StickyGum32

One of my favorite things is seeing how this has grown, from the model to RCT3 to PC1 and now to PC2. It's like seeing an old friend again. Can't wait to see more! 😊 - StickyGum32

Hello again! Many many new things to see here, so let's dive in. First thing's first, here's the POV for The Plank, the wooden coaster over in Pirate Cove. You saw pics of it last week, but now you can ride it yourself! Now, let's also talk about an area you've seen before that has since gotten a complete renovation: The Plaza. Returnees will remember this area for its hotel and two star attractions, Plaza Autos and Prototype. The latter of the two I've always felt was a bit....well weak, even for the loose city theme of this area. The hotel has also been a major disappointment, rarely having any visitors and certainly not making money. So I dropped down a duplicate save file and decided to see what would happen if I removed Prototype and the hotel and dreamed up some new experiences for this area. I'm happy to say that this has been a raging success, as the removal of those two items has now left us plenty of room for three new attractions! First, the crown jewel of this area: City Dash, a launching motorcycle style coaster that races you through the streets of the city and even across rooftops! It's a wild ride, but still tame enough for the whole family to enjoy together. Second is another family coaster, Roundabout, a spinning coaster. It's compact and far less themed than the big boy of the area, but it's still a fun ride to share with everyone. Lastly, we've also added a new flat to the area (Around the World), and a brand new restaurant, Firehouse 150. And with a quick re-route of the Plaza Autos attraction through a new mechanic's shop scene, this whole area has really come together in a way that far exceeds my expectations! And as a bonus treat, here's the POV's for City Dash, Roundabout, and Plaza Autos! That's all for now! We'll see what happens next week... - StickyGum32

Hey folks! I'm back on the ocean again, which means I'm also back to fiddling with my parks! So let's catch up on some serious changes that have happened since we last talked, shall we? First off, let's check in at Pirate Cove, as this area has finally found its footing since I last left the ocean. The big B&M, Kraken, has been repainted and has a proper sign now. Oh yeah, and of course it has a huge monster (you know the one). This area has also now seen added to it a quirky little woodie, The Plank, for all of you adventurous treasure hunters out there. I'll get a POV of The Plank up soon for you all. Throw in a Galleon and a Whirly Rig and ouila, Pirate Cove starts to come alive. Next up, let's talk about the very first attraction you all saw from this project: Apparition Manor. My beloved Haunted Mansion knock-off. It uhh....well it had a big problem: capacity. It's riders per hour was atrocious, and regularly had guests queuing for 70+ minutes (real world minutes) for this 4-seater shooty attraction. So to help with the lines I made two adjustments. First, I took out some unnecessary queue space in the front yard and just inside the manor itself. Secondly, I meticulously re-built the attraction as a different ride type (dark ride) to increase the cars capacity from 4 to 6. These simple changes have sliced the wait times down to 40+ minutes, a vast improvement over the original 70+ wait times. There have also been MAJOR changes at The Plaza....but we'll look at all of that next time 😉 - StickyGum32

Absolutely incredible! I'm just as amazed today by the details and craftsmanship as I was the first time I saw them [REDACTED] years ago. Endless thanks for sharing these again sir! I've always been such a huge fan of this model, and I'm so glad to have it back on the web. - StickyGum32

Hey folks! Big update on both attractions today! I've been chipping away at the interiors, and adding some sweet, juicy in-show exit paths. I'm pretty stoked with how these are turning out so far! Side note, if you've got any name suggestions, throw them my way. First up, the Temple Boats. The first area temple has been decorated to a point that I'm happy with, and the second temple (notably a different style entirely) is also fairly nice. The final bit of the show building has yet to be themed, but two-thirds ain't bad! I've also got some sneaky pictures of the in-show exits. There are two in the first temple scene, by exiting through the paths on-set. The second path (the one to the right of the new statues) leads to a shared exit with the second temple scene. The shared exit from the second temple scene is accessed through the on-set red door, and is the only unmarked exit as a ride attendant would be there to guide you. Far less important than all of this, one minor change to the food court: it's now open-top! Next up is the Hidden Temple Coaster. This sucker has gained some coaster nets out front, and a safety fence just before the entrance cave for protection. The station is also in a place that I think I'm happy with. It's a bit minimal and hap-hazard, but I think that's why I like it? It looks a little hasty and janky on purpose. Anyway, the temple itself has earned a new golden statue treasure and a fire pit to keep it warm. This also helps hide the in-show exit in that room! There's also a new interaction at the top of the lift with a snake sculpture that spits fire at you as you pass by; all the more reason to get out of there pronto. There's also some pics here of the in-show exit at the base of the lift hill, and the exit that's in the shack on the outside of the mountain (immediately after the lift). That last exit is my favorite currently because you get to walk across the roof of the show building to exit! Super cool. That's all for now! Feel free to throw some ideas my way, I'm open to anything and everything. Especially if you see things that would strengthen the feel of the park, I'm here for it! - StickyGum32

