I'll go along with saying it's not "just as bad"; it's far, far worse, especially when training. Disappearing things are incredibly disorienting to non-expert users.
Meaning with the graph design toolbar, it would be visible, but do absolutely nothing until a graph is selected. With the Ribben it appears when the graph is selected.
I don't see how a disabled toolbar, with no clue how to enable it, helps with user training or clarity.
'This is what I want...hmm...how do I make it work?' is a far easier process than 'I can't find what I want...where on earth is it?..does it even exist?'