I understand the logic of the price hikes, but I still don't see why some people seem to be relishing the fact that some fans are now priced out.
It's not about pricing people out of going to the park in general, it's about pricing them out during certain periods that's I'm specifically talking about. There are some people who probably got priced out of going period, and that's a bummer but of course Disneyland and theme parks are not a right. The difference between a Six Flags and a Disney park is gigantic, and since 1955 there has been such a gigantic boon in the theme park industry that when you place Disneyland on top of it all (which most people tend to do), why shouldn't they act like a luxury in some ways? This is for DLR only, of course, WDW has far more problems that complicate it majorly.
That said, usually AP price hikes last about a day or two of controversy, but this has continued longer than I've ever seen before. It's amazing that the mere existence of a $1,049 pass (which is the same as the $850 one, just including the two busiest weeks of the year) has people so determined to kick and scream against all logic presented to them, and some using that opportunity to create more frevor and misinformation to drive a negative narrative. A good deal of it is the "Universal rules, Disney drools" and vice-versa being spilled in as well, which makes things even more infuriating to listen to. It's like it's rocket fuel for anybody who is just ready to tear into them because they've been foaming at the mouth to for so long.
And why? Because it's cool to hate on Disney, and that's only because it's so extreme in the opposite direction where it's not cool to criticize Disney ever. Let's use two podcasts' respective audiences as a comparison test:
Parkscope is always commenting on how they get 1-star reviews on iTunes because they bitch about Disney a lot. Yes, it is pretty true that they say more negative things than positive things about Disney, but they're not a Disney podcast and the hosts keep talking about how they do love Disney, they just aren't fans of how Disney is executing its current operations specifically in Orlando. On numerous occassions, Joe and Sean lob heaps of praise on Disneyland (and Tokyo), but this is largely ignored because I mean, how dare they say bad stuff about Disney!
Coaster Radio is an interesting podcast because it's one of the few where the major listeners are those who enjoy reigional Cedar Fair or Six Flags parks. (after all, it's called Coaster Radio) This is extremely evident because the show awards the best ride of the year award via audience poll, and the Disney/Universal rides are always runner-ups and it's almost always a new coaster somewhere in the midwest that wins the prize. (for example, last year King's Island's "Banshee" won out against Gringott's... which got third behind a new plug-and-play Zamperla coaster at CONEY ISLAND) One of the hosts, Mike Collins, does love Disney parks quite a bit and does talk about them every now and then but every year the listener survey tells them that a good chunk of people despise the Disney talk and even choose to skip over those episodes. Keep in mind, them talking about Disney is rather rare... they talk about Universal a little more. And yet people still hate that small amount of talk, just because it's Disney.
The two sides just feed each other in an unhealthy fashion, and boy am I sick of it.