Having watched Silvarett's videos, I can't say I'm not excited about PC2. I definitely wanna get my hands on it, but I'm also gonna need it to go on sale first. 😅 Thanks for the compliments! I've really felt a lot more comfortable with the terra tools after the mine train on my last park, and I'm glad to find an excuse to use those tools again here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While the inside of the show building still eludes me a bit on the coaster, I decided to start giving some thought as to what its neighbors might be...and voilà, we have a new ride! A boat dark ride! Where the mine train is a turbulent ride through an excavation of temples long forgotten, the boat ride is a meandering, relaxing exploration of the temples that lie buried in these mysterious caves. A gentle companion to the coaster next door, it also houses within its station temple building a small selection of counter-service eating establishments for guests to enjoy. Much like the mine train, it has a show building for most of the ride. Inside will be the various temple structures. For now, only the opening scene has begun taking shape. The rest is uhhh.....yet to be discovered. Yeah, let's go with that. And there ya have it! A new attraction enters the park, a high-capacity dark ride. More to come! - StickyGum32

It's PC1. I haven't snagged PC2 yet, though I'm keeping my eye on it. I've never been on the pre-order train, but it does look like a solid successor thus far! - StickyGum32

Since the freshen-up of my old park has turned out successful, I've been sitting on the idea to start from scratch and build a new park, something that would allow me to employ the new skills and tricks I've picked up from the beginning of a park. And so, just how that old park began, we're beginning again with one ride, and from there we will grow. So welcome, to a new project of undefined magnitude and complication, of new experiences and new troubles and headaches for me. Let's begin... ...with a mine cart coaster! This lovely beast is the result of a style of coaster I've wanted to try for a long time. Basically, adventuring gone wrong. We found some shit in there and we really shouldn't have touched it or entered in the first place. This lil guy has a compact footprint, with dark-ride elements which take place inside the show building in the back. It's also a fairly tame coaster, reaching a top speed of 29mph. It's stats aren't brilliant because of it, but It's going to have so much theming that it's certain to be a must-do! One of the elements that I'm trying to include in this park is some more realism, and we'll see just how much I can stomach to stretch for (but feel free to add suggestions). For now, I've begun by planning one (1) emergency exit. 😃 ...more of them to come I'm sure. At the moment, only the left third of the show building is really themed; that's the side that is housing the temple and the lift hill (shrouded by the mountain). Truth be told, the station and the end of the ride...I have no idea what they're gonna be yet. But I keep fiddling with it during my downtime, so progress is to come! In the meantime, enjoy a POV at the end of this post. See you on the next one! - StickyGum32

Oh nooo I've got to go hide before he finds me again... "It's looking really good" is what I would say if I were here and not hiding, but I'm hiding and not here, so I shan't say anything at all. - StickyGum32

Hey friends! It's been a very busy few weeks on the ship, and I actually get to come home on Monday the 9th! So life's about to get really weird with me basically changing everything I do all over again (living, working, etc), but even in the midst of all this chaos I've found some spare moments to get in-game, and I have some new things to show you! So I think I'm leaning a bit into this "pirate port" kind of idea, though I'm not entirely certain that's how it's going to end. What I do know is that I have a train station for the area and a top-notch, B&M floorless ready to roll. The station of course if pretty themed, but it could be easily rebuilt to fit any other theme that comes up. Taking a nod of inspiration from Wagi's ideas (thanks again!), I have to entrance to this area passing through the fort/train station, but there's also another addition: you have to walk downhill as well! This entire area is sunk down at least 6m below the standard park level. The floorless is a very typical B&M, though not a typical layout. Given the terrain, it makes use of the nearby elevated area of land that holds the train, and (in my current idea) will be forested, meaning that the B&M will be popping in and out of these caves into dense forest, and sometimes over top of the forest too! It also ties the dive coaster over in the Backwoods for the fastest coaster in the park, both reaching a max of 60mph, though the dive coaster takes the prize of tallest drop at 35m, where this one is 32m. Overall, this is what the area looks like now with the train and the B&M installed. Still not sure what the final result will be, and definitely not sure that pirates will take the theme, but it's a good start! Per usual, feel free to give your feedback and suggestions! - StickyGum32

