I don't fully understand what the big deal is. A week and a half ago when we started planning our WDW trip for this summer, I was surprised when I found out that, at the time, WDW resorts don't charge hotel guests for parking. We are DL veterans and I'm used to the now $22/night for DLR on site hotel parking, the $22/day rate to park in the Toy Story or Mickey & Friends parking lots/garages. And I'm used to how MOST of the off site hotels in the surrounding area charge for parking (usually ~ $11-$15/day) for their hotel guests.
Does it stink? Most definitely. Is there anything you can do about it? Not really. You can choose not to go to WDW. Or you can choose to stay off site. But then kiss off your plans of getting a reservation for Be Our Guest 180 days ahead of time.
At DLR, certain levels of AP used to include free theme park parking. But they've now eliminated that except for the top 1 or 2 tiers of AP levels. Part of the problem there, of course, was most of those AP holders were driving to the parks with only 1 person in the car, so the lots filled up quite frequently.
You know what I think? This is a preparatory step for: (a) the opening of Toy Story Land this summer; and (b) the later opening of Star Wars Land. It's probably more of the latter. And I would bet that later on, you will see an announcement that your daily on site hotel guest parking fee does NOT allow you to park for free in any of the theme park lots, thus forcing you to either pay for it again or use 1 of the Minnie vans or use the free WDW transportation options.