From thefp.com
As a child growing up in Florida in the ’80s, I went with my family to Walt Disney World many times. The main thing I remember is the seemingly endless waits for rides. My sisters and I would peevishly whine to our parents as we shuffled along, waiting and waiting. Occasionally, a lackadaisical Disney employee dressed as Goofy would wander by, but distractions were minimal. The experience of boredom was physical, like an itch.
Since then, Walt Disney Attractions has spent a great deal of time trying to alleviate the stubborn human experience of waiting. “It’s our number-one guest complaint,” remarked Dale Stafford, VP of development and planning, in the ’90s. Disney now refers to the places where you queue for rides as “scene ones”—as in, the first part of the performance.
Indeed, last time I took my children to Disney World, the waits were so carefully managed that they felt like part of the experience. We were greeted at the entrance to the Buzz Lightyear attraction by a cast member who declared, “There’s hardly a wait at all!” The display board gave an estimated time of ten minutes. As the line tracked back and forth, television screens broadcasted battle scenes between Buzz and his large purple nemesis Zurg. Every few seconds came the promising pings of cartoon weaponry. The lighting was low, to increase anticipation. Soon, we were shuffling onto the moving sidewalk that delivered us to our rocket ship. Had it only been ten minutes? Everything about this queue had been designed to prevent us from experiencing the real passage of time.
Waiting isn’t what it used to be. These days, we expect to be able to avoid the dullness of it—and not just when we are spending a day at a theme park. Nearly every moment of interstitial time can be filled with entertainment or communication. We turn to our smartphones to check email, text a friend, or play Candy Crush. It feels good to remove oneself mentally from the reality of waiting; our new and boundless capacity to escape tedium can feel like a micro-revolution. But the problem with revolutions is that they sometimes devour their children.
If the experience of waiting has changed—does that mean we have, too?
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