The first time I've ever released one Runner-Up
by itself, really solidifying itself as a "mega runner-up". Although
Prince has hit the Runner-Up position several times in the past, never
have his parks been even close to as amazing as Waters of the Past.
Definitely his crowning achievement as a Parkmaker, as Prince proves me
to be a genius after making him a Parkmaker. Finally expanding past his
common themes and slightly dull architecture, Prince grasps the concept
of imaginative theming and goes wild, with four completely contrasting
themed areas, all with cool stories behind each, and all with
incredible skill. Also a much better coaster collection in this park,
(although the park includes one of my least favorite all-time
coasters), yet its made up for it by a simple, yet brilliant shuttle by
A-K. Lots of cool extras in this park make it fun to look at for hours,
and Corkscrewed will be the first to argue that Waters of the Past
should have been a NE Spotlight. I've made my decision, so what's your
call?
The first screen shows the beautiful Siminia area of the park, my
personal favorite. Featuring two of Prince's best coasters of all time,
and his best theming and architecture as well. The inverted coaster
pictured is "Hydra", a very unique ride that goes through several one
of a kind elements. Following a large Immelman, the ride spirals down a
huge twisting tunneled drop, definitely one of the more awkward drops
I've seen on a coaster. The coaster from there flies into the hatching
Hydra egg (pictured), where it track merges up the hatching egg, stalls
out, and flies back down backwards, into a large reverse helix, and
then back up the unique hill, merging back forward and back into the
rest of the layout.
The liquid in the second picture is "King Arklon's Odyssey", a
beautiful ride as well.Also one of the few liquids you'll see where the
majority of the ride is flume track rather than rails as it winds its
way throught out the large temple complex. Cool feature, this area is
only accessible by boat, as no paths reach this area. Very cool idea
Prince, and pulled off nicely.
In the Piscati section of the park, fire rather than water seems to be
the key element. "Escape From Piscati's Core" is a sprawling adventure
ride that runs over rocks, through buildings, into covered tunnels, and
through the wicked series of stalls you see here. It's an awesome
adventure ride that really rounds out the ride selection of the park.
You can also see more of Hydra near the bottom and the enterprise
"Fireball".
Here you'll see a completely different looking area, Amayanath. Here
you'll find the absolutely horrible coaster (sorry) "Aramyth: Temple of
the Gods", an ugly, sprawling coaster with terrible ratings, and
overbearing supports, as the coaster just seems to pollute the polished
architecture below. The coaster pictured though is "Autumn", an A-K
Shuttle coaster that actually flows beautifully with the temple-like
architecture, something it's bigger neighbor fails to do completely.
A sort of forgotten area, Flimana, is made up of a narrow stip of land
next to Amayanath on the border of the map. It's the smallest and
consequently, least interesting area of the park but still houses an ok
wooden coaster "Fishina's Final Seige" and some nice architecture. The
woodie consists of large turnarounds and many crossovers and no
brakerun to be found but the architecture creates a pleasant feeling
with lots of 2x2 towers and clotheslines. Despite being obvious filler
its very nice.
The final screen shows an up close and personal look at the palace that
houses the Dream Keeper's station and also happens to be the entrance
to the park. Known as the Castle of Lost Dreams, it's where one of the
strangest Beemers you'll find stays. The layout itself isn't that
strange, but the highlight of the ride is, a completely invisible
barrel roll, the most terrifying inversion ever found on a coaster.
From the screen, you can see the lush vegitation that seems to infest
the once prestigous castle over time. You can also see parts of the
coaster track that glides just above the castle ruins, back to the
palace. This coaster also features one of those unique Cutback elements
that was invented by RRP's "Katcun" coaster back in the Legends
Challenge.
Great park Prince, and definitely your finest work ever. Congrats on your best EverQuest park yet!