March 2022

It took me about 15 minutes of being in the Virtual Waiting Room before the page loaded allowing me to begin shopping.

This is my first experience with the Virtual Waiting Room at shopDisney.com and I have to be honest. . . . I’m not a fan. I don’t know about you, but online shopping is one of those things that I do when I’ve got a few spare minutes to make a purchase. Having to spend 15 minutes waiting to simply access the website, which I’d imagine will be longer at different times of the year or during special releases, makes it much more difficult to do so.

There’s also the matter of an allotted time during which you are allowed to shop. To be fair, despite being informed by Virtual Waiting Room page that I would have 10 minutes to shop, I was not kicked from the site at the end of that 10 minutes. I also had no trouble reentering the site, even after closing out completely.

There are a lot of different reasons that you might find yourself wanting to visit Mall Of America. From the long list of movies that were filmed inside the mall to the indoor amusement park, it’s one of those places that some people just have to see in their lifetime. It’s also massive. Known as the largest mall in the United States, Mall Of America is 4,879,000 square feet of shops, stalls, restaurants and more. That’s enough space to fit 7 Yankee Stadiums inside. . . . . WOW!

Inside that massive space, you’ll mostly find what you’d come to expect from any other shopping mall. However, there are a few unique offerings that you might not find at the mall down the road from your house. There’s miniature golf and some restaurants that you don’t see every day, but there’s also an amusement park in the center of the mall known as Nickelodeon Universe. We’ll take some time to dive into Nickelodeon Universe some other time, but it probably goes without saying that this is the most unique feature of Mall Of America.

Mall Of America also has temporary installments and/or offerings throughout the year. Of course, these vary depending on the year and what the current events are at the time. This could be an art installation or even screen used costumes on display from an upcoming film. The information about these offerings can sometimes be found on the Mall Of America website or posted on their social media.

While there are some unique features and offerings at Mall Of America, one of the biggest misconceptions people have about the mall is that it’s particularly unique. Don’t get us wrong, while there are some things about Mall Of America that are unique [like rollercoasters], the mall itself isn’t much to write home about. With the exception of a few Minnesota specific shops, Mall Of America consists mostly of stores that you can find in shopping malls around the country. While this might be something that mallrats will enjoy, if you find a family trip to your local mall to be somewhat stressful, this isn’t going to be the destination for you.

The Value Of A Dollar

Another concern that I’ve seen expressed is in regards to how unbiased an opinion can be if content creators are receiving an experience for free. It’s another really great point and something that should be taken into consideration if you’re putting a lot of stock into the opinions of content creators. In cases like that of the Galactic Starcruiser, the content creators are given something for free and there’s no way around it. . . not having to pay for an experience can play a role in the way you experience it. However, the role that it plays can be very different depending on personality traits of the content creator. There are some creators out there who take opportunities like this as a chance to push all the buttons and find all the cracks. Others will look at this opportunity through rose colored glasses, mainly because they didn’t have to pay and choose to appreciate rather than criticize. Again, it’s about the personality of the content creators and what type of content they choose to create.

That said, in my personal opinion, having to pay for an experience isn’t the only way you can appreciate whether or not it’s worth the price they’re asking you to pay. I mean, there’s a whole discussion we could have on the subjectivity of something being worth the money, but it’s long enough that I’m going to save it for another day. Again, while there are some cases where this will be true, there are too many content creators out there with different backgrounds to assume that none of them understand how to judge the worth of an experience if they’re not actually paying. It’s like saying that people can’t possibly appreciate the quality of a sweatshirt until they actually pay for it, despite feeling it or even trying it on.

That Seems A Bit Tricky

Since the start of our discussion here today, we’ve been focusing a lot of our attention on the way that content creators present their experiences and opinions to us. What we haven’t talked about, at least not yet, are the experiences themselves. While it’s not always the case, it’s not uncommon for media events to be bolstered in order to make sure that they are presented in the best possible ways by the media, content creators and/or influencers that are bring invited. This could mean bringing out only the most experienced Cast Members or insuring that Guests are being put up in only the best rooms. This is one of the main reasons that you might hear some content creators talk about how they won’t “review” something if they haven’t paid for it themselves or if they’ve been identified as a creator/influencer. They want to make sure that they’re giving the most honest review possible and that’s not something they can do if they know that the experience is being bolstered or plussed because of who they are.

The fact that this can sometimes happen is challenging not only for the creators themselves, particularly those who want to give as unbiased an opinion as they can possibly manage, but also for those of us who are consuming that content. Is what we’re seeing the same type of experience we would get or is it over the top because they know that they’re under the microscope? Honestly, there’s no way to be sure. The best that we can do is be aware that this sometimes happens and not take too much of anything as gospel.