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That is what I remember from decades past, but parks seem different now. With all the complex ticketing and line-bypassing schemes, it now seems more about social signaling than enjoying the ride. Those Disney lines were fun but now it seems that standing in a line is only a signal that you aren't subscribed to whatever scheme allows one to bypass the line on a given day. Airlines are the same. Once upon a time everyone just got onto the plane. Now we all line up and compare each other according to which order we are allowed to board. Disney worked to make the line entertaining. Now they want to upsell and I worry that, like airlines, they now want to make the line experience worse in order to better sell the bypass option.
(Starting in the late 90s, Disney actively tried to reduce lines so that people would spend more time shopping/spending, which is why the parks suddenly felt far more crowded.)
It's not like this is a new thing at Disneyland or anywhere. When they opened, they sold your tickets in tiers, and that's when we coined the expression "E-ticket Ride" because they'd deem the most desirable, most exciting attractions as top-tier premium packages, and families on a budget would settle for less.
It was the abolition of these distinctions and the flattening of the price of admission that took a step forward. Since Disneyland's reputation had been established, they were more willing to let the patrons and fans decide which rides were the best and coolest, and inform future iterations of Imagineering.
By the way, to speak to the article itself, I've been reviewing "classic" Disney films and found significant occultism, a lot of "magick" and such ("Sorceror's Apprentice", "Pinocchio"); everyone knows the fairies and supernatural elements; some say that Disney has changed and Disney has lost moral character and is no longer suitable for children, but I suggest that Walt Disney's morality hasn't altered course since its foundation, when "Alice in Wonderland" was a drug-fueled sex romp written by an ephebophile; when Steamboat Willie was an arrogant bigot who violently pounded other animals into submission...
That is what I remember from decades past, but parks seem different now. With all the complex ticketing and line-bypassing schemes, it now seems more about social signaling than enjoying the ride. Those Disney lines were fun but now it seems that standing in a line is only a signal that you aren't subscribed to whatever scheme allows one to bypass the line on a given day. Airlines are the same. Once upon a time everyone just got onto the plane. Now we all line up and compare each other according to which order we are allowed to board. Disney worked to make the line entertaining. Now they want to upsell and I worry that, like airlines, they now want to make the line experience worse in order to better sell the bypass option.
(Starting in the late 90s, Disney actively tried to reduce lines so that people would spend more time shopping/spending, which is why the parks suddenly felt far more crowded.)