Not picking on you two - several folks said this and I totally disagree.
Was not particularly well off as a kid and the first time we went to Disney we drive over 24 hours straight in a van with another family - my Dad's boss who was also he best friend. He was very well off - but very cheap.
We cooked hotdogs in the room at the Days Inn on a hot plate some days and went out to eat on I drive other days - so no doubt on a tight budget.
My dads friend had told us how expensive everything was at the restaurants at Epcot so we did not even look till the last day and it was actually quite reasonable, even for us. My mother was very annoyed by that - for many years - since at that point it was going to be our only trip to Disney. To be fair he had 6 kids, but the kids meals were very reasonable.
Several years later and things were better we started going to Disney more often and we always found it surprisingly reasonable. I know you always hear how Walt would not have liked this or that, but I do feel like keeping it reasonable for families may have been part of Walt's vision - well still turning a profit of course.
I feel like it really changed when the
DDP plan came along - prices went up to make that look like a better value and quality dropped.
I know I always pick on the DDP but that is really when it all went south for me - a few years into the DDP.
I know for others it made the difference - but was some of that because they drive the prices up?
And now we are at the point where I feel they nickel and dime you for everything - when I hear Adam the Woo say he paid $20 to ride Tron I am just boggled - yeah an hour of my time is worth more than $20 - but paying $20 to Ride Tron after paying $140 to get in - just wow. (I know Adam has an AP but I still would not pay it).