Well after a mere 6 months we finally have an all new NE Spotlight park thanks to (arguably) the most active parkmaker in the history of RCT2, James "RCTNW" Thurston. One thing James has always been known for is the massive scale in which he builds with and this 200x200 map is no exception as there are well over 100,000 of seats all around the park's different marine stadiums. Congratulations on finally achieving NE's highest honor, I think we all knew that it would happen someday.

The first thing anyone will notice the second they open this park is any of the FOUR huge outdoor stadiums. The largest of these is the Kenau Stadium where guests can be wow'ed by Killer Whales in person or by viewing them on a massive video screen. The most atmospheric of the stadiums is the Seal & Sea Lion Show which sports a lovely rock facade where the animals can interact with fans during or after the show. The most simple is the Jet Ski bleachers, but with their rustic wooden themeing, they achieve some of the best aesthetics in the park. My favorite of the stadiums though would be the Dolphin show, which is shaped like half a diamond and is easily one of the best pieces of RCTNW's illustrious career. It is no secret that James can create the best "big things" in RCT, that's what he is famous for. However here in MMW, he shows how much he's improved in other areas of the game. I think the most noticeable of these improvements is evident in his landscaping and supporting details around his more dominating big things. James might be the only person in the history of RCT2 that can use those little blurry flowers and not leave me wanting to strangle him. Despite doing it in Marriott’s Great America, MMW did not see any new flat ride creations. Still, James does have a pretty good nitch when it comes to putting them in just the right places and giving them cute names like Hammerhead, Starfish and Hurricane. Now one thing that has, in the past kept RCTNW parks a notch below the rest was coasters. This tendency invokes flashbacks to JKay who also struggled with coasters early in his career before later turning to more experienced builders to lend their expertise. Lucky for all of us, James seems to have admitted his weakness in these areas and allowed others to help him. Turtle was the first to lend a hand and produced a wonderful B&M vertical drop coaster “Hydra” which comes complete with an underwater tunnel, loop and water splash. Another addition to the park came from none other then longtime track expert Steve Franks. Mr. Thurston and Franks take us kids on a walk back to the old days on the beach boardwalk under the chairlifts and right to the park’s only wooden coaster, “Proteus” which is a great example of coasters from the roaring 30’s. James has made improvements to his own coaster skills and was even brave enough to make two all by himself. The first of his coasters was Kraken, an Intamin launched coaster. Unfortunately due to it’s type the coaster is really not that impressive and the area around it is honestly some of the weakest in the entire park as James still has that annoying habit of creating filler buildings. However, we need to give James full props for his fantastic 4D coaster “Leviathan”. It’s a really great layout and it’s interaction with nearby paths, waterfalls and Starfish is pretty much flawless. Not to be bias, but in my opinion “Thresher” is the best coaster in the park. Yeah, I (Kumba) did the layout :-p You can give me the credit for the B&M Giga layout and elements like the lift system, water splash breaks, 308ft drop and the 10,000ft of track, but I think James put it over the top with all the support work I refused to do and would have done nowhere near as well as he did. Also in the area, James worked in an underwater shark encounter and 3D IMAX theater. Finally, no aquatic set park is complete without a water ride. With the help of the amazing brain that sits on the shoulders of Levis, James and Leo where able to create an instant contender for water ride of the year in “Monsoon Falls”. The duel station and drop are executed to a kind of simple perfection that will insure that people will not soon forget Marriott’s Marine World.

James, congratulations on finally capturing an NE Spotlight. After all your years of hard work, I am honored to welcome you into that elite club of Spotlight winners. To think your only doing it with a small fraction of a larger project is fairly mind boggling. Some may say I should have waited until it all was done, but why wait? Especially when you felt it was time to release this map which is quite obviously been judged to be Spotlight worthy.