As a crafter/artist, I know my visual memory is faulty at best. And mine is better than most people's, if not quite eidetic.
So... are there less decorations?
To be honest, I thought there were more in some places and less in others. I still miss the Lights of Winter, but someone's gone and (slightly) spiffed up the railroad tracks outside Germany, giving them a little seasonal makeover that's been absent in previous years. (Though it'll never be as amazing as it was in 2007, the first time we saw it - is that memory, of a Christmas village all lit up, accurate? I have no idea!)
I prefer the garlands on the sides of Main Street to the wires with wreaths dangling from them that used to criss-cross the street before. I think, as far as decor goes, they're basically the same.
The windows on Main Street are just as spectacular as ever!
We were starting to wonder where the seasonal music was at Pop Century, but then it kicked in near the end of the first week of December. (Maybe they were trying to cut down on the number of weeks in which they torture their staff.)
We noticed the absence of the big wreath at the Contemporary, but we also noticed that there was scaffolding all over the windows and men working. So, I won't jump to any conclusions about that until next year.
I thought the light projections behind the Candlelight Processional choir seemed more spectacular this year. Were they? Who knows!
While there have been some concrete changes (Lights of Winter), by and large relying on visual memory is not a working strategy for measuring anything. Our memory enhances everything in our past, making it both more wonderful and more terrible than it was before. On your first trip, you'll be bowled over by Christmas at Disney. Your second trip... you've seen it all before. Your third trip... that Gingerbread carousel begins to look smaller than you thought it was, and you begin to wonder if they're trying to save money in the flour budget.
Though I'm sad to see the Osborne Lights go, I rather suspect that "a Star Wars/Toy Story Christmas" will soon be a thing. And we
may see more lights at Disney Springs. And Animal Kingdom will have something new, I'm sure, once the makeover is complete.
While Disney IS committed to their bottom line, and also to environmental responsibility (annually disposing of a million plus lightbulbs is a wee bit of an issue), they also know a money maker when they see it. People like lights. They like Christmas decorations. I expect we'll enjoy much of both, in the years to come.
