A similiar thing happened to my husband - and shortly before our last Disney trip as well. He was reorganized, and what was supposed to be (i.e. everyone believed it would be, his old boss thought it was or wouldn't have let him go) a promotion for him turned into a lateral move under a guy that didn't like him with an organization he'd been at loggerheads with.
He was bummed for about a month, but its started to clear up. He remembered that he DOES enjoy what he does for a living, that he IS pretty well paid to do it. The recognition via promotion would have been nice - a reorg into an organization where he liked the people better would have been nice - but he is still doing a job he enjoys.
And what happened is that his attitude changed, his new boss is recognizing that there was a reason everyone expected him to get rewarded with the promotion (he does a good job) - and actually pushed through a smaller promotion for him, and began to like him, and working within the organization has changed the politics. Six months later he is nearly as happy as he was (perhaps a bit disillusioned).
Has your husband enjoyed the job he has been doing or has it merely been a stepping stone to promotion? If he has been enjoying his job (and I suspect he has, if he hasn't been playing the other games associated with a political promotion), he still gets to do it. Yes, recognition would be nice, but this sort of thing doesn't reflect badly on him - everyone knows these things are political and often those jobs go to the lesser qualified but better connected candidate.
Best wishes.