Huge life update. On Tuesday, I proposed to Dana and she said yes. The wedding will probably be in 2026+ since we're both finishing school (I'm finishing a bachelors of arts, she's finishing a social work masters) and will need to find employment.
1:05:00 in this interview with Charita, she states openly that the drop will be a more joyous experience as opposed to how it was in Splash.
"L:ess of a scary experience and more of a joyous and fun thing!"
This corner works incredibly. I've been pretty big detractor of TBA, but seeing it lit up definitely helps. Once the mountains lit up I'm sure it'll help 10× more
We're already seeing it again as DINOSAUR is on the way out. Any ride that replaces an E Ticket will be looked at with skepticism. Look at Mickey Minnie Runway, people are still comparing it to Great Movie Ride today. Heck, even Frozen is still bemoaned for replacing Maelstrom.
I think P&F could have worked when the show was running, but as you said, it would have dated itself pretty hard. Sadly though that probably wouldn't have stopped Disney from letting it stagnate even in that form.
Unfortunately I don't think Disney can "go big" anymore when replacing rides. If anything, I wouldn't be shocked if what get resembles MMRR but in the Figment show building.