You’re making your way through Fantasyland. You pass The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. Ten minute wait. You pass the Carousel. Five minute wait. You pass it’s a small world. Five minute wait.
You happily zip around the very few Guests in the park today. You’re feeling really good that it’s such a slow day with hardly any big crowds. Just as you reach your destination, Peter Pan’s Flight, you glance up to see that wonderfully short wait time, nearly knocking over the stalled family in front of you in a domino-like effect.
45 minutes
Wha—how? Huh? Even if you wanted to wait out that anticipated ¾ of an hour, you can’t advance any further than where you’re standing. The queue extends out into the main path. Just then, you glance up again, hoping the 45 minutes was just a joke. And then it happens.
70 minutes
Huh? Is this real life? All for a trip to Neverland?
This nearly three minute attraction into the popular 1953 Disney film has a few reasons for its continuously high wait-time:
1.) Popularity: Peter Pan is a popular film featuring many memorable characters, including Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Tinkerbell. Plus,
2.) Cool ride vehicles: Guests ride in a flying ship, which is a very unique experience that Pirates can’t even boast.
3.) Low capacity, high demand: Although the attraction is built with an Omnimover style track, the ships themselves only hold 2-3 occupants per vehicle.
4.) Hype: This is a theory I have developed on my own. Guests see that the wait time is high, so they assume the attraction must be the biggest E-Ticket thrill the park has to offer and they either get in line or try to book a FastPass. This in turn raises the wait time and causes more panic in a neverending vicious cycle.
With the addition of the Tangled themed restrooms, the old restrooms next to Peter Pan were recently taken out and the queue was redesigned. The new additions take us through the Darling household and into the children’s rooms, where we see imagination run amok.
Very recently, a NextGen queue was revealed with some additions where Guests’ shadows can interact with the shadows of butterflies and bells. Guests can also clap if they believe in fairies, only to become magically sprinkled with pixie dust. Guests can watch Tinkerbell fly about the room, marked by her radiant light.
The renovations are beautiful and extremely detail-oriented, but how do they compare to the actual attraction
Many Disney fans have long commented that some touch-up to the attraction is long overdue. While it is true that Peter Pan’s Flight is a classic, many of the Audio Animatronics (AA) are the same as they were when the attraction first opened. The usage of paint and props is very simplistic. In a day and age where Seven Dwarfs Mine Train uses AA dwarfs with projection-mounted skulls, the classic tech of Peter Pan’s Flight certainly seems inferior, especially to those not familiar with the history of the attraction.
But would we really want a classic attraction modified in a way that makes it lose its original feel? Is upgrading the queue going a bit too far? And is Peter Pan’s Flight really worth the 45-minute minimum wait?
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