I try to enter Dragonsreach and I have to wait 3 minutes for it to load.
I try to fast travel and I have to wait 3 minutes for it to load.
I try to ......

Then, I tried something. When I get the loading screen, I hit CTL+ALT+DEL and then, instead of starting up the Windows Task Manager, I hit ESC. Then, my loading screen disappears and I am where I want to be. WTH is going on?

Do you by any chance have something limiting your fps? When I had an fps limiter set to 30fps it gave that same issue.