In my opinion, Busch has always been able to pull off clowns pretty well. The argument I've seen though is that it's just so easy to pull off, since even "happy" clowns look so uncanny to so many people. I just have early memories of the festa part of the haunted train, "dead" people hanging off of a ferris wheel while carnival music played. That scene had no actors but it is the only part of that ride that's been burned clear as day in my memory since I was 8. Even though pirates are just as much of a Busch tradition, I'll be glad when they finally go and Festa Dementia comes back.
I don't have my hopes high for Catacombs honestly. Last year they didn't even have the maze near finished when it was time for the actors to begin training. With all the new stuff and the maze being as old as it is, I get the feeling it's not going to be high on the design crew's priority list. I hope I'm proven wrong though. My boyfriend was that last "drop door" scare as you exited the maze, and so many people already knew he was there. That scare and the bungee cage scares have just gotten so stale over the years, as much as the actors try to get creative with them.