Peter Pan’s Flight

Fly over London with Peter Pan aboard a magical pirate ship to Never Land.

“Come on everybody, here we goooooo!”

Peter Pan’s Flight all boils down to a simple explanation: It’s a ride-through of the movie’s highlights and almost tells a coherent story. As this attraction is one of Fantasyland’s highlights, you may find it best to queue up as early in the morning as possible as the late morning/afternoon lines can be mind-numbingly long.

The ride vehicles are interesting in that they are suspended from above and there are very few walkways to find below as you travel through the ride. Once you’ve boarded, you are whisked through the Darling family’s nursery and out the window, sailing high about Nana’s doghouse before soaring above the attraction’s arguable highlight: the city of London. Keen observers will notice traffic moving throughout the city and tiny details such as lamp posts and cozy brownstones before sailing over Big Ben and Elizabeth Tower while heading for that first star to the right and straight on until Neverland.

The remainder is filled with fly-bys of the Lost Boys’ camp, Mermaid Lagoon, Princess Tiger Lily’s compound of tee-pees and warriors, before finally reaching a climax of Wendy walking the plank aboard Captain Hook’s Jolly Roger as Hook and Pan face each other in duel high in the masts of the ship, resulting in Hook’s defeat and the celebration of the children. A quick ending tag of Hook trying to avoid being swallowed by the Crocodile while Smee idly sits by ends the journey as you are shipped out of the building and returned to the loading and unloading area.

Behind the Schemes:

The popularity of Peter Pan’s Flight is a bit confounding as it is one of the shortest attractions in the entire park, but nearly always has a queue that hovers around the 60-minute wait time mark. As stated before, unless you have the Lightning Lane hookup, be sure to hit this attraction first thing in the morning or you will pay dearly for delaying later. What was once a sizzling queue has been updated by Disney removing some nearby bathrooms and adding a beautiful recreation of the Darling’s nursery as part of the line. (Patient guests may even have a surprise encounter with Tinker Bell.) While some guests have lamented the removal of the restrooms, the majority of riders seem to welcome the chance to be covered inside amid the magic of air conditioners.

The attraction features more fluorescent paint than you might encounter in a Spencer’s Gift store; however, this provides a much better glimpse into the city scene of London, specifically the “cars” that are actually dabs of glowing paint on a moving bicycle chain.

In the animated Disney version of Peter Pan, the title character is voiced by Bobby Driscoll who previously starred in such Disney films as Song of the South and the company’s first completely live-action film, Treasure Island.

Actor Hans Conried voiced not only Captain Hook, but also the Darling family’s patriarch, George. This follows the tradition of both characters being played by the same actor in the stage versions of the work.

Reality Check:

According to Peter Pan creator, J.M. Barrie, Nana is a Newfoundland, not a Saint Bernard.

Despite rumors that persist to this day, animator Marc Davis’s interpretation of Tinker Bell is not based on Marilyn Monroe, but rather that of actress Margaret Kerry.

Should you swallow an alarm clock like the Crocodile, it will most likely wind down long before any alarm bells can ring.