It definitely would've set TLK2 further apart from all the other Disney sequels by having a major character (let alone the main character from the previous film) get killed. Kinda makes ya wonder how they'd do it; Mufasa getting trampled to death wasn't explicitly shown but it was still very powerful for young kids. Zira and her group are pretty violent to begin with, and with her hatred of Simba I can only imagine a graphic death scene.

Maybe that's why TLK2 as it is is still considered the best Disney sequel, because the developers actually wanted to treat it as an actual film rather than a straight-to-DVD flick. Most of the other Disney sequels are either midquels or sequels with the same message as the first film anyway, so Simba's death would've really been a bullet point on the script.

That said, I can see why it didn't make it to the final script. Adults might've understood and appreciated the change, MAYBE, but the target audience for Disney movies are young kids anyway. Keep in mind this is one of Disney's infamous sequels, so that's an even smaller audience anyway. It would've been too divisive a plot element.