Ohhhhh I really like this! I particularly like the Fort idea, particularly that it's a sprawling Fort. I think what I'd do is let the building of the Fort "sprawl" around the south of the bay to help house a dark ride and/or food venues, etc. It also perhaps opens up space even further south from the outlined area to do even more expansion, because the train station in its current place will have to be moved and redesigned, and having the Fort sprawl around the south will help divide the two areas and allow path to be constructed from one to the other. ...I'm gonna have to go play with this. Thanks for the incredible suggestion, and the drawing! -StickyGum32

Thanks! It took a couple of tries to get the look right for this forested type town, but I think it turned out pretty nice! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, so I want some opinions here. This is the only possible expansion opportunity I can find in the park, and I want to see what you all think of it before I try anything. There's a lot happening in this picture, so let me breakdown what would have to change. The smartest entrance position to me for this new potential area would be straight through where the Aeronauts and the food area behind it is, so all of the items in red would be demolished. The train station would move to become a part of the area, and the track would be re-routed to compliment the new area. The maintenance shed for Cascade would also have to be relocate, and the track slightly extended to make a proper amount of space for the entrance walkway. The eating establishment that's currently there would be replaced by something more thematically appropriate to the new area (and obviously in a different location). I think something pirate-esque or adventure themed would work well here, but I'm not sold on what that would be. I do think there would have to be another coaster or dark ride (or both) to draw crowds to this far corner of the park. River Journey actually has a huge appeal to the peeps, so it will be doing some heavy lifting on its own, but getting people deeper into this new area would require an attraction with high enough prestige to draw them there naturally. What do you all think? This is the only weak spot in my opinion when looking at the park as a whole. Do you think that it's worth the expansion? Do you think those theming suggestions would be cohesive with the rest of the park? Do you have a better idea of what to put back here? Give me some opinions! - StickyGum32

Thanks! I felt like it was the best way to let everyone experience the park in a more natural way. It's also nice cause I can show off some of the interiors a little easier. 😅 Thank you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today...go-karts. I've finished the decor around the track, including a small western town scene that you get to speed through. And of course, plenty of forest all the way round the track. Truth be told, I really don't know what's happening next? This place is feeling pretty....finished? There are some touch up spots for sure, but if you all have any suggestions for areas of the park, feel free to suggest them! For real though, let me know of any ideas you have to improve or expand the park! Cause I'm fresh out! - StickyGum32

Thanks! It was modular enough that it filled this awkward shape, could be themed well to fit the area, and draws a crowd. It has a high appeal to the guests, so it's drawing a lot of them to this very back corner, which of course is always good for business. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's update is actually a pretty simple one. Since we've now seen all the park has to offer (thus far), I thought it would be cool to provide an areal photo view of the entire park! This way you can see better how all of these areas interact with each other. I also mass-selected the entire park and included the screenshot of the scenery count and everything. It's a little insane how much is in this park right now! But as I was thinking about that idea, "see how all of these areas interact with each other", I thought of a new idea, something I don't think I've seen yet: a walk. Yes, I've recorded three walks around the park utilizing our good friend tegidcam. One of these walks is all around the Backwoods, another takes us through the Entrance and into The Plaza, and the final walk takes us around half the park, from the Backwoods all the way over to the station by Apparition Manor. I thought these would be a fun way to show all of you just how dynamic the park can be from the guest perspective, so let me know what you think about this idea! - StickyGum32

Thanks! I think you're gonna like how it looks now 🙂 Thank you!!! I especially appreciate the smoothness comment, as I refuse to do the 4m track building technique. I just...don't have that kind of patience. 😅 Well I've already built a Haunted Mansion type attraction with Apparition Manor across the park, but I've taken a swing at the intense ride suggestion below, so we'll see how that pans out! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A few updates on this post! First up, I've finished most of the theming for the mine train! It's fully forested now, and there's some more props and sheds around the attraction as well. There may be a couple of additions in the future, but it will be subtle theming elements. Secondly, I've fully committed to the Dive Coaster, and it now has a full blown station building, landscaping, and forest. It looks so good! I've also included an updated POV below because it truly does feel so different now that it's fully done. Now the big one. I've now also taken a swing at what's going to fill the hole in the back: go-karts. Yes, race through the hills and caverns of the Backwoods on this exciting go-karts track! Check it out below and let me know what you think about it! - StickyGum32

