My pricebreak is when whatever Disney is charging and offering ( excluding park entry) reaches a point where we can take that money and do something just as exclusive And get alot more. Disney reSorts and dining is pricey but try a weekend in any major city with food and you're at the same or more price range. Try a museum weekend in Manhattan for a family, Disney is not too far off If disney comes to the point of one week disney or a club Med for the same, we might give disney up. If a weekHawaii is cheaper than a week Disney by by disney. I know it's apples and oranges but it's comparing a week vacation time and cost.
The price is somewhat relative.
If you happen to live in or near a big city and/or vacation to big cities, $30 entrees, $10 cocktails, and expensive hotel rooms are the norm. Also, air travel to Orlando and airport transfer costs are not all that high compared to a trip to a Caribbean island.
In my opinion, what some people partially ignore in their calculations of vacationing is what alternatives to Disney might cost. It's one thing to visit a beach community and suggest that this is cheaper than Disney, but do your calculations include the cost of scuba diving, parasailing, etc.?
I cannot nor will not suggest that a Disney vacation is inexpensive - it's not - but alternatives to Disney that include movies, museums, ballpark, and other activities other than staring into the ocean are not inexpensive either.
That all being said, what we avoid at Disney are some of the over-the-top extras like spending a day getting our daughter's hair done at Biddy Boddy Boutique (sp?) or purchasing countless photos through Memory Maker. But we are from NYC area and the cost of food is not out-of-line for us, nor are most of the silly extras. However, the $20 ballon on Main Street just seems silly to us.
Disney has always been and will always be expensive
.you will never that by the size of the crowds.
My view is this - a vacation should be nicer than the way you live at home. Otherwise, is it really a vacation? But that's just me. To each his own.