IMHO, what the new ride is missing is that, when you're shrunk down, if it is intending to imply you've been turned into a frog, it is not obvious. This could have been easily corrected by having the portion right before the drop at 4:45 (with Mama Odie on the screen and immediately preceeding the "time to get tiny"), instead be a Dr. Facilier section where he does his musical number, then turns you into a frog. Then, as soon as you go down the drop, that large pink bottle at the 5:05 mark would have some sort of screen effect (simulating a mirror) where you see your entire log is now all frogs sitting in it floating through the water. That would make it clear that you're now all frogs and it would better explain why you are tiny and why the large frog at 5:12 is bigger than a normal human. Then the fireflies somehow help you turn Facilier into a frog (or otherwise neutralize him on the riders' behalf) right before the lift hill. Then the finale could have Frog Facilier somewhere towards the ending (demonstrating he's alive but yet again dealt with semi-permanently).
This would (a) explain why you are small, (b) give a purpose to the fireflies room, (c) include the most interesting character from the film, (d) include the best music from the film, and (e) introduce a sense of conflict/danger. Seems to me this stuff should have been obvious to anyone in Imagineering, but apparently it wasn't.
