I think creative mode will spoil it for the people using it (although I can see it being useful for admins). My tower wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying if I hadn't mined and smelted the cobblestone. Admittedly I nickel some from Jon, but over 90% was self- obtained.
My House---Mainline | | |---Jon's Underground Lava | | |---Caer's Lava---Mainline | | Radio's House
I can toggle it on and off for any player right now.
Obviously it's not as easy as a full creative mode because you would still need to to do
/give [name] [item-id] [amount]
But still possible.