This information doesn't come from the conjecture of people who work front-line operations in the theme park; it comes from people directly working on the project from a design standpoint behind the scenes. The Monsters, Inc. Coaster, unless going through radical revisions, is not going to be a compact spinning ride, but a junior inverted coaster. Again, Maurer has never built any type of inverted coaster before. I don't get why people instantly assume Maurer just because they built one coaster for Disney. Monsters is definitely the theme, though.
I definitely hope Maurer gets more US contracts, but I highly doubt the next WDW coaster will be it. As for X-car trains, though I've been on over 700 different coasters, not one of them has yet had those vehicles. Every park that got one recently (the one in the US and several in Europe) that I've been to opened them one year after my visit. Thanks for that! From what I've been told, the seats are comfortable, but the restraints are kind of bulky and cumbersome. Of course, in terms of track layout Rockit is a lot more aggresive than anything they've done to date. Past X-car experiences might not even be accurate depictions of the comfort level here. I would say it looks to be a pretty enjoyable ride though.
There's still not even a peep of when those Team Member previews will be, is there?