I'm sat here on a Saturday afternoon with nothing to do. There is only Costa coffees in this town and they shut at 6pm, the cinema is decrepit and as it's the only place to go to for entertainment it's full of kids who want to socialise instead of watch the movie. The only place to go for food are the local pubs, Wetherspoons is one and all Brits on here will know what that means and they aren't like the Red Lion in Epcot either. No decent restaurants, nothing. I could drive the 20 miles to the nearest Starbucks, but, the petrol will cost more than the coffee.
This is why I go to Disney and will continue to do so. I have two weeks of feeling i'm actually living. Evenings in the parks are my favourite thing to do, just strolling around, having a Starbucks or a snack or resort hopping and people watching. It's the simple things about going to WDW that have been lost to many.
Do I feel like i'm being ripped off? At the moment only with the resort housekeeping, apart from that everything else is a matter of choice, we can choose not to buy all the merch, we can choose where to eat, we can choose to eat sit down meals or snack our way around (they are substantial after all) I buy my mug and it pays for itself in a couple of days, after that the drinks are free. If you feel ripped off then ask yourself what have you paid for to feel ripped off, as I said, considering how much you pay for even a value room the standard of housekeeping is terrible.