So interesting to read that. Like you, DLP to me has always been the poor man's park. The park tried, I admired the quality of some of its design, but as a whole it failed, the magic was not there like in WDW.
But lately I have come around. Personally I think the decline by degrees has been adding up in WDW, and the conversion of the MK into toon kiddie park and EPCOT into toon drunkytown is devastating. WDW is not always a pleasant experience. Meanwhile, DLP, the park that was once but a weak copy of the real thing, has been largely left intact. And when the orginal is compromised, the copy emerges as the authentic experience.
DLP has aged well in general. It has ripened like a good wine. Not maintenance wise, but aesthetically. I feel much more magic there than before, when it felt cold and fake. Was it the Christmas atmosphere that added the necessary charm to you? Or also a more general appreciation of other things?