To me one of the simplest things they could do would be to automatically give you full merits, no matter how many you need, if you clear the entire factory of cogs or bonus merits or something. Last night was the first time I went in with a group that went looking for other cogs in the factory, rather than the same old boring shortest path route, and I had a blast. Some of the little mini games in there are kind of fun actually. Instead of Jelly Bean barrels in rooms like the Lava, they should put Merit bonus barrels in there or some thing new, like bonus 7th gag training slides, you would still need 16 but heck I am sure more people would look to run the whole factory if that was the case!! Exploring the factory was the most fun I have had lately and I wish Disney would do something to encorage it!!
edited to add:
Most of the time it is through the door, to the left, heck I think I run that route in my sleep now!!!
Boring!! Come on Disney this is supposed to be fun, not tedious, that is what work is for!!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....