[@mattmanganon]

I read the other day that they wanted to have Leon and the others in BBS, but once they got to Radiant Garden they realized they already had too many characters there for the rest to be shown without it being too clunky of a world and story. But I disagree about the original characters. The game was always about the original characters. The Disney and Final Fantasy aspect was really just to help expand the world of Kingdom Hearts and give us fun places and fun characters to interact with. But I do agree that it's pointless when your actions and presence have no effect on the story.