Thanks! Something I really love about this coaster type is that it absolutely requires no smoothing! I did no smoothing on this track whatsoever and it rides flawlessly. In my opinion, it's one of the best in the game as far as smooth tracking goes. Thanks! Getting all the facades in was a real bitch, but I really love the finished product. Glad y'all like it too 😁 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, let's talk about this back area of the Backwoods. My first intention was to put a dark ride back there because it would easily fill the space with a show building. However, this idea originated at the time that I thought the mine train coaster was going to have a lot more pull than what it currently has. The stats on that cute little ride are disappointing unfortunately, and the guests really aren't interested in a low-thrills attraction. Now a dark ride would most certainly keep their attention yes, especially with all the theming, but the biggest issue with a dark ride having huge pull is that capacity on most of the in-game dark rides is uhmmm not good. Not at all. It takes an eternity for a guest to get through the entire queue for Apparition Manor if it's full, so if something else is going in here, it needs to have the capability of high capacity. So my first iteration of an idea was to turn a coaster into a dark ride! I used the wooden coaster with the 6-seat cars, set the trains to have 2 cars each, and then littered the track with block breaks so that I could run 8 trains at a time. That gave me the capacity of a coaster for a dark ride in a heartbeat, with 96 guests on at any given time, and a new unload/load cycle happening every 10-20 seconds. Where this plan fell apart was with the game's calculation of the Excitement/Fear/Nausea values (and thus, the appeal) of the ride. Because it's a coaster, having the majority of the ride do absolutely nothing but flat track travel made for a very bad score, even though the finale of the ride included a short coaster section. So this idea quickly bit the dust, because I sure as hell wasn't about to go all out on this dark ride/coaster concept only for it to be completely ignored by guests. And of course by this point I also had the results from the mine train, and had even opened the park to see how popular it was; plot twist, it wasn't popular. At all. So now the issue is that I have this huge hole in the back of the Backwoods, and whatever fills it needs to have such a massive appeal that it draws a crowd back there so that guests will also spill over into the mine train and the Moonshine Moonshot. Enter....the dive coaster. Now I'm not sold on this whatsoever, so feel free to give your thoughts, but this is where we are at the moment. I have a working layout, caverns galore, but no idea if it's going to stay or not. So let me know if you think this is the right move, or if there's a tracked ride/dark ride type attraction that I'm overlooking that would light this area up. - StickyGum32

Thank you! The thing that I think helped is that the first time I built the mountain before the coaster, and the second time I built the coaster first. That made a huge difference 😅 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two things for you today: a look at Cascade and three (yes 3) POV's for your viewing pleasure! First up, the final area yet to be looked at in the park: Cascade. This water coaster again traverses a non-descript village type area, meandering through buildings, bell towers, and caverns before plunging into the lagoon below. It's not much more simple than that! It's also one of the last attractions that got some nighttime love...before I gave up on nighttime lighting 😂 Cascade also hosts a small food court just off the exit, which includes a gift shop. It also has a beautiful overlook at the level of the final drop just before the big splash, giving an exciting view with any snack you choose to enjoy! And now, onto the three POV's! One of Cascade of course, but also one for the unnamed mine train and rapids from the Backwoods. If you have any ideas for ride names for those two, feel free to chime in! Eagle-eyed viewers may notice a big blue baddie in the mine train POV filling in the space of the Backwoods, and uhhhhh I think we'll chat about that next time 😇 - StickyGum32

