Well, all rides have their fans and detractors and I can certainly understand a child being hesitent of a "dark ride".
However, when you board the ride, you are sitting inside the "Jolly Roger" (Peter Pan's ship) and you are dusted off to Neverland as Peter excalims, "Here We Go".
The opening sequence has Wendy, John, and Michael in the nursery and then you start to go a bit higher and you see Nana barking as you overlook the city of London all in miniature, lit up beautifully. Almost like an Earnshaw painting come to life.
Then your ship slowly glides over the various stops of Neverland, Tiger Lilly's family, the Mermaid Lagoon. You see Captain Hook and Smee with their pirate ship and eventually the three children are taken hostage. Then Peter and Hook have a battle on the mast.
The fact that the ride is dark and the attention to detail is quite amazing. When we rode with my friend's child (age 3 at the time) we said the ride had to be dark so that Captain Hook couldn't see us and we would be safe to see Peter's adventures from a distance. Worked for her.
As an adult, I usually ride this at least twice during a visit but I wouldn't wait more than 20-30 minutes to do so. As a first time visitor, I would describe it as a "must see" but I think that all of Fantasyland is that way, where the magic resides . . . .