Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Santa in the Age of Technology

This Sunday, we took Jacob -- and his list, which he carefully typed out on his computer! -- to see Santa Claus at Neshaminy Mall.

When we got to the part of the mall where Santa was, I was surprised and happy to see that there was almost no line. But, we were soon to find out, there was a reason for the line's absence. It seems that waiting to see Santa, like so many other things in this world, can be improved through the use of technology.

The deal is, you go up to the counter and they give you a pager, which will work anywhere in the mall... similar to the ones they give you in the chain restaurants like Olive Garden. Once they page you, *then* you can come get your photo with Santa. We were told that the wait would be about 2 hours.

Once we got over the initial shock of being handed a pager, I decided that it was probably a good thing to not have to stand in line for two hours, and was able to appreciate Santa's new electronic breakthrough. But it was just so weird that a guy who still travels by sleigh and has all his toys made by elves would be so technologically advanced ;)

5 comments:

Misty said...

This is quite true... Oh the irony.

A said...

Ah gotta love those little pagers. Last time I got one of those I forgot I was holding it, and when it went off it went flying cause it scared me. LOL

Anna said...

What??? NO-WAY!! 2 hour wait? how is that? you sit on his lap, he asks if you were good this year (he's supposed to know that already)...some cry immediately and get off. Others give their list, take a pic, get a candy cane and their off. But I guess if it is THAT busy it's best to dilly dally in toy stores, grab a bite, throw coins in the fountain, etc...and how magical you can make it when the pager starts to blink!!!

Anonymous said...

OMG... my sonnused to whine when it was a 20 mins queue... but TWO HOURS!!!!!

shakes head

maybe, um...a different mall!!!!

I agree pagers are kinda a weird thing. I have never heard of THAT before!

Anonymous said...

I am so glad to hear someone is actually ok with getting a pager. I have worked for Santa at NM for 5 years. We have used the pager system every year. It is the Mall's solution to relieving parents of standing in a line for more then 2 hours...we even have waits up to 4 hours at sometimes!!! It is a whole lot easier to walk around with your child then try to keep him.her still in line for that long. We will only use pagers, however, if the line to see Santa is more then 20 minutes long. I hope you will continue to bring your son to NM, for Santa is wonderful and great with the children!! and also a reminder that we are always there the second weekend of November til Christmas Eve. The first day is always a little bit crowded because of the festivities, but for the next few weeks it is and always will be the slowest time we have. So here are some tips for you to avoid a 2 hour wait :
Get there Early! If it is nearing Christmas Eve, your best bet is to be there an hour before we open and get a pager. That guarantees you only that one hour wait!
Come during the weekdays! Its almost never more then a 15 minute wait (up until the 2nd week of DEC!) Smile and Have FUn!
Hope to see you next year!