute, and is a pretty good representation of a Fam Boomerang. 'Nuff said.

Garuda... Where do I begin!? The spine is genius, however I'm not sure I'd handle the drop like that, having the 45 degree turn at the top. You've managed to strike a sweet spot between OzIris and Nemesis, however parts of the layout do feel quite drawn out. Maintenance on this one could be an issue.

Kangra Express is an interesting one. Not sure what ride style this one's meant to represent, but it's definitely piqued my curiosity. Another fun layout, perhaps too intense at times, but it certainly doesn't let up. Love the water interaction, too.

Yamuna is a great addition to this part of the park, and is a welcome change to this type of ride - predominantly featuring outdoors sections with open interactions with guests and plazas. I just wish you did a bit more with cutaways.

Shiva's Spin, oh my! A fun looking layout with lots of twists turns and a launch to boot, definitely a fresh take on the Maurer spinner. Could probably get away with this being a Mack, in my opinion!

Rangitikei River Wild - one of the best implementations of a whirlpool I've seen in this game. I appreciate the subtle elevation change throughout the course, and the fact you even tried a river rapids ride is impressive in and of itself. Love the details, the waterfalls, a charming little ride you have there.

Aoraki is a domineering, powerful RMC. From a compo perspective, it's extremely well done, however there's a couple things to note. A lot of your fast turns are taken low to the ground, which seems like quite a taboo thing to do in the realm of coaster design. Higher = slower, which means you're probably not going to launch everyone out sideways. The colours on this one are exceptionally beautiful, however, and I'm a fan of how it integrates into the surroundings. That tunnel mouth, while simple, is definitely impressive.

Cycle New Zealand: Based.

Skydive doesn't feel like a good fit for the area, and personally, I'd have probably foregone it. A cute ride, but not the right place for it. Swap it with the Fam Boomerang, and then we'd be talking money.

Overall, the park is really nice, however there's parts of it that definitely need review. I'm going to echo the sentiment of others and say that it feels like every other area is fighting for attention, and that at times it's not the most coherent in its layout, but it's still fantastic nonetheless. My advice would be to be more consistent with your backstage areas and try to make everywhere feel alive with something or another.