*sigh*
My point was made poorly - i'm not trying to defend the increase. AP prices are going to be increased once if not twice a year at this point. My point was that looking at what we just got and what's coming up shortly, it's actually a reasonable time to increase prices... if prices weren't already so high.
I believe when the tiers were introduced, the GOLD level was somewhere around where SILVER is now, which blocks out all summer. I've already gone down to Silver on my most recent AP renewal. It wasn't long ago that I paid around $500 for *no blockouts*. Now i'm paying as much if not more to be blocked out during Spring Break/Easter, Summer and the last two weeks of the year. I like going to Disney as a local, but there's so much more I can be doing with my money. The weekday select pass might be the next step down as I actually don't even have time to go to the parks on the weekends much of the time so I can probably make that one work and be happy with it if I felt like it just wasn't worth it anymore. And it's not even a money thing for me, it's just a moral thing of "Why would I pay this much when I only go a few times a month anyway?" Sometimes I go months without going to the parks and then I feel like I NEED to go to make my pass worth it.