It's because it was such a well themed place from start to finish (the Backlot Tour was a lot better than TSL too, but that's a separate discussion). Everything worked together to create a cohesive whole. It was really a cool place to wander around and be immersed in the theme.
It absolutely wouldn't still work like that now, especially with no working studio and no more animation -- it had to be changed. But I did enjoy it more than the current version of DHS because the theming was so good, even down to what was for sale in the stores.