Peter Pan's Flight - DLR vs WDW now...

[flynnibus]

Now that DLR has been refreshed with some new effects.. I thought it might be fun to hear people's opinions on the different attractions and how they differ some.

• DLR's load starts you in the roof-tops and you fly into their window... MK is more vague trees and you fly into the room. Pro: DL
• WDW's nursery scene is larger.. and actually has animated figures. DL has static figures but the new Tink pixie dust. Still think MK edges with the figures and scope
• WDW you fly out over the yard to find the animated dog in addition to the up close roof top sequence.. where in DL you just get the root tops and town up close.. which is really repainted for the new version. Pro: MK for the animated dog and better film tie in.
• For the london sequence... I always felt the MK had more dimension to the set.. where the DL version only had tower bridge and big ben as dimension.. everything else was flat. The new DL version is brightly painted with UV paint. Yet many people always said the DL version was better? I never got that.. and the trash bag clouds seem to be removed now in DL. I still say MK is better here
• As you leave london.. MK has the silloettes passing in front of the moon projection.. DL now has some sort of north star projection. Toss up? I think the moon is a big classier
• In the DL version there is the stairfield effect as you fly to around the island.. simple but very enveloping effect. Let's give DL a point for this alone... no comparable in MK version.
• Now the island sequence is pretty different... MK has the volcano you fly by.. which is cheesy but nostalgic IMO. The pirate ship is also set aside and easier to look at IMO. The sequence also has the lost boys camp and is quite long as you wrap around basically two islands. The DLR sequence has new water animations that are very nice... but you have less to see IMO. I think DL gets the effects nod here, but MK seems to have more to keep you interested
• MK has the animated mermaids... the indian village... clearly MK pros here
• The pirate boat sequence is laid out different.. with the MK one being more spread out I think. The DL has the indian village stuffed in the background here... and while the new DL version is nice and bright, I have to still think the MK version offers more. But the DL version is much better lit for the figures I think.
• Then in the DL version we finally see the indian village which is nicely done.
• For the victory scene on the pirate boat, the DL version has the new tink and animation which is clearly more advanced: Pro DL
• For the captain hook sequence, the MK version seems less rushed
• For the finale sequence, the DL version has their mermaids here which are static but they have the better animated pirate ship floating away and water effects.. while the MK version is just a screen/flat. Pro DL

Based on this hit by hit... I still prefer the MK version I think. This isn't a popular opinion for this... help me understand why you may like the DL version more?

Certainly with the new refurb... the figure lighting is very well done in DL (and really superior) and the new water effects are very cool as well. But for actual scenes and animated figures... I really like the MK version. Plus the MK version now has the extended queue to wow people.

What do you think?

Here are some videos to base with...
MK - nightvision


MK - normal


DL version - Pre-refurb


And the new DL version


What do you think?

 

[flynnibus]

ack.. I totally forgot about the starfield in the DL version... obvious a big pro for that version

 

[flynnibus]

What Peter Pan lacks in innovation - it makes up for in character and thoughtful implementation and character.

From the small animated pirate ship... to the flying through the window of the house... to the very idea of flying up and THROUGH the ride.. are all well done elements that have helped ensure the attraction is loved for decades and generations.

It has character and charm... something most of Disney's recent bimbo attractions lack.

 

[UnhealthilyObsessed]

Am I the only one who finds PPF's concept a little dated? I am a modern man. I enjoy the tech advancements in theme parks. I don't get lost often in nostalgia of yesteryear. Not surprising I'm a big fan of all things Potter over Pan also. I'm not one to frequently return to the Tiki Birds either. I am pretty proactive in thought of theme parks keeping with the times vs lost in yesteryear tech. Snow White and Toad did little for my theme park junkie admiration either in the 21st century. I love innovation.

Totally get where you're coming from, but for me, part of what makes the parks so great is that modern, innovative rides and sweet, simple charmers like this one co-exist side by side. A Space Mountain ribeye is delicious, sure, but some Peter Pan's Flight creamed spinach on the side really makes the plate sing. Did that metaphor make sense? So many of those show scenes still take my breath away, and not even from nostalgia. I will say this, though: the standby lines for PPF are enough to sour even the most wide-eyed idealist on the whole thing. I wouldn't wait an hour for four minutes of merriment.

As for the poll, I say MK takes it. The London scene is my favorite, and maybe it was just the lighting of the YouTube video, but the DL London scene looks loud and garish and lacks the moody charm of the MK version.

 

[sshindel]

IMO Peter Pan's Flight is purely a nostalgia play these days. I love the idea that it exists. I love my life of memories on the ride. I love flying over London.
But everything I get on it, I find myself apologizing to myself for the ride. Some trips, with 4 magic kingdom days, I've skipped it completely.

 

[erasure fan1]

I haven't been to Disneyland (yet) so my opinion can only be based off of youtube vids. That said, I think I like some of the special effects they use in the DL version but overall the DW version looks better to me. I really do wish they would take the time and effort to add some of the effects from DL and update some of (really all of) the AAs. Couple that with the new queue and it would be fantastic again.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Now that DLR has been refreshed with some new effects.. I thought it might be fun to hear people's opinions on the different attractions and how they differ some.

