I now own RCT2 and would like to know if anyone has some good tips for me. namely, how to raise objects?

YAYAYAY you just got the best game ever
Anyway some tips, eh?
Ok then....
1. You raise objects by pressing shift and holding
2. Keep objects at a certain height by holding control when cursor over an object
3. Info Kiosk at the start, always
4. Always put the tvs in the queue lines
5. Scenery really increases park rating, build tons of it
6. Unlike RCT3, intensity matters more than excitement in turns of ratings, so try to keep that under 11
7. Place salty foods and drink stalls together
8. The supports that can be found in walls and roofs look amazing on any coaster
9. make paths easy to navigate, make it in rectangles or near rectangles so people don't get lost
10. have plenty of staff, and zone the handymen by pressing the blue footprint tool on the handyman's menu
11.tons of washrooms and first aid and cash machines (if playing with money)
12. to smooth out the terrain, use the 1x1 terrain tool and drag the corners of the land
13. If you want sandbox mode, go to scenario editor and once you get to the money part, check the box that says "no money"
14. In scenario editor it is really easy to terraform, go to the land tool and press minus once more after the 1x1 shows up, and then it will create hills and valleys as you drag it, automatically smoothing, this does not work in game
15. Best scenery sets to choose for a generic park: Water feature, six flags, abstract, mechanical, mine, medieval, dark ages, as these include fountains, more supports, glass walls, stuff for wooden coasters, flags, and castles
Hope this helps and have fun! can't wait to see what you create!
naveisawesome

Thank you so much for this advice!

Don't bother with the expansions. The only thing they bring to the table are slightly better scenarios.

Scenery also increases the ratings on your coasters.