Nowadays sponsorships tend to be mutually beneficial for both parties in more than just your name above the ride entrance. Like when you're the "official snack cheese" of Walt Disney World or Pandora Jewelry sponsors the nighttime show at Magic Kingdom but only if they get to have a store in all of the parks for the desirable foot traffic. Etc etc.
I mean, that's how they've always been. Sure Kodak sponsored Legend of the Lion King and Journey into Imagination but they also were the sponsor and sole provider of film in the parks. Coke sponsored American Adventure and Great Movie Ride and was the only soft drink supplier. Hell, the latest sponsorship between Brawny/Hanes and LMA/RnR had them move to Brawny paper products and put signs in the restrooms.
Really I think the end of sponsorships at Disney parks is twofold:
1) Disney becoming a multifaceted conglomerate. Why should a company spend $30m over 10 years or whatever to the worlds largest entertainment company? "We're going to give Disney $50m just so they can buy more companies" is the look. Plus as you expand your footprint you start excluding sponsorships. GE dropped out because Disney bought ABC, which competed with their ownership of NBC at the time.
2) Advertising has totally changed. As Disney lost corporate sponsorships and advertising when companies switched to cheaper online advertising and more direct models. No longer do they have to spray advertising everywhere when they can spend targeted, strategic amounts.
For a park built on those sponsorships, well, you get 2005-20xx in the park.
Ehhhhh that hasn't stopped them building flagship locations in cities around the globe. I'd call that a convenient out.
Maybe the million-dollar model didn't impress them.
When Apple builds in HISTORIC locations they preserve as much as possible. There's zero historic value at Disney Springs, it's a new build. I honestly doubt the talks got very far as they didn't probably see the value in the location and didn't want to play with Disney's stupid games.