I think a lot of the older shows have lost the contemporary context that made them so popular when they first opened. Country Bears parodied popular shows like The Grand Ol' Opry and The Renfro Valley Gatherin'. If you don't know who Roy Acuff was you can still enjoy the show, but it made a lot more sense and was much funnier to people who heard him host the Opry on WSM every Saturday night.
Likewise the Tikiroom struck a chord with WW2 veterans and their families. Polynesia was a fixture in movies, on TV and even Broadway.
Hall of Presidents was an absolutely stunning show. The theater was enormous and always packed. The presidency itself was untarnished, Civil Rights and patriotism were topical. Historical novels about Civil War times filled bookstore shelves. I don't know how many people today know who Carl Sandberg or Alex Haley are today, but they were just as popular as Stephen King was in his heyday, or John Grisham in his.
My family WAS the CoP family. When we were there with my grandma I remember her saying that the wood stove looked exactly like the one she grew up with. My mother related to the radio being the center of the living room and we had a black and white TV at the time and gossiped about could our neighbors afford the new color one they had.
I'm not sure how to restore any of these shows to the cultural relevance they opened to. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't like it if Disney does make them relevant. I do know I want to bore the heck out of my kids by making them ride them over and over.