Hello again friends! Big ol' Backwoods update today, and boy have things boomed in this area. As I was sitting with this section of the park, the scale of the mine train coaster was still getting on my last nerve...so I deleted it, leveled it, and started completely over again. One of the things I really liked about the rapids attraction (still unnamed, send help) is that it's compact. I felt that the mine train was needlessly excessive in size, especially in comparison to the rapids footprint (like seriously, go back and look at that overview shot of the area with the two side by side, it's enormous). So, with compactness being a primary goal, I redesigned the mine train ride...again. And I'm telling you friends, we nailed it this time. I'm so very thrilled with how this turned out! It's not a very fast coaster, but it's cute, it's still terrain-hugging, and I really love its pacing. It can also run three trains at a time, giving it a capacity that most coasters would kill for. With the mine train taking up far less space, there was now room to add a brand new eating establishment at the base of the mountain AND a new flat ride just beside the entrance to the coaster! The eating establishment is again a quick service (pretty much a duplicate of the restaurants in the other one by the rapids), and it brings back to life one of the things I was sad to lose: The Grub Hub is back baby. 😎 As for that flat ride? Well it's a drop tower, and keeping in theme it's called the Moonshine Moonshot. It's a fun time for sure, and it offers the tallest view of the park that you can get from any attraction. Super cool! This also brings me to another point. Something I loathed about the old mountain and now love about this new one (and the Moonshot) is that the sight-lines from around the park have improved drastically. The old mountain was so bulky and huge that it could be seen from damn near everywhere, and in ways that weren't flattering. This new mountain only grabs your attention when you're nearing that corner of the park. Now the Moonshot of course can be seen from practically anywhere in the park, but it's far less imposing and distracting being a simple tower; especially from far away, the tower becomes thin and easy to ignore. You might be able to tell, but I'm far happier with this new mountain. 😅 Oh yes, also in this update, the rapids is completely finished! I failed to get a full shot of the last area coming into the lift, but you can get a good view of it on the overview that's below. Now enough yapping; bring me pictures! And the Backwoods is off and kicking! I've got a dark-ride/coaster idea that I'm playing around with right now to fill in the remaining space in the back, but I'm going to have to build a lot of it to see if it actually works or not, so that might take a minute. But for now, that's where we are! All of the attractions you see above here are ready for guests, with the exception of the mine train needing some foliage around it. Next time, I'm going to show you all the last remaining section of the existing park that has yet to be talked about, and is fittingly the neighbor to the Backwoods. Next time, we'll take a look at the park's intricate water-coaster: Cascade. - StickyGum32

How could we ever forget the father of half of the CS library??? 😂 Great to see you around! - StickyGum32

Thanks! I honestly didn't know if I'd like the walls of the flume covered up, but it's come out far better than I could've hoped for. Very glad I tried! I think the total piece count though for just the flume covers is like 550+ so ya know there are some drawbacks 😂 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sorry I was absent Friday folks! Had a very busy day on my hands out of nowhere, which does happen from time to time. But we're back today with The Plaza, one of my favorites! Certainly one of my favorites sections, I love how the whole area works together. Unlike a lot of these other areas, it's not a meandering section but a very clearly plotted and planned development. The Plaza is home to two attractions, both of which are among the most popular in the park: Plaza Autos and Prototype. It's also home to the largest quick service location in the park, hosting 14 stalls in one food-court style building, and the parks first restaurant which...also doesn't have a name. Finally, there's also The Forest Inn, the park's flagship hotel that is available for guests to stay at. Prototype is a launching coaster that has a very simple storyline. You board an inventor's new fancy schmancy transportation technology, it goes awry, you go on a wild ride. Every time the launch happens, the shack blows fire sky high and the windows burst! It's just as fun to watch as it is to ride. Like every good coaster, there's a cattle-pin queue and a priority line to skip it. Also, if you recall me saying that Lumber Pile was actually the second coaster to occupy that footprint up front, that's because Prototype was the ride originally in that spot. Of course, Prototype got relocated to The Plaza, making way for the wooden giant up front. Plaza Autos...to be honest, I really didn't expect it to be popular at all. It's just a simple car ride. And then, when it opened, it quickly became the hottest ticket in the park. Beats me. That's all for this time! Probably more Backwoods on the next one. Take care! - StickyGum32

