I have to say that while I have a preference for the 90s Renaissance films, the shit-talking about CGI as a proper medium for animation is played the fuck out.
For one, Disney himself was a fidelity man. He believed and invested in technological innovation and progressivism for the sake of the best image quality. He didn't use 2D because of artistic vision and nostalgia, and if anything hated the films that eschewed inking for the Xerox process because it looked cheaper to him, even though I'd argue the process preserved the animators' work the best. If he had the choice of modern CGI at the height of his career I have no doubt he would've taken it in a heartbeat.
Second, 2D animation isn't more expensive to produce than CGI films on the feature circuit. Look at the budgets for Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh; they're peanuts compared to Tangled and Frozen, to say nothing of films like Zootopia and Moana. CGI is more specialized which requires bigger and more educated crews and far more R&D and tech support, while any bozo with a work ethic can technically make a traditional film with basic Toon Boom and Photoshop knowledge. It's not more expensive; they switched to CGI because it's simply the technological standard. It's like pining for black and white films because that's how it originally was.
Subsequently, it's also not a lazy process to produce these films. CGI has a naturally higher threshold for believability, which involves a deeper understanding of realism and motion. Eye darts are just one example; they're largely absent from 2D because it's just result in distracting wobbling. Without it in 3D, you get characters that stare soullessy. There's more details of human motion and behavior that have to be accounted for, and on top of that they still have to have the exaggeration and charm of old Disney animation. That's no easy feat at all.
Again, I love traditional animation. It's my go to for inspiration, and it's resulted in wonderful memories and films for me. But can we please cut back on the Luddism? It's 2016 already.