Disney must be seeing some softening of demand in the current economic environment. That combined with significant new inventory in the pipeline has got to reduce their approach on ROFR. What's hard to know is the extent to which they also see ROFR as a tool to prop up retail prices. As the gap between retail and resale gets bigger and bigger, it will be curious to see if they step back in. So far, I think their attempts to differentiate direct and resale purchases have been limited (and limited success - the Riviera rollout seems a debacle to me).
You'll know whether Disney views it as a success the next time they develop a new HOA. If it has the same restrictions you'll know they found it worth it.
Personally, I suspect many/most direct buyers are either unaware of the difference or don't care.