I have to agree, the drum track really detracts from this piece. I had imagined sometime essentially identical to your earlier Swirls remix, which perhaps my favorite of your remixes so far, but with the piano (with delay) replacing the deeper synth in the original remix (oxymoron, I know), and acoustic guitars replacing the various higher-pitched synths elsewhere in the piece.
I understand the issue with carrying the piece along, and listening again now I notice another synth running continuously (though changing) behind the main instruments in the original remix. Perhaps replacing that with a more natural violin in the acoustic remix would help carry the piece along better than the drum track. Also, I notice that this acoustic version is actually slower in tempo than the earlier remix, which seems kind of odd. To my ear it sounds like the old tempo would carry just fine with the grand piano alone, though for variety's sake the guitars and perhaps the violins would be nice as well.
I'd be interested to hear a remixed acoustic remix of your original remix :-)
