I agree with the posters who say that it unfortunately lacks a storyline. Our family also happens to find the shaman's voice a bit grating. To us, he sounds off-key.
Without a storyline, the ride has no thesis.
Compare it to other WDW boat rides. The purpose (message/thesis) of many WDW rides is clear. IaSW is super clear, "There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware it's a Small world after all." The rest of the ride supports the opening thesis/theme. The world is small, because all people love dancing, singing, sharing, and spending time together.
The old Norway ride also gave us an immediate purpose, "Those who seek the spirit of Norway face peril and adventure—but more often, find beauty and charm. We have always lived with the sea, so look first to the spirit of the seafarer." We're supposed to explore the culture of Norway.
Why are we going to the land of the Na'vi? What is the ride trying to show us?
Since there's no story, there's no theme. We're only given the superficial appearance. We can't understand the shaman; we can't appreciate his message. If he sounded nice, we could perhaps appreciate his sound the same way we enjoy the opening lines of the Lion King, but he doesn't sound so pleasant.
[I just re-watched LK. Do you know the Zulu translation of the LK opening?
(It means:
Here comes a lion, father
Oh yes it's a lion. (x 2)
lion
We're going to conquer
lion
a lion and a leopard come to this open space.)
Maybe not too deep after all, but at least it sounds nice. At least the rest of the song has a big message!]
Meanwhile, what was the literary theme (message, thesis) of the original Avatar movie? Call me crazy, but I thought the message was deeper than, "this place is pretty." I thought the ENTIRE message of the movie was about how important it is to value the CULTURE of the planet in order to protect/preserve the entire ecosystem of this world. It is worth loving. It is a bit like the theme of both IaSW and Maelstrom combined, no?
In effect, the omission leads us - more or less- to the opposite conclusion: only appearance matters. In essence, it undercuts the theme of the movie entirely.
It is a bit of head stretcher really. Why did they omit any semblance of a storyline?