Why is Peter Pan's Flight always so crowded?

[Rebecca Pocahontas]

I am sitting at home getting way too excited for my next Disney trip, so I decided to look at current wait times on the Disney app. At MK the 7 Dwarves Mine Train was a 60 min wait, but Peter Pan was 65!

Its been this way for a long time now, which means that we always have to get a fastpass for Peter Pan, because that is way too long of wait for a 5 minute ride.

Why did this ride become so popular suddenly? And by suddenly I mean 5-10 years ago. Personally I like Winnie the Pooh so much more, and that wait time is only 30 minutes regularly.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

I am sitting at home getting way too excited for my next Disney trip, so I decided to look at current wait times on the Disney app. At MK the 7 Dwarves Mine Train was a 60 min wait, but Peter Pan was 65!

Its been this way for a long time now, which means that we always have to get a fastpass for Peter Pan, because that is way too long of wait for a 5 minute ride.

Why did this ride become so popular suddenly? And by suddenly I mean 5-10 years ago. Personally I like Winnie the Pooh so much more, and that wait time is only 30 minutes regularly.

I think this ride has always been very popular. A few things factor into the long waits. Most guests can go on this ride (very few restrictions) and it's a slow loading ride. It's also a classic movie that most guests are familiar with.

 

[Airship Ariadne]

Classic ride that still holds up, perfect for the family with a range of kids ages?

 

[MadMadamMim1]

Slow loading and one of the original rides. I find it pretty much the most overrated ride in all of WDW. The long lines must be fueled by nostalgia IMO!

 

[Marbel]

Nostalgia. Flying on a ship, the scenes, the music, the queue ... it's all completely delightful. I love it.

 

[AngelDisney]

Nostalgia. Flying on a ship, the scenes, the music, the queue ... it's all completely delightful. I love it.

I agree. We ride it every time we are there.

 

[Alesia]

Fastpassing it means missing the interactive queue, which is better than the ride itself. I recommend hitting it at rope drop.

 

[serenitynow]

Technically speaking, no height limit, low volume ride vehicles, slow moving loading, amount of space needed between each ship and longer length of ride time. Plus all the nostalgia reasons previously listed. After all, you can fly, you can fly, you can fly!

 

[Polydweller]

It's a very slow loading ride and the ride building is fairly small. It's just the west end of the Philharmagic building and a small part at that. The track length isn't long and only a few ride vehicles can be on the track at once to maintain the illusion of flying alone over the scenes. In other words, it's not an omnimover like HM which makes its ride capacity less than most rides.

 

[GaryDis]

Here's what I wrote about this last March:

• It's based on one of the original (1955) Disneyland dark rides.
• It's the only one of the original era dark rides left at the MK. (DL still has Mr. Toad and Snow White.)
• Even when it was brand new, it was unique among the dark rides by being a suspended ride, letting you fly over London.
• It has a new interactive queue that will bring in repeat visitors who haven't seen it previously. (This is the prime reason it's on my list.)

Granted, in this day and age of simulators like Soarin' and suspended coasters at Six Flags everywhere, the technology of a very tame, suspended ride isn't impressive to most people. But between the nostalgia, the uniqueness, and the new queue, it's understandable why it's popular.​

 

[JerseyJanice]

We haven't ridden it in years because of the wait times. Even back when they had paper Fastpasses, if you didn't pull one early, they would be gone.

I love the ride myself, but I find it baffling that it's so popular.

 

[Klayfish]

It's not my favorite either, but it's cute. The acoustics need help. You can hear "Fire, Mr. Smee!!!!" through the last 2/3 of the ride. I agree it's popular because it's classic WDW. That's why I ride it.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We love this ride, more for nostalgia, but on our last trip we did rope drop, went right to 7DMT and rode it first (no line), then across to Winnie the Pooh, then over to PP. The line didn't look long, but wait time posted ended up being correct and it was nearly an hour. The line snaked through various rooms, many of which were quite small and without windows. I found it to be very claustrophobic. Next time we either FP it or do it first at rope drop, wont do a long wait time at this ride again!

 

[CuteAsMinnie]

Peter Pan's flight has been popular forever. It's a slow loading ride so the waits tend to be longer. Best time to ride is very first thing in the morning or later in the evening during/after parade and fireworks. Always was and always will be an absolute fav!

 

[lovethattink]

It's a classic!

 

[jhaig]

Because is it perfect, classic Disney

 

[maltdizzy]

Nostalgia for the adults and the neatness of flyong for the kids.

Even at Disneyland, where Fantasyland has more than twice as many rides as MK, the Peter Pan ride wait starts at 20 ninutes at rope drop, and often climbs to 60-90 minutes.

Also, at MK, it is a FP ride; adding FP to attractions has had the effect of increasing standby wait times by 50-100%.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

Not sudden at all. PP has always been one of the most popular rides on both coasts. Either ride it first thing, use FP+, or get in line as the park closes.

 

[sqpcsqpc]

I saw statistics published on this ride in this past. It has a very low capacity compared to some of the other popular rides.

 

[3Gsandme]

Peter Pan is one of my favorite Disney movies and I think the ride is just perfect. It's very pretty, whimsical and very true to the movie. It's suitable to all ages, but slow loading with a low capacity.