From a marketting standpoint I think it keeps us fans of Disney constantly thinking about it and wanting to go back to the parks top of mind.
I know I'll be thinking about the Disney brand less after vmk closes.
They had a great thing going and could do lots of tie-ins -- everything from the parks to TV shows to movies and their pay-to-play sites. It was also a great way for them not to have to spend money on an actual physical product with the Disney Movie Reward Tie-in.
It is a very sad. VMK was a component to me thinking Disney was fun. Maybe Universal will make a game like this and yes that would make me think about actually going to their park for the first time in many years!