Disneyland Review: Peter Pan's Flight

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Feels like flying with amazing lights and details

Cons: Long line for a short ride

The Bottom Line: 

Fly to Neverland

After a very long wait

Short but so worth it

"Come on , Everybody, Here We Goooooo!"

I have always loved the story of Peter Pan, so it's no real surprise that my favorite of the rides in Fantasyland is Peter Pan's Flight.  However, it seems to be a popular ride with many people, and with good reason.

Peter Pan's Flight is located next to the castle in the heart of Fantasyland.  It's on the right hand side if you come in through the castle from Main Street.  Just look for the long line; you can't miss it.

And that's the biggest downside to this ride - it always has a long line.  I very rarely see this attraction with less than a half an hour wait.  The line snakes around outside, and is one of the least interesting lines in the park, too.  As you get closer, you will hear instrumental music from the movie and get to enjoy a giant mural on the wall.  Those with disabilities can use the exit to get on the attraction, although they will need to get in the pirate galleon.

Once you reach the front of the line, you'll board your very own pirate galleon.  These ships are big enough to accommodate two or three people per ship, although three can get very crowded if they are three adults.

And as you leave the loading area, you take off in flight.  That's the magic of this ride.  You are suspended from a track in the ceiling and fly through or over the scenes.

You start out in the Darling nursery as Peter encourages the kids to take flight.  Then it's out the window and over the rooftops until you reach London.  You fly over the city at night, and you see lights of the city below you.  If you look carefully, you can even see the cars on the streets.  From there, you fly over Neverland at night with stars around you in the sky.

From there, you're almost done, unfortunately.  You fly over a pirate ship as Peter Pan and Captain Hook fight, then swoop in as Tinkerbell lights up the ship to help send you home.  Finally, you fly over the mermaids and see Smee try to rescue Hook from the crocodile.  And just like that it's time to exit.

While this isn't the shortest of the dark rides in Fantasyland, it feels like it.  That's because most of the time is spent flying over the city and Neverland without really seeing any characters or scenes from the movie.  Once you do see some, you are pretty much done.

However, I really don't mind.  The effect of flying is so cool, and the detail of the scenes you fly over is amazing.  While I usually try to time this so I don't have a super long wait, it's still absolutely worth it for me.

As an aside, this ride was one of the original attractions when the park opened in 1955.  I can remember standing in line and hearing Peter Pan saying, "Come on, everybody, here we goooooo!" over and over again as a kid.  When they remodeled Fantasyland in the 1980's, they updated this ride and gave him a few phrases to say, so it's not as annoying when you are in line.