You may believe you get unlimited rides, attractions, etc. but with waiting in extended lines you dont. On a good day you might get 10-15 attractions.
I suspect part of the reason people disagree over whether Disney parks are worth it or not are why they go to the parks. My family does not go to amusement parks, and we don't go to Disney World for the rides, either, although there are many rides we love. Most of us do rides standby for the first couple of hours, but after that we only use FastPass, unless the crowds fade out considerable, which rarely happens, or only happens the last hour or so. In the middle of the day, some of us leave or tour the resorts, while my younger three and their dad watch the performances or trade pins or play the card game or treasure hunt at the MK or whatever. When my sister came with us, we rode maybe three rides a day -- she's a musician, so we spent a lot of time tracking down all the performers we had time for, and she was profoundly impressed by how good they were. She also enjoyed things like the Pirate Tutorial and the glass blowing and the museum-y stuff.
Middle daughter will do the Move It, Shake It parade multiple times a day, while eldest son will watch the show out in front of the castle more than once as well -- no lines for either of those! I personally won't wait more than ten or fifteen minutes in a line as a rule, but I still think Disney World is worth my money because I don't go for the rides.
So while basics, like milk, have gone up in price only a little, luxuries have gone up a lot.
Luxuries are also considerably more luxurious. For that matter, the offerings at Disney World have broadened considerable. In the 1970s, Disney World had only the one park, the Magic Kingdom, and when it opened, there were only twelve rides. The Philharmonic, the Trolley Show, and numerous other things my family loves didn't come along until the year 2000 and beyond.
It is funny to me that these posters believe that the cost is too high now compared to the past. My experience is just the opposite. My parents couldnt afford to take me to a Disney Park but now I am able to take my girls to the Disney Parks.
I puzzle over that myself. People always go on about how it used to be "easy" for "a middle class family" to go to the Disney parks in the 1970s. But the only middle class people I knew who went to Disney parks in the 1970s camped out and didn't eat in the parks, and it was still an expensive vacation. My parents made enough to be considered upper middle class at the time, and we camped in a pop-up tent trailer our Disney trip. For that matter, it seems to me most people didn't vacation as much back then as many people do now. We took two vacations while I was in grade school, and one while I was in high school, and that was it. Dad's vacation time got used visiting family where ever they happened to live, not going somewhere exciting in itself. We hit the tourist spots while visiting, if there were any, but for the most part we didn't visit anywhere specifically as tourists. Some of our relatives were quite excited when we moved to Denver, because then they'd get to see a new part of the country! I didn't know anyone who'd gone to Disney until I hit high school; my kids, even when they were little, knew many, many people who had, not only gone to Disney, but had gone multiple times.
When it comes to costs now versus historical, even when we think we're comparing like to like -- the cost of housing, or the cost of visiting Disney World -- we're really not. The size of the average house has expanded considerably over the years, and modern houses offer a lot more in terms of plumbing, electricity, appliances, and other accoutrements. And, as I mentioned above, Disney World offers a lot more now than it did then, too.
I agree with the OP that actual park admission isn't a bad value for what you get.
But I do think the hotels (including parking!) and food are way overpriced. We've also historically spent a lot on flights to accommodate school breaks, so the full total for a Disney vacation is quite a sticker shock.
Agreed, but I have always thought the hotels and food way overpriced for what you get. Disney hotel prices remind me of ocean front units in the summer -- they're smaller than average, but cost way more than I'm used to. But in both cases, they charge what the market will bear, I suppose. Except you can often get really good deals on oceanfront units in September -- comparable deals at Disney are rare. We don't care about most of the perks of staying onsite, and prefer larger units than the regular DVC 2 BRs anyhow, so that's not particularly pertinent. And three of my kids would revolt if I suggested a sit-down restaurant on a park day, while hubby refuses to pay Disney prices for food just on general principle, so our big Disney food splurges in the parks are me buying everyone Mickey ice cream bars or some other snack. We do usually eat a meal or two at the resorts on non-park days, but heaven knows there are lots of interesting eating opportunities in Orlando outside of Disney, should we decide to quit paying Disney's prices.
I do give Disney some credit for allowing people to bring serious food into the parks. SeaWorld doesn't allow that, and neither does Universal. My first time in the Magic Kingdom, I talked to a mom while our daughters danced in the Move It. Shake It parade, and she said they wouldn't have been able to afford the parks if they couldn't bring food in, and I'm sure there are plenty of families in the same boat.
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