I disagree about the entrance cost at Disneyland being outrageous or insanely expensive. Entrance fees at Disneyland may not be dirt cheap, but let me play Devils advocate for a minute.
Parking cost half that in many places just to visit. I once paid 25 bucks to park a few years back for an emergency dental trip in that area. My kid told me the other day he paid 45.00 for a one day ticket for Six Flags Magic Mountain(I told him he was stupid pay 79 for a season pass). For me Disney is easily worth triple that. I believe Disneyland is 104.00 for one day, so I do not consider Disneyland's daily cost out of line, definitely not crazy expensive. It amazes me people living in an area that cost outrageous amount to live believe going to a theme park that cost so much to build, with so many renovations and upgrades, cost to much to enter. Not to mention the people that live in that area are all for giving everyone 15 an hour as a minimum with no schooling or training, then cry foul Disneyland cost too much to enter at 104.00. Having to pay every person as a START 15 an hour, I wonder how they will make any money to begin with in the coming years.
My son lives in CA, he tells me the other day he went out for Sushi with friends. He went with 3 others and the bill was over 500 bucks. It doesn't matter what they had. My point is the cost did not phase him and apparently it does not phase the people that live in that area that stand in line for that place either. 2.5 hours for a meal that cost more than a day at Disneyland does not seem out of the ordinary there, even for locals. I can go and on with examples showing what entertainment cost there. Some entertainment is cheaper, but for the most part Disneyland is on par in costs with other entertainment in that area, many could say Disneyland is a better value. My daughter was there in CA recently and went surfing, it was 65 bucks for 1.5 hours then she, went parasailing it cost her 62 bucks for 45 minutes, they rented little scooters in Venice Beach and they stayed on the scooter so long they broke 100 bucks a person. They took a bus tour to see all the LA scene that cost her 65 for 4 hours, that was probably one of the better deals for her. I told her she should of went to Disneyland it would of cost less. She said well my brother(who lives in Studio City) didn't want to go to Disneyland so they went to Universal, it cost them 110.00 each for that day at Universal. Why should Disneyland cost less than Universal? Apparently Disney is cheaper than Universal right now.
I am not rich and have said many times I have six kids, so no one needs explain to me that 104.00 isn't a substantial amount. A day at the park for me cost over 800.00. That being said, the entrance fee being expensive does not mean it is not worth it or a bad value. I am not even arguing that it is not a lot of money, it certainly is, but the entrance fee has to make it a viable profitable business. I personally can't see how the Disney entrance fee could be much less money and be viable, especially in that area. Disneyland does offer the AP in the new Magic Key formula, looking at the prices it seems to me and as expensive as Magic key is, Disney is trying to give locals the best price they can. I could only imagine what garbage Disneyland would be or look like if it cost 50.00 a day.
