I will start by saying that I
am a Disney apologist. Our honeymoon was at WDW and we have returned often over the years. I realize that I view all things Disney in a positive light. However, I have been intrigued by the number of posts that say Walt is spinning in his grave over the prices seen today. I am not sure that is accurate. Yes, Walt wanted a family-friendly park. He wanted a magical place that inspired awe. (There is
no question that the standards he had were
much higher than those seen today.). However, the belief that
Disneyland was priced for everyone is slightly out of touch. The entry fee was only $1 (slightly more than $10 today). Disneyland opened with 18 rides that each required a ticket to ride. A ticket book with 8 tickets cost $2.50 (almost $25.50 today). So, entry into the park and one ticket book (you would have almost certainly needed at least two) would have cost a total of $3.50. The average salary in 1955 was a princely $3,301. The $3.50 total to visit Disneyland represents 0.00106% of that yearly income. Fast forward to today when the lowest price ticket I could find to WDW is $109. We will add the $15
Genie+ fee to get a ticket that equals $124. That $124 figure represents 0.00155 of today's average yearly income of $79,900,
a difference of only 0.0005% from the 1955 price.
Hotels
do show a bigger change. The 1956 fee for the Disneyland Hotel of $15/night would account for a 0.046% of income. (I know, Wrather owned the hotel until 1988 - but Disney was certain the park would only thrive with the addition of a luxury hotel next door.). $15night represented a fee that was 2.5 times the average hotel cost of $6/night in 1956. Jumping to the current year we can use the Polynesian and the exorbitant rate of $900/night(The highest I see at the Poly). One night represents 1.126% of 2021's yearly income. The average U.S. hotel night in 2021 is $186. So, the Disney resort is 4.83 times more expensive, a much larger gap that the 1956 hotel shows. What if you don't use the most expensive night? I do think it has to be a deluxe hotel for comparisons sake since the Disneyland Hotel is considered deluxe. Using the Beach Club, with an average rate of $463/night in 2021, provides the closest comparison. That rate is 2.489 times the U.S. average. Five Deluxe resorts have higher averages than Beach Club, while three are lower.
Using these totals I think you can argue that Disney
might have been appalled at the cost to sleep in one of his hotel rooms. Maybe. However, I do not think the park comparison would have phased him very much - the totals are fairly similar.
Maybe I am totally off base.