The problem is that the technology can get outdated quickly and they seem to hit the point where the ridership no longer justifies the ride being open. There are parks inside the US that have recently built or are building dark rides.
This. I think that's the big issue; between subject matter/IP and more importantly technology, guest expectations/interests shift too rapidly. You need something that's more or less timeless and preferably where you don't have to license the characters. Much easier to do that as the Mouse or Universal, especially if you can tie it into the marketing budget of a franchise. But that doesn't preclude the park building dark rides, just maybe they need to adjust their approach.
Which is why I say something like a shooter. The park maybe would be wise to look to Hershey--definitely use their own IP, but more like BGW's situation than say the Mouse's, I would say. BGW could use something like Reese's Xtreme Cup/Cupfusion, or an indoor low-end coaster like Laff Trakk, etc. Or the indoor Catapult!
These should be relatively cheap, and can hopefully be more "ride" than "attraction" enough to avoid the pitfalls mentioned above. Plus, dark rides like these are often in that middle age range, and can be opened for colder weather seasonal events to pull more people into the park.
CoDK was more like the first scenario, and maybe why the park felt it needs to refresh it to keep the rider numbers up. (And I think they'll simply refresh the story with the same ride system, like BfE, but that's another thread....)