• DLR's load starts you in the roof-tops and you fly into their window... MK is more vague trees and you fly into the room. Pro: DL
• WDW's nursery scene is larger.. and actually has animated figures. DL has static figures but the new Tink pixie dust. Still think MK edges with the figures and scope
• WDW you fly out over the yard to find the animated dog in addition to the up close roof top sequence.. where in DL you just get the root tops and town up close.. which is really repainted for the new version. Pro: MK for the animated dog and better film tie in.
• For the london sequence... I always felt the MK had more dimension to the set.. where the DL version only had tower bridge and big ben as dimension.. everything else was flat. The new DL version is brightly painted with UV paint. Yet many people always said the DL version was better? I never got that.. and the trash bag clouds seem to be removed now in DL. I still say MK is better here
• As you leave london.. MK has the silloettes passing in front of the moon projection.. DL now has some sort of north star projection. Toss up? I think the moon is a big classier
• In the DL version there is the stairfield effect as you fly to around the island.. simple but very enveloping effect. Let's give DL a point for this alone... no comparable in MK version.
• Now the island sequence is pretty different... MK has the volcano you fly by.. which is cheesy but nostalgic IMO. The pirate ship is also set aside and easier to look at IMO. The sequence also has the lost boys camp and is quite long as you wrap around basically two islands. The DLR sequence has new water animations that are very nice... but you have less to see IMO. I think DL gets the effects nod here, but MK seems to have more to keep you interested
• MK has the animated mermaids... the indian village... clearly MK pros here
• The pirate boat sequence is laid out different.. with the MK one being more spread out I think. The DL has the indian village stuffed in the background here... and while the new DL version is nice and bright, I have to still think the MK version offers more. But the DL version is much better lit for the figures I think.
• Then in the DL version we finally see the indian village which is nicely done.
• For the victory scene on the pirate boat, the DL version has the new tink and animation which is clearly more advanced: Pro DL
• For the captain hook sequence, the MK version seems less rushed
• For the finale sequence, the DL version has their mermaids here which are static but they have the better animated pirate ship floating away and water effects.. while the MK version is just a screen/flat. Pro DL

Based on this hit by hit... I still prefer the MK version I think. This isn't a popular opinion for this... help me understand why you may like the DL version more?

Certainly with the new refurb... the figure lighting is very well done in DL (and really superior) and the new water effects are very cool as well. But for actual scenes and animated figures... I really like the MK version. Plus the MK version now has the extended queue to wow people.

What do you think?

Here are some videos to base with...
MK - nightvision


MK - normal


DL version - Pre-refurb


And the new DL version


What do you think?

You could add the facade and vicinity. To me the MK in that regard clearly is, at least was, the winner, although I believe most would pick DL.

 

[flynnibus]

You could add the facade and vicinity. To me the MK in that regard clearly is, at least was, the winner, although I believe most would pick DL.

Yeah, I kept it more to the inside - but who would pick medival fair over DL's 1983 fantasyland??

 

[Animaniac93-98]

When MK built their dark rides in the late 60s/early 70s they were all superior to their current Disneyland counterparts, because they were longer and had better molds and animation in the figures. Passport2Dreams has a great article describing this in detail, including the rushed and somewhat improvised nature of the original 3 Disneyland dark rides (long forgotten after 1983).

MK's Peter Pan has the benefit of a better layout and longer run time, and now a superior queue too. But the ride creaks with its dusty age, simplistic effects (tinfoil volcano) and muffled audio (can't they get Corey Burton to replace Hook's voice now?). If it were to ever get an effects and hardware upgrade on par with Disneyland, it would be the best version without a doubt.

I won't compare the two at the moment without having seen the newer DLR model, so I'll just skip the poll and say Paris is my favourite for the great fiber optic effect at the end and having the most manageable queues. I was able to ride it 5 times in Novemeber during the first 15 minutes of EMH over a couple days.

 

[Sage of Time]

WDW's ride/pacing/sets. Disneyland's star field. Disneyland's facade. WDW's music.

It's complicated.

BRB, going on Toad or Alice. Or Snow White. All better rides.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Yeah, I kept it more to the inside - but who would pick medival fair over DL's 1983 fantasyland??

People of taste and love for the grand gesture!

MK's soarin' spires and WS-like realism are infinitely more magical than DL's Toontown beta. Or were.

 

[imagineer boy]

I think the only thing that the WDW version has that's better is the fact that you fly through neverland rather than over a small model of it. Everything else at DL blows WDW's version out of the water.

Also, has anyone else noticed that the character voices in WDW's version are completely different and bad sounding? DL's version sounds like it has the original voice actors but WDW's has different voices that sound nothing like the original characters from the movie.

 

[Mukta]

I rode the new version at DL last night. I still prefer the WW version with its beautiful Neverland, better fight scene on the ship and a less bumpy re-entry to the real world.

 

[MarkTwain]

Like everything else at Disney... WDW got the better, grander version from the get-go. And Disneyland's got better through continued maintenance that WDW never got.

If WDW upgraded its rides instead of ignoring them (or ignoring them to the point they "needed" to be replaced... looking at you Epcot/Maelstrom), we would have the better version every time.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Man, the sails on those "ship" ride vehicles look so awful from the back. Flat gray. Why aren't they painted too?

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

And the winner is.....ET Adventure...That's it good night..

 

[The Empress Lilly]

And the winner is.....ET Adventure...That's it good night..

Mwah, ET wins for queue and the 'flying over city lights' scene, but otherwise Pan is the more charismatic experience. 'ET the stranded alien on earth' is a great story, 'ET planet' by contrast is mere mildly fun for the novelty of it.

 

[fantasmicsyd]

I may be in the minority on this one but I actually prefer DL in most aspects, including Neverland. I know that WDW technically goes "through" Neverland, but flying over it in DL surrounded by the fiber optic stars works a lot better and is much less dated in my opinion. The only thing I will say is that WDW's dimensional London is better than DL's mostly-flat one.

 

[POLY LOVER]

I love it, it gets me every time. I love the new queue also.

 

[UnhealthilyObsessed]

Ooh! And Disneyland pulls ahead! This is the most controversial thread since "Will You Eat Poo?"!