Strategy for Peter Pan standby queue

[YawningDodo]

I have not ridden Peter Pan's Flight since before its queue was updated with interactive features years ago--it's not a favorite of mine, but I usually try to ride it once each trip (though I missed it on the last two to WDW), and I'm interested in experiencing the standby queue itself.

So: if I'm interested in experiencing the standby queue but not interested in experiencing it for more than half an hour, when's the best time to hit it? Rope drop is the obvious answer, but I'm a little worried that if I'm there too early after park opening I'll end up walking straight through the queue without stopping and not get to see any of the interactive elements (this is based on my experience ropedropping FoP, where all the people ahead of me were taken through only half the queue, and since I was one of the first ten people who went through the lab I went through it so fast that I barely got to see anything!). Just how fast does the line build up for Peter Pan in the morning? If I rope drop a different ride in Fantasyland and come back to it, will the line already be more than a half hour by the time I get there? Should I just hang out at the back of the rope drop crowd and take my time walking to Fantasyland? Has anyone else actually cared enough about the queue to strategize around this and can tell me about it?

 

[Robo]

Rope drop is the obvious answer, but I'm a little worried that if I'm there too early after park opening I'll end up walking straight through the queue without stopping...

That's easy.
Stop.
Tell others they are welcome to pass you by while you enjoy the queue.

Should I just hang out at the back of the rope drop crowd and take my time walking to Fantasyland?

That's another way to do it.
You can do a combination of arriving a bit later -and- stopping at a favorite part, or more, of the queue as others pass.
(That happens at all times of day, anyway. Some guests just want to get to the "ride" and don't linger in the queue. Others do linger.)

 

[YawningDodo]

That's easy.
Stop.
Tell others they are welcome to pass you by while you enjoy the queue.

That's another way to do it.
You can do a combination of arriving a bit later -and- stopping at a favorite part, or more, of the queue as others pass.
(That happens at all times of day, anyway. Some guests just want to get to the "ride" and don't linger in the queue. Others do linger.)

Huh! That's good to hear; I'd assumed that the norm is that people don't stop and other guests would get annoyed with anyone who did. I mean, even if it's normal for people to linger I'm sure someone may still get annoyed, but...fair point, I do have the option of just letting people pass. Didn't even think about that.

 

[holden]

You can absolutely take your time through the queue. We’ve done it at rope drop for that same reason

 

[GoingSince1990]

Disney After Hours was a revelation to us regarding the PP standby queue. We’ve only been doing it with FP for so long that I had no idea the queue even went indoors.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Last June, we went for Peter Pan standby right after the fireworks show. The posted wait was 40 minutes but the were actually only about 10 people in line with a wait of less than 1 minute. We didn’t get to see any of the stuff.

 

[Rowlf the Dog]

[...] Just how fast does the line build up for Peter Pan in the morning? If I rope drop a different ride in Fantasyland and come back to it, will the line already be more than a half hour by the time I get there? Should I just hang out at the back of the rope drop crowd and take my time walking to Fantasyland? Has anyone else actually cared enough about the queue to strategize around this and can tell me about it?

As I went with my mother in the beginning of March 2018 (before spring-break!) we RD 7DMT after a PPO-breakfast at BoG (it was a EMM-day, so no early start before opening at 9a.m.) and headed to PPF straight after, as I wanted to show my mother the queue. We were on the 2nd train at 7DMT and were at PFF at 9.07, we ended up with a waiting time of around 40min.
So I would not recommend to RD another ride before PPF...

 

[jo-jo]

Not the PP queue, but before DH used a wheelchair, we often waved people on, because DH needed to walk slower. People are overjoyed to jump ahead.

 

[YawningDodo]

Last June, we went for Peter Pan standby right after the fireworks show. The posted wait was 40 minutes but the were actually only about 10 people in line with a wait of less than 1 minute. We didn’t get to see any of the stuff.

Hmm...on the one hand theoretically you could still linger in the queue, but I know the rule that you can get in line right before closing is predicated on the idea that you're going to go through the line, ride the ride, and leave. So I think I'll stick with RD for PPF and save the end-of-day timeslot for other headliners where I care more about the ride itself. Good to know!

As I went with my mother in the beginning of March 2018 (before spring-break!) we RD 7DMT after a PPO-breakfast at BoG (it was a EMM-day, so no early start before opening at 9a.m.) and headed to PPF straight after, as I wanted to show my mother the queue. We were on the 2nd train at 7DMT and were at PFF at 9.07, we ended up with a waiting time of around 40min.
So I would not recommend to RD another ride before PPF...

Oof, that's what I was afraid of. At a difference of 9:00 vs. 9:07 that makes me think I don't even want to take my time walking from Main Street to Fantasyland, though I still think I'll aim to be middle- to back-of-the-pack because I just don't care to deal with the madness at the very front of the RD crowd. It being an EMM day might have made a difference against your favor, though, since presumably some of the EMM crowd were still lingering in Fantasyland right at 9:00. I don't think I'll let it completely dictate my schedule...but if I have the option of doing MK on a non-EMM morning I'll probably preference that.

 

[Babe the Blue Ox]

Hmm...on the one hand theoretically you could still linger in the queue, but I know the rule that you can get in line right before closing is predicated on the idea that you're going to go through the line, ride the ride, and leave. So I think I'll stick with RD for PPF and save the end-of-day timeslot for other headliners where I care more about the ride itself. Good to know!

This was about 2 hours before closing time. We could have lingered, but then by the time we made it over to 7D the wait probably would have been longer than 10 minutes.

Two of the busiest rides in the park in less than 20 minutes total time is pretty efficient. Much better than you could do in the morning no matter how early you arrive.

 

[YawningDodo]

This was about 2 hours before closing time. We could have lingered, but then by the time we made it over to 7D the wait probably would have been longer than 10 minutes.

Two of the busiest rides in the park in less than 20 minutes total time is pretty efficient. Much better than you could do in the morning no matter how early you arrive.

Oh, your comment made it sound like you couldn't linger. That's a different thing, then. And I'll be taking advantage of both mornings and evenings by taking afternoon breaks between the two, so I don't see it as a competition between the two!