Thanks! I forgot to say it in the post, but I'm actually really proud of how well the layout came out. I feel like it's hard to maintain that "out-of-control" feeling on these coasters, and I feel like Lumber Pile really hits that mark nicely. Pretty happy with it! 😁 Thank you kindly for the suggestion and the compliment! I'll have to play around with the bricks soon, I got hyper-focused on the Backwoods again 😅 I did get those eaves in, and wow did it make a huge difference on the train station especially; look for it below, I really love how it turned out! Great suggestions all around, keep them coming! Thanks! I grew up with a great GCI in my backyard, the Ozark Wildcat at Celebration City. It was my first proper wooden coaster that I got to ride, and let me tell you I was spoiled rotten on that thing. GCI's are so damn smooth, and I've always loved every one that I've ridden. So the smoothness of a GCI was a huge inspiration for Lumber Pile! In my defense, it's more of a "I've been on and off working on this park since 2018" kind of secret, and also I don't have a name for the park so.... 😂 jesus christ no more collabs for you, banned, blocked ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's update is focused again on the Backwoods area, but before we go back there...a quick update on Apparition Manor. It seems that the assets that I used to use for the changing portraits are gone (of course), so for now until I have a better option, I've got the portraits hung with targets to shoot. They don't do anything at the moment, and they might not ever do anything unless I find a replacement. What used to happen was that, when triggered, the portrait would change to the "corrupted" version of the picture, but I can't make that happen without the asset. So for now, static pictures it is. Anyway, back to the Backwoods! I've taken a lot of your comments to heart, and they've been extremely handy! I've been adding in some greenery and whatnot to the area, and it's truly making it come alive. Wagi's suggestion of the eaves was also a massive help to the train station especially, and to the rest of the buildings as well. This area is really starting to get some character with these trees and rocks and shrubs in. I also decided to give the little food shack a deck, which I'm very proud of. It will soon feature some outdoor seating and trash bins. Of course, I've also spruced up the rapids attraction! Lots of terrain painting here (mainly adding rock texture), but I also made a decision to try and cover up all of the steel walls of the waterway. Sections that go near or through terrain were pretty easy, just extrude the rocks to cover the flume walls. But naturally not every flume wall is close to raised terrain, so I ended up using the 2x4 deck pieces to make a wall around those sections that can't be eaten up by terrain. I'm actually super thrilled with how good it looks too! Not yet sure what the back looks like coming up to the lift and the drop, but I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually. There's also a station building now, and a waterfall that the rafts travel through. You will definitely get wet on this ride. Next time, we'll take a look at The Plaza, which will complete our tour of the entrance area. The Plaza is home to one of the most (if not the most) popular attractions in the park, so I'm looking forward to sharing that with you on Friday! - StickyGum32

Awww thank you! Sometimes with these big swings, it's so hard to tell if it's even working or not, so I appreciate the feedback. Thank you so much for all the suggestions! I've been playing around with foliage since you commented, and I think you're right, it's starting to come together more than what it was before. I think my main concern has been this enormous mountain that I have now? I don't know what I'm feeling there, but it just feels cumbersome. But I'm going to try some scenery ideas and show scenes (a la Big Thunder Mountain) and see if I can't get something to work there. And I hadn't thought of the hoax rides! I forget that that's a trick that works. I do think I'm going to put something back there, but I'm fully undecided on what that will be as of yet. But I do love that idea... Oh, and yes the trims! I've got them on a few other buildings, but I hadn't thought of them on these. I'm definitely going to go back and pop those in there; you're right that they will pop with that little extra going on. Feel free to keep giving those suggestions, buildings are always my least favorite 😂 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- While I'm still playing around with the new Backwoods area, today I'm going to introduce you to the final train station and the area it calls home: the main entrance! You would not be mistaken at all to see the clear inspiration from the Magic Kingdom on this one, though I like to think I've put enough of my own stamp on it to differentiate it. The train station is definitely not that, it's a rip of the Main Street station. But the rest of this area I think works quite well! A good handful of these buildings are facades, but there's also plenty of them that are functional for the peeps and staff. Our other big feature today is this bad boy here: Lumber Pile, the towering wooden coaster standing over the entrance plaza. This actually used to be the original home of a coaster we'll look at soon, but Lumber Pile fits the scene a bit better, especially as the path where its queue is leads straight into the Backwoods. As for this coaster's theming, you need to think Cedar Fair again. We're here for the ride, not the show. And there we go! Depending on how the Backwoods is going, that might be the next update. Otherwise, we'll be looking at the area behind the other side of the entrance area: The Plaza. - StickyGum32

