Realistic parks have never really gotten the respect they deserve at NE. Some guy named Phatage made a pretty good one once, but that was way back when rounds were still used and a beautiful baby came to us from the depths of Mantis to defeat SF:WoE. However this is a new era and we here at NE realize that RCT is taking a realistic turn now that the "Fantasy Parkmakers" seem to have gotten board and jumped ship. Realistic is clearly the new trend now, so it figures all that seems to be left is the guys that are hardcore coaster fans like CP6, Geewhzz, Phatage, Fatha, X250, ect... So without any further adieu we present to you Watkins Woods Amusement Park by CedarPoint6. This is only his second NE park release and since it is a spotlight he has also been made an official NE Parkmaker!

As with all parks Watkins Woods Amusement Park has a rich history. The park dates back to 1918 when it started with what else, a Thompson's Scenic Railway. Up next was naturally a John Miller out-and-back woodie, Big Dipper. Every amusement park should have a classic wooden coaster and CP6 provides us with one so good that it's easy to picture yourself in the park knowing your looking at a true classic coaster. As time progressed the park was bought by it's namesake, Warren Watkins in 1951. The park re-opened, but would not get a thrilling change for 20 years. In 1971 the park added a Schwarzkopf steel coaster called Scopion, but it seems we can only wonder what it might have looked like as it was later demolished. CP6 any chance of a mini NE Design spin off or something? I think we'd all really like it so it and the other demolished rides too. So anyways around 1980's the park would add another 4 coasters were added within 12 years of each other. Blaze is the second oldest coaster remaining in the park and sports a classic layout that at the time must have made guests squirm at the thought of being flipped upside down three times! Though If they could only see X and Kingda Ka now, I bet they would shit themselves. Venom came next and made Scorpion an afterthought. This little Schwarzkopf is reminiscent of the one CP6 did in his Christmas RU, The Black Lagoon. In the AD we got to see a sneak peak of Rustler, an outstandingly realistic Arrow Suspended coaster that navigates a baron grassy terrain. At this point CP6 jumps right into the new millennium with 3 state of the art coasters. Fusion is a great Intamin coaster... possibly a little inspired by sloB's Solaris, this Hyper provides lots of high speed turns and weightless bunny hops. Siege might just be one of the best non-B&M inverts NE has ever seen. The layout is near flawless and the pacing is spot on. Coaster design is definitely one of CP6's strong points and it seems he learned a hacking trick or two to create the parks final and coolest coaster, Avalanche. Here we get to see the fabled Maurer Söhne X-Car hack in action and released for the first time. Amazing work on all the coasters and the parks historic Readme.

When it comes to details most people would probably think Xcoaster, Phatage, Ed maybe even J K, however CP6 shows us he can run with the big boys as this park pours in the great detail after great detail. What will cap it as one of the best detailed parks ever is the simple fact that the roofless version of the park shows the filled insides of every shop. All of them. That's just crazy. It will take many trips through the park to pick up all the details, but it's clear CP6 knows how to put himself in the park and think of the smallest things. That is a gift only the most detailed parkmakers have. CP6, you have definitely shown your not a one trick parkmaker. You have skills where it counts; Coasters, Planning, Details and Atmosphere creating skills. Congrats on the spotlight, it's well earned and long overdue for a realistic park like this one. In the end and after looking at it several times this is one of my all time favorite RCT2 parks right up there with RoB and IC, outstanding work!