Do you not read any other boards or reddit? Is Universal Losing money or something? Did ticket prices go down? This the the equivalent of a rich person digging up pennies. When a company is looking to cut costs often they cut costs in areas that are perceived to be unpopular or will receive the least backlash. Downgrading a ride is such a stupidly small cost savings in the scheme of things.
I guarantee the people who hate 3d are louder than you think they are because they do not want to ride anything that uses 3d no matter the quality.
At least we agree this certainly isn't a creative choice.