At some time in our lives we wait and vacations are no different. From waiting in the car to waiting on a plane, we all cope with the anticipation of getting there. When I was a little girl I could not wait to go on my first Disney vacation and we did our share of waiting from Louisiana to California on a three week journey stopping everywhere imaginable on the way to California. It was tortuous. I could not wait to get there; but, my dad said to me “don’t rush it– anticipation is half the fun.” Now to an 1 year old that sounded really crazy – how could waiting for something wonderful be a good thing? How is “wanting to go” better or just as wonderful as being there? It made no sense, certainly that was dad code for be quiet we will get there when we get there.
It seemed an eternity as my sister, who was nearly four, and I poured over the glossy booklet in the back of the car looking at photos of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, fireworks with Tinkerbell, tomorrowland and the newest ride Pirates of the Caribbean. I could not stand the wait and every time I closed the book I asked my sister which ride she looked forward to most she replied, “ I want to ride the cups.” Across Texas that seemed to never end to Pike’s Peak, up Wyoming, around the loops in Yellowstone to Sun Valley my sister repeated, I want to ride the cups. Two weeks into the car trip the pages began to show wear as my patience grew weary too. I thought that if I heard my sister say she wanted to ride the cups again I would scream. Craters of the Moon? –Who cares– it’s no Matterhorn; couldn’t my parents see San Francisco cannot compete with Disneyland? Now I’m beginning to think maybe we can leave my sister in a cup and no one will notice as her chant “I want to ride the cups” tests my patience when alas we arrive in Anaheim.
So we arrive and my sister’s chanting “I want to ride the cups” becomes more repetitive and what do we do when we get there? We wait. Who said anything about wanting to see Mr. Lincoln when my dad must realize the only cure for this chant lies in Fantasyland, but we must wait. Fortunately my dad helped us take advantage of the long lines. We had waited to so long and the ride for Pirates of the Caribbean was over two hours. So we spent time talking about what we looked forward to with this attraction, the detail in the surrounding buildings how far we had come to get there and where we were going next. Fortunately my sister was younger and shorter so her cup chant projected at a near inaudible level. I think my dad sensed our fatigue and would start to point out minor details and talk about real life pirates. From there we planned our next attraction or talked about what we rode and how we loved it. We talked about what we could be doing at home if we were not there, and when the lined seemed to really never end we talked about coming back to do it all over again.
Family time in line builds on the memories a family will take home. Delay of gratification another hidden benefit as research has demonstrated that children who can delay gratification at an early age are often more successful in obtaining personal goals in adulthood. Teaching your children to wait may prove beneficial in the long term when working toward more beneficial goals in the future like their profession. Especially if your child is ADHD or impulsive, learning to wait your turn teaches skills that will help develop skills useful in school and future endeavors long after returning home. No room for grumpy here, we kept it positive. Yes we had to deal with the heat, lines, the lack of shade, thirst, fatigue but we had no time for misery. My dad challenged us to become our own imagineers and use our own problem solving strategies to overcome the obstacles.
My dad is no longer with us but we love planning and anticipating our next Disney vacation and look forward to the opportunities to meet at Disney World with our families. We spend much of our line – time chatting, reminiscing, planning our next attraction or afternoon and sharing with our families. After more than 50 years of Disney vacations inevitably on every trip my sister turns to me and says “I want to ride the cups” and we laugh and rush off to the cups with huge smiles as childhood memories flood back knowing every moment waiting was worth it.