Disney has become a travel destination for the worldwide top 1% group. It has aligned itself to be a luxurious destination for kids, similar to Four Seasons or Ritz Carlton... It is simply not intended for everyone. In the past, it was more accessible.
The average vacation for Disney is about $10-15,000 per family.
Sad to say... Disney is more focused on targeting that group and not common middle class travelers.
I definitely agree with this sentiment. As evidenced by the cost of their rooms, all the extra options they offer (if you can afford them), I think Disney is definitely targeting the uppermost middle class to upper class.
I wish what you said is true. However it is hard to explain how they can sell C$1000 to $2000 per night in their Contemporary and Grand Floridian. If you want a room in monorail resorts for your kids during Christmas, that is the average cost per night $1000 per night. So a one week stay would be $7000 room alone. Then you add $3000 dining plans for a family of 4. Then $5000 for air fare. And $2000 for park tickets. When you add up $17,000 for a family of 4 to enjoy a Disney holiday, it's hard to say it's not designed for the 1%
$17,000 on the other hand, can get at least 3 nice Caribbean all inclusive trips as they average $5000 each trip.
Yes we can stay in roach motels for $50 per night off site with Macdonalds $15 per day meal, drive and line up for the tram and walk 30 min just to get to your car... but it's not really a vacation if you do it that way, is it? So a real Disney vacation with monorail resort and dining plan, it's $10k+ easy.
While I definitely agree that Disney is getting ridiculously expensive, I also think that you need to adjust your views of what a "real" Disney vacation is, and also need a better touring plan if this is your experience. We stayed off site in a beautiful 4 bedroom, 2 bath private home with a 24' private swimming pool for only $100 CDN a night, made most our own meals, but splurged on a couple really nice Disney ones and a couple lunches in park. By utilizing rope drop we were easily able to walk to our car at AK, HS and EP in 5 minutes, and only waited about 10 minutes for a tram and only had to walk 1-2 minutes from the tram drop off to our car at MK. This was during the busy summer days with crowd levels of 7-9. And yes, we fully feel that we went on a "real" Disney vacation - we spent 7 days in parks, dined at CRT, enjoyed BBB, watched HDDR and had a blast. And we did not spend anywhere NEAR $10,000.
I think maybe we disagree on what middle class is. To me the middle class is those with 6 figure salaries paying private tuition. The 1% are way beyond that.
The technical definition of middle class is anyone making between two-thirds and twice the median income. In Canada (as of a year or so ago), that encompasses families who earn between $32,000 and $95,000 a year. So, the 6 figured families paying private tuition are NOT middle class.
Also, people have a poor understanding of the top 1% figure. To be in the top 1% for income you only need to make the equivalent of $32,400 US. So going by that, the majority of everyone that goes to Disney, is in the top 1% for income (lol we're an exception to that). However, that's just looking at income, not net worth. To be in the top 1% for net worth, you need to have a liquid value of $770,000 US or higher. I think we can all agree it's safe to say that there are still a fairly high (proportionately) number of people attending Disney that meet that criteria.
Ourselves personally, we are a one-income household, with four members. Our net income is on the lower end of middle class. Our last trip cost us $6000 CDN and we
splurged. Our next trip will cost $4000-5000. We definitely cannot visit Disney every year. On one hand, I "get" the disappointment and frustration over the rising costs of Disney. Once upon a time it was definitely more accessible, affordable to more people. They are definitely working towards pricing out a good chunk of the middle class, and I do get the impression they are trying to make Disney a vacation more for the elite than the common. It's frustrating.
That said, I think a lot of the "Disney is too expensive" anger is because sometimes I think people too often set expectations, or feel entitled to things, that are beyond their reality. I mean sure, you can be cranky that you can't afford a Deluxe villa on your vacation, and throw a tantrum and not go. But do you really need that fancy room to sleep in? Do you really need that $170 pp party to be able to enjoy fireworks? Is that
really what makes a Disney vacation? Sure those things are nice, and if you can afford them more power to you! But if you can't, rather than get upset and complain about it, adjust your expectations and choose different options! Vacations, much like life, are what you choose to make of it.
(And just to be clear, these are very general comments that are in no way directed towards anyone in particular)