I remember reading reports around the time it opened that essentially wrote it off as some chintzy little ride that was better than Superstar Limo but not much else. Even now, you can find several videos that point out every reskinned SSL animatronic and recycled element, and I don't know that all of those come from a place of love.
I know I'm not imagining people complaining about Little Mermaid being a book report ride. Not saying there weren't/aren't other issues with the ride, but that was/is absolutely one of the top complaints.
It might just be a situation where people, over time, forget their original grievances and come to embrace imperfect elements of the park. Tarzan's Treehouse, for example, pretty much everywhere I followed Disney anything, was widely dismissed and insulted for being so cheap and inferior when compared to SFT for many of its early years, but eventually became mildly beloved. A similar thing happened with A Bug's Land. And the people who swear that everyone always loved the original Star Tours and people miss it? That's an example of the opposite situation. In reality, the only people I see complaining about that change are a handful of people on here, but in the years before they updated it, the ride was widely seen as outdated, and everyone and their mother online on boards like these was practically begging for the ride to get a big refresh.
I think some people just have short memories and/or like to rewrite history to suit their agenda.