We have amusement rides within walking distance of our house.
I think it would be very difficult to understand the appeal of DL unless you had a chance to go a few times under optimal conditions; the best being cold, rainy days with few people around.
For one, anyone who is detail oriented, as in appreciation for surfboard craftsmanship, etc, will be blown away by the attention to detail that DL applies to every sq inch of the park. There isn't a short, 1' barrier surrounding flower beds that isn't perfectly painted and maintained; the beds themselves are perfectly rowed & piled, with -0- weeds or dying flowers.
(I assume everyone knows that DL has its own private nursery on site, with an army of maintenance workers/gardeners that come out every night after the park closes for the day.)
This individual perfection of each component part is multiplied by a visual depth technique (like a "wall of sound") that Walt himself was instrumental in developing. Cinderella's castle isn't just a cool looking (fake) building, but the center piece in an extremely well thought out multi-tiered artistic interpretation of 'imagine'.
If you consider the rarity of top level pro athletes, there is an equal and counter group associated with arts & crafts. However, unless they are world recognized, they toil away at places like DL (pretty well comped), applying their skilss to areas/things you wouldn't even consider. That is, until you actually see them and are able to understand what it is that you are seeing.
Two, for kids, there are two primary age groups that love DL: 3-7 years old, and young teens 13-15 (pre driving). The appeal for for young kids is obvious, so it's the young teens that are the wild card. While the boys are often times attracted to MM and other faster thrill rides, the girls like the safety and cute factor of DL. So, guess which way the guys go after blowing off some steam?
The teen thing of course is a night time deal. That's when armies will hang around, mostly socializing, with few bothering to catch a ride.
I get it that some people don't get it. It takes a few times to get the hang of it, and start getting a feel for the appeal. If you went on a hot day in the middle of a vacation week, of course everyone is going to blow a fuse. But even then, the photos and memories will still be there, so that 10-15 years later, it will still be a fun story to tell about how awful it was.
Our last trip to DW (that I mentioned above) in FL still results in periodic retelling to various friends and family, including all the smaller anecdotal stories that individually comprised that horrible day. So, the value alone of propelling stories and shared experiences actually makes it worthwhile in retrospect.