Posted by Mike and Chris Pettey on September 8, 2020
Category: Disney vs. Disney
Tags: Disney vs. Disney Disneyland Disneyland Paris Magic Kingdom Peter Pan Shanghai Disneyland Tokyo Disneyland

Peter Pan’s Flight is a suspended dark ride that travels through a loose re-telling of the Disney 1953 Animated Classic Peter Pan. The attraction can be found at five of the six Disney Resorts across the globe. We’ve ridden every version in person.

Major Similarities & Differences

You can watch fantastic videos of all versions of the attraction online, so we won’t spend time re-hashing the details of each experience. Instead, we will just point out the major similarities and differences we feel are worth calling out:

The Florida and Tokyo versions use a moving platform loading area, to help expedite vehicle loading and unloading.

The Paris and Shanghai versions have two rows per vehicle, to increase capacity compared to the other versions, which are one row per vehicle.
All five versions were opening day attractions at each of their respective parks.
In all five instances, the ride is located in the Fantasyland area of the park.

The Rankings (from least favorite to favorite)

5. Peter Pan’s Flight – Tokyo Disneyland (Tokyo)

To be clear: Peter Pan’s Flight in Tokyo isn’t a bad ride. It just doesn’t have anything that helps it stand out from the rest of the pack. Most of the scenes here are similar to those found in California and Paris, albeit in a slightly different order. The exterior sports the relatively bland tournament-style appearance. The queue is simple and plain. And the end of the ride is so abrupt, it gives Disneyland’s Snow White dark ride a run for its money. Finally, there are the special effects, or in this case, lack thereof. Tokyo is infamous for keeping attractions more or less in their “original” form, and while there have been some minor enhancements over the years, this one hasn’t changed much. That leaves it feeling a bit dated, and in last place on our list.

4. Peter Pan’s Flight – Magic Kingdom (Florida)

The Magic Kingdom sports a very unique version of Peter Pan’s Flight. After an incredible queue, which was added during the New Fantasyland overhaul of 2012, riders board their pirate ships and set sail over the most realistic version of London of any version. From there, it’s an immersive journey around and through an oversized version of Neverland. While this is a nice change, the lack of flying “through the stars” high above the island really stands out, and creates the sense that something is missing. The rest of the ride is a re-hash of most of the usual scenes on the pirate ship, though the voices, particularly that of Captain Hook, are so incredibly off that it detracts from the experience. We’re all for trying something different, but in this case, the differences found in the Florida version are mostly for the worse, and result in a fourth place ranking on our list.

3. Peter Pan’s Flight – Disneyland (California)

At third place is the original version that opened a mere two years after the feature film was released. It’s a Walt Disney opening day classic, but it definitely was built for a smaller theme park crowd. In fact, in a day gone by, this one may have been at the bottom of the list. But over the years it has been overhauled, plussed, and enhanced greatly. First, there’s the exterior, which is one of the best of any Peter Pan’s Flight in the world, blending in perfectly to the rest of Disneyland’s incredible and intimate 1983 Fantasyland overhaul. The ride itself is full of fantastic special effects, with just the right touch of projection mapping and fiber optics to balance out the static props and animatronics. Yes, it’s on the shorter side compared to its siblings, and its queue can be painfully slow, but it hits all the right marks and is rightfully the most popular dark ride in this park. And all of that is good enough for third place.

2. Peter Pan’s Flight – Disneyland Paris (Paris)

In second place is the Paris version of the attraction. This one is a near carbon-copy of the Disneyland original, but there are just enough tweaks that propel it above that version. First, the exterior is the best in the world; a gorgeous building that compliments what is an already gorgeous theme park. Next, and this cannot be overemphasized, the ride vehicles are designed with a second row of seats, which makes a huge difference. Not only does this greatly add much needed capacity, but it also allows many groups to sit together, whereas they would normally have to be split up. It’s a feature that is desperately needed on all of the other versions (except Shanghai). The ride itself contains many of the same fantastic enhancements found on the Disneyland version, all in a slightly larger footprint, which makes for a better ride in general. While the Paris park has its shortcomings, Peter Pan’s Flight is not one of them, and it is the second-best version of the attraction in the world.

1. Peter Pan’s Flight – Shanghai Disneyland (Shanghai)

First place unquestionably goes to the newest version of the attraction, found in Shanghai. And there is a huge gap between this one, and all other versions of the ride. With a blank slate, the Imagineers took the best parts of the classic versions, and added in new tech in order to take the entire experience to the next level. The queue and loading station, based on a London park at evening, sets a fantastic, enchanting mood. After an impressive and reworked beginning, the ships themselves swoop, dive, and “splash” in perfect choreography with the ride, almost as if they have a personality of their own. Projection screens are perfectly interwoven in various parts of the ride, demonstrating how when used wisely, they can enhance, and not detract from, the physical props. And the new final scenes are fantastic, with a several touching moments that provide the perfect finale this attraction has always deserved. With two rows of seating to handle the understandably high demand, the world’s greatest Peter Pan attraction goes to Shanghai Disneyland, where 61 years after the original, the attraction has been perfected.

Photo Credit: Albert Lam Disney Photoblography

Written by Mike and Chris Pettey

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Agree or disagree with our rankings? Have you experienced any of these attractions – either in person, or virtually via the internet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

1 Comments

Madi says:

September 14, 2020 at 7:25 pm

Awesome

Disney Vs. Disney: Ranking Every Peter Pan Dark Ride