The price of the vacation accompanied by a complicated queuing system that rewards you for getting up before 7AM that costs money is a big factor. Further, ALL queuing systems, going back to fastpass, have changed the psychology of going to the parks. Everything besides rides is devalued to such a degree that only rides are of value. Disney’s own vacation systems reinforce this! Now, these new systems of organization may be necessary due to the increase in crowds and the extraordinarily long period without a new gate to spread them out, but they have changed the mind set of a park visit completely.
On a recent visit, I got together with an old friend who is local. He goes to WDW for a few days every 5 years or so. We went to the parks together in HS a lot (85-88). He wanted to go to the HoP, PotC, and HM. He joined our group at BoG since he wanted to see what the food was like. I got him in our boarding group for Tron, but his interest was less than minimal. Mostly we just walked around, shared memories, and laughed. It helped me realize what a rat race WDW had become. I’ve been in MK many times over a period of time that could be described as 5 decades. All these vacation planning “tools” push me towards a theme park commando mindset and I’m faaar more resistant to it than a once in a lifetime vacationer. The current vacation structure coupled with the cost has definitely had an impact on guest behavior, IMO.
