For my family we compare it to other parks. We did a week long trip at Cedar Point for less then half the cost of a Disney vacation.
With these price increases now the value isn't there anymore for us.
But can you compare the parks? We have Canada's Wonderland up here and there is no comparison. It would be like trying to compare a steak at a fine dining and one that you can get at ihop. Yes they are both steaks,,,but huge difference in taste. At least at our Wonderland I can say that is a fair comparison. If strictly on rides then CW has bigger faster coasters,,,but on all else and customer service,,,not even close.
I agree with your line of thinking, however with Disney's current park reservation rules, Genie Plus, Lightning Lane, and modified park hopping there is no guarantee we get to do what we want.
We always go in December for 2 weeks. So fairly busy time.
I have to be up at midnight to buy Genie plus or it might be sold out the next day. Than up again at 7am to book the popular Lightning Lanes and make 1st Genie Plus reservation. That in itself is a huge inconvenience and not the way I want to vacation. The big kicker though is even if I do this we might still not get the Lightning lanes we want. RotR, FoP, etc apparently sell out of Lightning lanes in 10 mins on some busy days.
So imagine spending $15k and not getting to ride those rides?? Under those parameters I can't even decide if the value is there or not. We liked having the 3 FP's. It worked fine for us.
So for any time we have been have never had a FP for RotR or FoP,,,we just lucked out. For a few rides that would be great and miss them,,,does not make for a full vaction for us. I fully understand and can see the view that for some it is why they come,,,we know we will be back and get it another time. I look at it like movies on opening weekend,,for big blockbusters,,,you might not get in,,,but in a couple of weeks I can go and see them. Very small comparison I know.
We were just in Hawaii,,,did not get to do all I wanted,,,having teens that dont like to hike or ride in a car puts a damper on things,,,but I would rather enjoy the time instead of thinking of all I missed out on. Will we be back to Hawaii,,,probably not,,,thats expensive for us,,,but made the most of it.
Enjoy the vacation time you make of it.