Costs are going to go up, especially after a pandemic that cost everyone from all businesses their bottom line. Most of the threads that I’ve seen about price increases are emotional, and not rational. The simple fact is we have overcrowded this planet and our cities, and everyone thinks they are entitled to everything. More and more people want to come to Disney, and there’s a finite amount of space for them.
I think that people have just gotten more sensitive about "keeping up with the Joneses" or not being able to "keep up" in the last few years. Disney doesn’t know what’s actually cash, and which is just credit card debt. It’s only a $200 deposit to book your Disney World vacation. I'm pretty sure that the majority of visitors aren't scraping funds together, but are just willing to go into more debt. The quality of clientele decreases, and the quantity is increasing. That is not Disney's fault. That’s why they raise prices. There are those take the YOLO attitude and will incur debt in order to do it. As a result, I think the parks became so overcrowded and started to lose that special magical Disney World feeling. Guests do not enjoy scheduling every minuscule detail, feeling squeezed in like sardines(odor definitely part of the ambience), and being herded like cattle.
The reality is that Disney has spent a lot over the years to build new parks, new rides, new places to stay and eat. They’re run by a multi-billion dollar company, not a mom-and-pop run amusement park.Walt Disney World thrives because it has become a fly-to vacation destination just as much as Hawaii or Paris.
Disneyland is still locally driven and enjoys the ability to charge vacation destination-like prices like WDW’s because of immense Southern Californian wealth.