You do have priority over nonelites. It just so happened that when you called, that "priority" still left you with a 1-2 hr wait time. As someone else said, you can call any DL CS number and when you enter your SkyMiles number or when it recognizes your caller ID, it automatically places you in the correct priority queue.

If it makes you feel any better, I have called during weather waivers before and had a 3 hr wait as a PM. In those situations, twitter and/or the callback feature are your friend. The callback feature actually works quite well IME.