really..? seriously..? Thats a bit ridiculous.
Something like that cannot be built by hand. Not with that amount of detail put into it and it's environment.
I dont see how you can lose respect just because someone did something thats been done all the way back since classic. he still made it himself though. He still did it "by hand" as it were. he still placed every block. only he didnt do it in-stage. I mean really, that would take way too long and would just be plain impossible and require an insane amount of mods to begin with.
Also, "a lot of minecrafters"? Ive only seen praise for the map. Almost all adventure maps are made through level creators these days. it allows for greater detail and less time consumption, as well as a few more options otherwise not quite available.
still however- I repeat the idea- what would you think of using the map as a server? It works much better in multiplayer to begin with.