Took my first trip back to Animal Kingdom very recently, and after a whole day of exploring there and trying to notice or rediscover details big and small about it, I have many many thoughts about the park that I'm certain I'll be expressing here soon.
For now though, I think I've developed a bit of a theory. I haven't quite thought it fully through, but here goes:
In order to make a ride at Animal Kingdom that hits all of the below qualifications...
- Considered an E-ticket attraction in both scope and guest demand.
- Story-focused
- Visually consistent with the rest of the park (No bare steel coaster track like Busch)
- Showcases the core ecological and educational philosophies at the heart of Animal Kingdom.
Then that ride would need to be about a mythical entity, an extinct creature, or a fictional Disney character.
The only way Dinosaur can get away with using real* animals in the way that it does, is because said animals are already dead, and thus there is no ecological responsibility to portray them in a way that would urge park guests towards preservation of said species. When it comes to dinosaurs (*Especially remarkably fantastical and Hollywood-style versions of dinosaurs), their time has long past.
In contrast, despite the significant similarities it has to Dinosaur, Jaws would not fit within Animal Kingdom. Sharks are still here with us, and Jaws has already done significant damage to our cultural perception of sharks, Great Whites specifically. It would go against the thematic and moral core of DAK to build that ride in that park. They would need to base it on a Megalodon, the Loch Ness Monster, or something similar to get away with an attraction that scary, thrilling, and engaging.
My belief is that in order to remain true to that core ecological and educational focus, you have to treat these animals like real living creatures and not movie monsters. But in doing that, you limit yourself substantially in terms of spectacle.
That is how you end up with attractions like Antartica: Empire of the Penguin or TurtleTrek at Seaworld Orlando. It doesn't escape me that nearly everyone (rightfully) dunks on education-forward dark rides like Empire, while the mythical Journey to Atlantis is typically praised in comparison. It's just far easier to make engaging show scenes based on fantasy creatures, or the characters from Finding Nemo or The Lion King, than it is to showcase the actual day-to-day life of real world animals.
There are other mediums much better suited to making said life engaging to a mass-audience, like documentary film and proper animal exhibits. I do not believe dark rides, 3D shows, log flumes, or roller coasters are among those mediums. And I believe that disconnect is a fundamental flaw of this park. It's remarkably difficult to square that circle.
The only obvious exceptions would be a Safari-type ride like Kilimanjaro or Jungle Cruise. Of note, that in order to make a second Safari attraction appealing within Animal Kingdom itself, they did not theme the safari to Asia, South America, or Australia, but to the fictional planet and wildlife from the movie Avatar.
The only other attraction that I personally believe meets the above criteria? And only barely, but it's Cheetah Hunt from Busch Gardens Tampa. Exposed steel low to the ground and hidden amongst theming and animal exhibits, showcasing actual behaviors like the quick dash and pouncing up and down the tree; it is the closest I can think of to a proper E-Ticket thrill ride with solid and consistent theming that treats animals like animals.