No, not in an otherwise stock vehicle there isn't anyway. Our 6.2 High Country Tahoe didn't have any acceleration or transmission smoothness issues before the Range Tech device.
Before the Range Tech device, if you turned the radio off, and told the kids to be quite, you might, maybe, be able to tell when it deactivated cylinders if you tried real hard, and even then it was a maybe. I'm sure with an aftermarket exhaust it would be much more noticeable, but the stock exhaust is pretty dang quite.
And I agree with your last statement, it is a complete waste IMHO, unless you have a louder aftermarket exhaust, and the sound of the cylinder deactivation bothers you.
If Range Tech would make an actual DFM disabler (you know, something that just turns the dang DFM off, like how hard its that, just turn it off), then I would be first in line to get one.
...