Animal Kingdom's a gorgeous park. It has some of the most beautiful scenery and stunning detail of any park in the world, and should be the most wonderful park Walt Disney World has to offer beacuse of it. The problem is there's nothing to do. There's a whole 9 attractions, including two actual rides (both of which are far too thrilling and scary for younger ones to enjoy), a Safari where half the animals always seem to be missing (while it is quite an enjoyable ride, Jungle Cruise in MK is probably more enjoyable simply because I actually get to see animals, real or not doesn't really matter much to me, though I do understand how ingenious the design of KS is so, I'll give it that) and then a raft ride that you wait more than 90 mins in line for so you can experience 2 mins of deforestization. Then there's Nemo and Lion King...and Rainforest Cafe, which I can find at my mall (does that even count?). I don't count the animal trails as attractions simply because I can see the exact same thing at the Brookfield Zoo. And need I even mention Dinorama?
I love DAK and visit the park every trip, but when you can get done with everything at a Disney park in less than 3 hours that's really sad, esspecially considering what you pay to enter.
I'm not trying to question Joe Rhode, as I said, the park is the most elegantly designed Disney Park I've ever been to (possibly in the world), but I do question whether it was worth spending DAK's funds entirely on details instead of attractions. I'm only assuming that's what happend, as I have no way of knowing for sure, but that would make sense to me. Its funny, the late 90's early 2000's gave us two extremes on the Disney park spectrum, DAK with sooo much attention to detail but nothing to do, and DCA, a bunch of mishmash thrown together with the Disney name on it.
And I'm glad someone else noticed the lack of theming in the interior sections of E:E. I love the ride, but that always bugged me. I always thought maybe if they had lined it with black tarps or something the light wouldn't have shown through the cracks and it wouldn't have been as noticable, but yeah...
This is all a matter of opinion, but I'd like to address what you've said. I agree with you that the Animal Kingdom is a very well themed park. Save Dinorama, the park's theming is excellent. I actually think that the bigger problem isn't the Dinorama land itself, but Primeval Whirl. If this was replaced by a dark ride that still had a funhouse/carnival type theme and a tie into Dinosaurs or extinct animals it could conceivably work as a land. Having said that, I welcome the wrecking balls as much as anyone.
For me, the park is a full day park because I'm not restricted by a lack of interest in some things or an inability to go in an attraction due to it's intensity. In short, I agree with your main premise. It needs more things to do for the masses.
A total breakdown of the rides in the park:
Kilimanjaro Safaris - Not qualifying this as a ride is a very strange approach. I recognize that not everyone cares about seeing live animals, but this is truly a fantastic attraction. It had the widest appeal of any attraction in the park, but because of the Disney need for authenticity, it can be limiting to guests who have back issues or are pregnant.
Expedition Everest - The Yeti Issues aside, this is probably the most thrilling coaster in all the parks (I'd put it ahead of RnR, but again that's an opinion). I love the ride, and try to ride twice on every trip to the Animal Kingdom. However, the ride is limiting in who can ride it.
Dinosaur - It's not Indiana Jones in Disneyland, but it's still a fun ride. I'll typically ride every day that I visit the Animal Kingdom, but I also know some people that regard this as their least favorite ride in Disney World. Most of this is centered on how loud it is (which I've never really had a problem with). I would guess this is more limiting than Expedition Everest.
Kali River Rapids - Regardless of how short it is, this isn't going to be popular during colder weather, and in general not everyone wants to get soaked and walk around a park. That makes this limiting as well. I definitely don't go on this every trip to the park.
Primeval Whirl - The spinning makes some people sick, the fact that it's an off the shelf roller coaster with exposed supports makes other people sick. Personally I find the restraints very uncomfortable and rarely go on this.
Triceratops Spin - If I'm there with a child that wants to go on this, I will. Otherwise there's no reason to. I understand it's need in the park, and wouldn't mind it staying if the rest of Dinorama was removed. A retheming of the vehicles to make them less cartoony could see this survive as an attraction for children.
Wildlife Express Train/Rafiki's Planet Watch - to me, this is the part that's most like a local zoo. Certainly the cleanliness and scope are stepped up a notch, but if I'm going to skip anything because it's similar to a local zoo it would be this. Add in the fact that it requires a significant time commitment to visit, I typically only visit here once every few years.
Festival of the Lion King - To me, this is the one thing that every one that enters the park should see every single day. I know many will dismiss it on the grounds that it's a show, but I've probably seen it close to 50 times and it still holds up.
Finding Nemo the Musical - I try to see this once per trip, but I'm not heartbroken if I miss it. Everything about the show is impressive, but the music isn't as familiar as FotLK, I think this is closer to the type of thing that show haters would typically skip.
It's Tough to be a Bug - This attraction is definitely limiting. It scares children, and adults alike. It's well done, and at times perhaps too well done. It serves a purpose in the park, but I definitely don't see it any more than once a year.
Flights of Wonder - This is an underrated show. While some elements are similar to the bird show at your local zoo (Every bird show I've seen has a bird take a dollar bill from a guest for example). If you're not into animals you're probably going to skip this, but I enjoy the comedic elements that have been added as well. I'll try to see this once per trip.
Given the staggered show schedules it's difficult to see all 3 shows in one day and not stay until at least 5:00 PM. To me that's how you can make this park a "full day" park. As for the Animal Walk throughs, I go through both Pangani Forest and Maharajah Jungle Trek every day I go into the park, and I try to see the Tree of Life, Oasis and Discovery Island exhibits once per trip.
Having said all this, I understand that the park is not very everyone. It's attractions, while very good, can be limiting. Add in the fact that their aren't as many attractions in this park it's understandable why many people don't care for it as much as the other parks.