^^^^^This
Here's the way I see it...
From day one, WED/WDI (or, more specifically, Walt) set the bar high. VERY high. And yes, I'm aware Disneyland's opening day, and for a little while beyond, was less than stellar...but, once they got it all dialed in, it was nothing short of miles above anything similar that came before it. It was superior.
Even after Walt passed, the guys that were left behind, and had worked with Walt over the years, did their best to maintain that VERY high bar.
I was a little over 4 years old when Walt passed, and my first visit to a Disney Park was to Disneyland as a 6-year-old in 1968. I have visited both Disneyland and WDW many times over the years, and I have a pretty darn good memory of the height the bar used to be set at.
Bottom line, those of us that have been around long enough to remember the original height of that bar are gonna' be disappointed as we've seen it mostly, and in some ways shockingly, lowered over more recent years.
You'd think they would be actually trying to set the bar even higher...yes, wishful thinking, and I don't blame WDI so much as I do the bean counters, and such.