RE: Verbolten
NessieFan87, think of it this way, they have yet to install the slide down the stairs on a cardboard box ride or the maglite toss yet. All good amusement parks have one of those (only he'll know what i mean if he is who he must be; either that or there are a lot of people with eerily similar backgrounds). I think what swiftman says is definitely true, the cartoony renovation of Oktoberfest and the style of new shows as well as the addition of Sesame Street tore away some of the "trip to Europe" charm. I'm not against family rides or fun for kids at all, I just wish they would have maintained it in the parks theme (like land of dragons and grimm's landing before it). But hey, I'm not a marketing expert, maybe that is where the market is now more so than 20 years ago.
I think the string of corners cut (ie Griffon in regards to theming) have a lot to do with the sale. When the brewery was definitely going to be sold, I think budgets were tightened since the future was unknown. EITA was designed during that time period too. Throw in the poor economy and bad luck (Mach Tower) and I think you have too many things going wrong at once. But hey, Verbolten is (whether it is successful or not) proof that BGW is still trying to have top notch attractions. Also, now that the AB->InBev->Blackstone mystery is solved and the surfacing of resort rumors, I think things will be fine; the park will probably be better than ever in 5-10 years. You may not like everything, and you might yearn for Threadneedle Faire and Hastings, but it will still be BGW; a great time, maybe just not the same as when you were putting blocks in your shoes.