^THIS. It's depressing to me that the reaction to this story from many is, "Why can't Disney have more private events for extra $$$ that we can buy?"
My reaction is, "Why can't Disney have this kind of entertainment in the Magic Kingdom on a regular basis for park guests?"
I understand it makes sense for Disney to do this particular special event. I also understand the upcharge events for Christmas and Halloween are very popular, so I don't blame Disney for doing them either. But the fact remains - if you buy a 7-day pass and Magic Kingdom is closed 2 of those nights for private events, the value of that pass just went down. And that's even more true for an AP - in theory that gets you in the park anytime you want to go... only now it doesn't.
When I first started visiting WDW in the early 90s, the magic was pretty much available to all in relatively equal measure. Yeah, I'm sure if you were wealthy enough you could sign up for private tours and whatnot but that didn't really impact other guests in a visible way. Certainly not like closing the park for those who didn't pay extra $.