Disney parks price out the middle class

[MineralMan]

38. In 1955, my parents took me and my two siblings

for a drive down the brand new Golden State Freeway (I-5) freeway to a new place called Disneyland in Anaheim. A book of ride tickets, plus park admission cost about $5, with only three coupons for the desirable C-Ticket rides.

$5. But that was 1955. At the time, my father was earning about $2.50 an hour as an auto mechanic. $5 was a lot of money then, but my parents bought ticket books for their three kids, and just a park admission for themselves. I'm guessing that $5 in 1955 was worth more than $100 is in 2015. Truly.

Disney theme parks are not daily visit sorts of places. They're a rare treat that parents enjoy giving their children. Back then, we could drive there, do the park in a day, and drive right back home. Had we stayed in a hotel, the cost of the rooms would have been equivalent in 1955 to what people pay today. Meals, too, had pretty equivalent prices in 1955 dollars to the cost today.

People take their families to theme parks. It's expensive now. It was expensive in 1955, too. The whole family never went to Disneyland again. I went, while in high school, after I had a job and could pay my own way. It was a rare treat back then. It still is.