so the ride was not water proof....

Take that with a grain of salt.

It's been reported that the ride was not allowed to resemble its former self in any way, which meant it could not have any relation to an ancient, mythical tomb, treasure-hunting, or ancient deities. Perhaps someone in a legal department somewhere decided to play it safe and remove all those carved stones and pillars, if that's true.

Since the entire ride experience (not just the Tomb Raider aspect, but the sequence, effects, and general theme as well) is patented, it doesn't surprise me that Cedar Fair removed the vast majority of themeing from the ride.

While copyright may be a valid answer as to why most of the themeing was removed, it still leaves me questioning why The Crypt at Dominion was able to retain most if not all it's original theme. As of the end of the 2011 season at Dominion, the ride still has all the original "monkeys" as seen in the first film (which were removed from our version), Water and fire effects, and original ride music. On top of that, if any of you remember the music that played in the outdoor queue of KI's TRTR, this is now the area music that is played throughout the Congo section at Dominion.

I honestly feel that while Dominion did have less themeing than its counterpart, it feels that they kept the overall experience as close to its original ride (which is something I wish we had)

Music licensing is very different from trademark licensing. And when one sells something, one can make it subject to certain conditions, which normally do not have to be publicly disclosed.

I still really have no idea why KD kept the exact same ride, with just a name change i believe. I think any fan of Tomb Raider (I've never seen it) at KD would probably go "Hey, I didn't know they had a Tomb Raider ride here", if a Tomb Raider fan goes to ride The Crypt at KI, and didn't know about the past, they would have no clue it used to be Tomb Raider themed, I just don't see why KD gets to keep the themeing illegally, or if it is legal, why we can't keep the theming.

I think you may find the answer in a post above yours, if you interpret carefully.

Terp, saying things carefully.

^^ I, being a Tomb Raider fan, if not for previous knowledge of knowing that it used to be called TR:TR, would not think that The Crypt at Kings Dominion as a Tomb Raider ride. I would just think it went with the theme of "the congo" where there is a volcano ride across the way.

In comparison, KI's The Crypt is in the middle of "Rivertown" beside a snake, a train, and a beast. If anything a ghost town feel to The crypt would be better fitting than that of a raider of tombs.