Advertising/marketing guy chiming in. Not an expert by any means, but this is my theory...
I think we're seeing a shift in the customer that Disney is attracting.
We're all Disney fanatics here, right? The changes are depressing and I think we love that whole immersive feeling, but we're still gonna go back year after year. DisUnplugged kinda talked about this on the recent show. There's the Disney fanatic who go yearly, sometimes multiple times a year. Then there's the casual fan who goes once every few years...and then the person who saves up and either goes on a once-in-a-lifetime trip or once every 4-6 years. My family used to go once every 4-6 years. Now we go every year—sometimes a few times a year.
Disney isn't making money off us. We're still gonna go. They just need to keep us "happy" and entertained with new stuff.
Disney is going after the casual fan or once-every-few-years person. They're going after the Star Wars fan who is going to finally give Disney a chance in 2019. Who is this person? They're young parents; they're business people who are in town on a convention. Maybe the mom or the dad has been putting off Disney for as long as possible and finally the kids are old enough that they point at the TV every time a commercial comes on and kick and scream until mom and dad say "we're going to Disney!"
These people haven't bought into the magic yet and frankly the thought of going to the "happiest place on earth" feels forced. It's all "kiddie stuff". "We won't enjoy it!" they exclaim. "We're doing it for the kids. One trip." They claim.
Now, the old Disney would have magic everywhere you turn. It's that immersive feeling! The mom or dad would gag at the amount of hokey Mickey decorations. They just dealt with crowds and long lines and bought $300 worth of souvenirs, and now we need to go back and squeeze Goofy's nose to turn on a light? Bleh.
So Disney is shifting about 70% of its hotels to a more adult friendly experience.
Let's take a look at the convention people. Dave is from Wisconsin and in on business. His buddies have been making fun of him all week! "Hey Dave, you gonna go ride Small World a bunch of times? You gonna come back with some Mickey ears?" Dave returns from his trip to his buddies ribbing him. "How was the magic?" they ask. "Actually..." he begins "the room was meticulous, felt like a Sheraton. The pool was really nice. Not what you'd expect from Disney. At night I ate at the new rooftop lounge and then took a stroll around Disney Springs. I only went to check out the Star Wars Land. The parks aren't really for me, but we're already planning our next trip. Carol from accounting loves Disney, so she gets her fix... and well, I can't wait to eat that Porterhouse at the Yacht Club restaurant again"
Long story short, the customer isn't changing, the target is. As Universal goes after older customers, Disney needs to find a way to pull in the crowd that doesn't drink the Kool-Aid without sacrificing the magic inside the parks. The only way to do so is to rid the rooms of the kitschy magic and bolster the amenities. It all comes back to the almighty dollar.