As someone who grew up going to DL and grew my own kids up there, I always hate to see stuff removed/changed. I don't go on that ride anymore as it makes me queasy, but I'll still be really sad to see it change. It was so fun to have a little Twilight Zone going on and my kids enjoyed the movie back in the day. I do understand the importance of making a profit and keeping things exciting for the new visitors, though. I'll forever be hopeful that someday a new park or new area will open with all the classic rides and attractions that have left us over the years. I know it will never happen.
When I was growing up, my favorite ride at
Disneyland was the Submarine Voyage. About 7-8 years ago, we went back to DLR and they had changed it to the Finding Nemo ride. I was pretty excited to try it out. Of course, when I actually went on the ride I didn't like it. I still had a great time, but I was a bit miffed that they ruined my favorite ride.
I also loved a cartoon called "Thundercats" when I was growing up. If you're not familiar with it, it's basically a bunch of lion-people fighting bad guys. In college, I discovered this thing called "high speed internet". One of the great things about high speed internet was that I could download old TV shows. Lo and behold, I found old episodes of Thundercats. Cool! I watched a couple episodes, and was disappointed to find that it's a terrible show. (Seriously, if you liked it as a kid, do yourself a favor and don't watch it).
The thing is, when I think back now about the Submarine Voyage at DLR, I still get the same fuzzy feeling I had 25 years ago when i was a 10 y/o kid exploring the depths. My memories of that ride are untarnished. On the other hand, when I think about Thundercats now, I don't get the same nostalgic feeling about it that I used to. I really have no desire to see it again. It's very possible if they kept Submarine Voyage intact, I still wouldn't have liked it. And if that would have happened, I think my memories of the ride and of DLR when I was young would have lost some of their magic. And that would have been very sad, much worse than just hating the new ride. So looking back now I'm kind of glad in a way that they got rid of it.
My point is that I think it's better to get rid of rides before they get stale because when rides get stale, people not only get tired of the ride, they also lose some of their positive memories of it as well. "Leave them wanting more" so to speak.
Sometimes their new efforts flop like Nemo to me, or just speak to a different audience. But sometimes the new stuff hits the mark. Indiana Jones is actually my new favorite ride there now, so I lost one favorite ride but gained another.
While they're at it, they can shut down the message boards where rumors fester as well.
