Just stumbled upon this discussion thanks to the weekly newsletter.
As a regular Orlando vacationer, and owner of two Orlando timeshares, I am okay with the price increases. I agree that the parks keep getting busier and Disney has to do something to control the crowds. Short of limiting attendance and holding lotteries to determine who gets to go (imagine THAT!), the only capitalist thing to do is to raise prices to what the market will bear while maintaining quality. It is a tough balancing act. I'd rather pay more to go to a park that is less crowded and have a better experience than pay less for a jam packed park and a lousy experience. We have been attending regularly for 10+ years now (a lot less than some here, but quite a few visits) and really haven't noticed that much of a change. If you know what you are doing (learn to turn left when the crowd goes right, follow a good touring plan, maximize FP and now FP+, etc.), then Disney is still a great experience. I should add that every one of our visits has been on our provincial March break (DW is a teacher) which I think has also been FL's March break every time, so crowds are generally pretty high.
As the kids grew (they no longer come along) we graduated to USF and IOA with the bigger faster rides. Over the years we have discovered just how much Central Florida actually has to offer, there is so much to do without stepping foot on Disney property that Orlando remains our go to vacation. Looking at the price quotes above, I will continue to buy tickets for Disney in the future - last year's trip saw me use the last main park attractions on my 10 day NEWPFAM tickets bought for somewhere around $500 back around 2010 (everyone else in the family still has a few visits left). I don't think that $100ish per day is out of line with the value of the experience. I think the Disney park prices provide similar entertainment value to the other area attractions (USF, IOA, SeaWorld, Kennedy, LL etc). I do think that $65 for the waterparks is getting out of line with comparable attractions, but I still have 5 or 6 'and more' left on my ticket, so lots of time for that to correct.
Overall our vacation costs have actually declined annually as we have learned how to do it smartly. Our accommodation costs are fixed and reasonable, I pay more per night at the HIExpress or Hampton Inn on the drive down than I pay for our timeshare. Switching to driving has greatly decreased our vacation costs, but I actually enjoy the 24 hour drive down from Canada. Overall a week at Disney costs us about 1-2% of our annual gross household income - that's okay with me.
I guess I too am starting to rant a bit, but to the OP's point, Disney is not (yet) pricing out the middle class simply because the parks keep getting more and more full of middle class Americans (and Canadians, Mexicans, Brits, Chinese, you name it). Disney does appear to be trying to price some out to control its product experience, but they are having a pretty tough go of it!