Hello! Your feedback is requested for this post! I can't tell if I like my own decisions! Please help!!! As promised, we're looking at the Backwoods today. This section of the park is meant to be a rustic, frontier-like section with a meandering mine train and comes with its own train station of the park's line. It's supposed to be a big stop, which is why it has been so disappointing that the original concept hasn't worked out well. Let's talk about the original first. There was a mine train, Hillside Run, that meanders its way throughout the entire land of the Backwoods, creating excellent dynamic motion around the whole area. Its biggest demise is that it can run a little slow so it's excitement value isn't stellar, and thus not as interesting to the peeps as some of the other big coasters in the park are (especially Landslide, the RMC we looked at). Hell, even the unnamed island coaster sustains a larger line that Hillside Run does. The flume ride, Barrel Chute, had the opposite problem. It's capacity is so small and it's throughput not fast enough to eat through the line that it sustains, despite it being one of my absolute favorite designs I've had for a flume. I'm sure you could've guessed this next one, but the chairswing of course was of interest to absolutely no one, so again another miss. Combine that with the fact that the train also has to climb from default ground height to nearly 16m to get up to the train station for this area, and you've got yourself a recipe for inefficiency as a new themed area. Even if it looks pretty. Oh yes! There was also the Grub Hub, named before I was aware of the app actually. It is what it says it is, the second largest quick service dining location on the map. It has about 12 different establishments inside to choose from. This is the part where I need your input! Cannot stress enough how uncertain I am of these choices! I've completely demolished this entire area. Everything you see above is completely gone. That part, I know is a good choice. So with this loose frontier theme in mind, I completely leveled the whole area, and decided on a few things: 1. I want a mine train that hugs terrain, and dives in and out of tunnels. I would prefer that it traverses the area, but beggars can't be choosers; 2. I want a water ride. There's only one other in the park (technically two if you count the River Journey, but you don't get wet on that, so I don't count it); 3. There has to be a train station, and I would prefer it not to be sky high; 4. There must be eating establishments to make up for the loss of The Grub Hub. With that in mind, I've ended up with two major attractions: a mine train and a river rapids attraction. Both have major differences from their predecessors. The mine train takes on a bit more of a Matterhorn approach, being housed entirely in its own mountainous structure, not weaving through the rest of the land whatsoever. The rapids attraction corrects the oversight of the final drop not being a focal point and the capacity issue. It also may be a slight homage to my home park's very own lost rapids attraction, The Lost River of the Ozarks. The chairswings are back against my better judgement, and there's a small eating establishment already set down. The train station is pretty bland at the moment, but I like the base that I'm starting with. I also like that the train is now the thing that meanders through the area, as you have to pass underneath it to enter the area, and as it leaves the area heading to the Main Entrance, it passes through the mountain that houses the mine train. Enough yapping though, time for pictures. I've included an overview of the whole area, as well as overviews of the mine train and rapids with the respective attraction selected so that you can see the actual layout of the attraction as they both pass through terrain. What I need is some honest opinions here. I'm at a point where the majority of this land has been laid out, and only a few details have been placed down. The attractions are completely undecorated, but have most of their terrain work done. I'm also not opposed to a third major attraction in the back where that gap is between the mine train and the rapids. Lord knows I've got the land for it too. But please, let me know your thoughts! Does this look like a good direction to go in? Am I missing a crucial element? Have I gone mad? Should I start all over again? Give it to me straight...the feedback, not anything else. #proudallyear 🏳️‍🌈🌈 - StickyGum32

I knew you'd be happy about the landscaping 😂 After some digging, I found that Windows 11 comes with a game bar thing that does screen capture, so that's what I went with for now. If it looks bad, I'll try one of those options, but I think it turned out pretty good! Thanks! I love how this coaster turned out, that first iteration was just not cutting it. It had moments, but this new version just Has It, ya know? ALSO MI AMOR HELLO I'VE MISSED YOU!!! <3 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today I have POV's! These are the POV's for all three major attractions that we've seen thus far: Apparition Manor, Landslide, and that island coaster thing that still doesn't have a name. Now for the Manor, there's a dead spot where you're looking smack at a wall down a long hallway...this is where I'm trying to put the Haunted Mansion's famous changing portraits, which would be triggered when shooting a nearby target, but I have to find a way to do the portraits. So for now, it's blank. Otherwise... Next up, Landslide! And finally that uhhh.....island coaster thing. Next time, we'll be looking at the Backwoods area of the park. Which has been recently completely leveled, and I'm rebuilding it. So we'll see what you all think of my plans so far. - StickyGum32

Thanks! The other doozy of this particular attraction is the fact that a lot of action also sits below ground level (even the bottom of the first drop), so even if you know how high up you are, you still don't know how far down you're falling. Add in the caves throughout and it's just a wild time! 😁 Thank you! RMC really felt like the right choice for what I wanted. When I was in concept for the ride, I described it as "a mountainous terrain-hugging coaster that whips through the caves and hills without reason" and honestly? It just screamed RMC. Also how dare you, that's very clearly the employee parking lot (well one of them) 😂 - StickyGum32