I do suspect that for example is that had Chessie more control of itself then I suspect they would have wanted a return of the original Bubbleworks though with several new effects instead of Gruffalo, maybe even twist Merlin's arm to free up funds for a track replacement for Vampire and proper theming for its recent 30th anniversary. There are those on the ground on each park who like us would love nothing more than to see them reach their best potential but are hamstring by Merlin with many silly choices over the years, some more than others.
Actually, it is an interesting thought is what if from the start of the Merlin take over is that while they still gave out the CAPEX budgets for each park, they did allow the park's more control to run things that they felt was right. Makes you wonder how different the three parks would have all been by this point. All I do know is that we would never had seen TWODW that's for sure.