I think you're missing the point of WDW. It's not for people here, who come back and back and back. WDW focuses on one-time or once-every-few-years experiences. It doesn't need to update its rides or attractions because it's got a constant and perpetually renewing base -- families with young children. That's the focus of WDW, it's why everything from the few new rides that have popped up to the emphasis on characters and even princesses has been abut keeping the little kids entertained, and giving parents of those young kids a place to go where they can feel safe and feel as though the kids will have big-eyed fun for a week.
I'm not saying they don't want the older kid or the kid free couples or even the Spring Breakers. They want them all. But, if WDW has the choice between tailoring experiences toward 4-10 year olds and tailoring toward anything else, they are going to choose the young kids because they are the Disney's version of a renewable resource. Every year more of them come along.
That's why I find this whole conversant about WDW vs. USF or that there ought to be better coasters or more rides or whatever fascinating, because people get frustrated at WDW for not focusing on different demographics and not understanding that WDW clearly has no intention of it. There are just enough thrill rides to keep older brothers and sisters from getting bored, but those kids are not the demographic they need, any more than those folks who come kid-free. Why else would Disney spend whatever they spent and four years making a ride based on an 80-year-old movie -- because they know that parents will plot Snow White into the DVD player in the car with the understanding it is a safe film for their kids to see. No one shows Harry Potter to four year olds to get them indoctrinated, but people do it with almost the entire Disney animated library.
So WDW isn't being a evil stepsister in any of this -- they are remaining very true to their mission, which is to make money while giving families with young children a place to go where their kids will be wide-eyed most of the time their are there. If they pick up others along the way, that's great. But every year, a new crop of kids turns four, and WDW figures they've got a shot at them for the next six years. Anything in addition to that is gravy.
