It may not have even been rot. Do we know what the chassis and platforms were built out of? Aluminum and pressure treated wood would be my choice.
The real story could be that it was cost prohibitive to rehab the whole parade. Degredation of electrical components like lights, wiring and sound, and tertiary support structures. If not aluminum and treated lumber, then rust, water infiltration, pest infiltration, UV maybe, but they were kept in tents, but for how long is the question.
Spectro had to grow on me much like Epcot Center did. The music was fairly good after all. I grew up from 75 to 91 each year with MSEP, so of course I preferred it more.
Nobody is wrong in their feelings on this. Some liked it better, others did not. The question for TDO is will they build a new parade that surpasses Spectro and MSEP?
Oh and what is a CTM performance?