You have to see a shuttle yourself to really grasp just how large it is, a picture really doesn’t do it justice. Same goes for a Saturn 5, if you’ve ever walked the length of the one they have on display you realize just how powerful we are as a nation when we devote ourselves to achieveing a goal.
Having said that, the shuttles themselves need to be mothballed and modern replacements built. Considering few cars that old still run I can’t imagine why they want to continue using them, especially with their $20 billion per year budget. However, considering also that the currently planned replacement is actually a step backwards technologically, I can’t say I won’t miss the shuttle.
Using the Ares 5 for putting stuff in orbit is fine, having a re-entry vehicle that rides a Saturn5 style rocket up and splash lands is not worth $20 billion/year in thinking or engineering.