Peter Pan

[erasure fan1]

My biggest beef is how primitive everything is. Now certainly scenes like Flying over London can accomplish an impressive scene with primitive technology, but the scenes that are driven by animatronics fall very short.

Everest has bird on a stick and peter pan has tink on a string, how much more technology do you need? :lol:

I would love to see this ride get a full AA update as well. I have loved the ride system since I was a kid, its perfect for the ride so I wouldnt change that at all. I would keep the ride just about identical, just update the tech in the scenes. If you are going to do it, you have to update all the scenes. I dont want a starwars special edition were they updated just some things and in-turn they stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[hammysammy59]

I'd love to see this ride get a massive overhaul. It needs/deserves it. It's quaint and charming, and the London scenes even now are still pretty great (and they super wowed me as a kid... they were the only thing I remembered about the ride back then), but it's really showing it's age now, and there's so much potential. Better queue, better ride system and better scenes, I'd love to see it happen. In like 2015, probably, but still.

 

[aka_emilicious]

Actually, Peter Pan is so incredibly old, it doesn't auto-e-stop like other rides do if something happens inside the ride. What you experienced was probably a manual e-stop due to a slow guest. Like I mentioned above, Pan can't slow down if someone can't get on/off fast enough. Mansion and Nemo can because one has been extensively refurbed and the other is new, and had the mechanism designed into it. At Pan, if someone does not get on/off their boat quick enough and they get past a certain point, one of the CMs has to stop the whole ride immediately (because it's a sort of omnimover and there's no way to stop just the boats in the station), get the guests on/off, then restart. Usually it's not even a guest with a disability; it's a guest who is ignoring CMs and refuses to get off the boat, or a guest waits way too long to board their boat and tries to run for it instead of just going on the next one. This happens probably every twenty minutes; sometimes even more often than that. Next time you're in Pan and the ride stops for only a minute or two, it's probably a guest who didn't listen. If a stop has something to do with the actual ride and its mechanism, maintenance must be called and they must arrive on the scene and tell the CMs what to do, which leads to a stop lasting five minutes or more.

Either that or one of the moving belts at load or unload decided to stop working. It happens often enough, and the solution is simply to stop the ride and restart it.

That explanation brings back so many memories. I always worried I'd end up stopping the ride for a guest and not be able to restart it. And that ride has a good kick when you restart it!

 

[KingdomofDreams]

An air conditioned queue would be nice! lol I hate waiting in lines, but standing in the intense Fla heat makes it torture!

Count me among those who dream of a ride update. PPF is a charming example of timeless fantasy and I love it. I would be so happy to see it properly updated. It needs to be thoroughly cleaned, re-painted, updated AA's added, and sound system and lighting updated. Generally just enhancement of the charm and beauty of the scenes taking advantage of currently available technology.

Question - Is there a ride system that would make possible the overhead suspension while allowing loading and merging of slower or wheelchair guests without stopping the ride vehicles once they have left the loading bay?

 

[Neverland]

An air conditioned queue would be nice! lol I hate waiting in lines, but standing in the intense Fla heat makes it torture!

Count me among those who dream of a ride update. PPF is a charming example of timeless fantasy and I love it. I would be so happy to see it properly updated. It needs to be thoroughly cleaned, re-painted, updated AA's added, and sound system and lighting updated. Generally just enhancement of the charm and beauty of the scenes taking advantage of currently available technology.

Question - Is there a ride system that would make possible the overhead suspension while allowing loading and merging of slower or wheelchair guests without stopping the ride vehicles once they have left the loading bay?

The reason the queue doesn't have fans is because the ceilings are too low; they would have to be raised in order for fans to go in. :/ The inner part has AC, but it's usually too crowded to really feel it.

I don't think there is a ride system like that, since it's a continuous ride, but all it really needs is a 'slow' mode like Nemo and Mansion have. If a guest is taking too long to get on, they'll slow down the ride, and don't always have to stop it and restart it. And as for a wheelchair boat, it won't happen until there's a way to get wheelchairs down in case of an evac.

 

[wilkeliza]

As someone mentioned above a complete refurb would require the addition of ADA compliance but I was wondering if Disney only updated scenes and added some new technology such as projections and better lighting, plus updated AA and fresh paint would they be forced to become ADA compliant?

Also I find it interesting that everyone has different definitions for A-E ticket attractions. Does Disney itself still use the rating system and is an "official" list found any where?

 

[Neverland]

As someone mentioned above a complete refurb would require the addition of ADA compliance but I was wondering if Disney only updated scenes and added some new technology such as projections and better lighting, plus updated AA and fresh paint would they be forced to become ADA compliant?

Also I find it interesting that everyone has different definitions for A-E ticket attractions. Does Disney itself still use the rating system and is an "official" list found any where?

I think the thing is is that if they touch anything inside the attraction, it has to be updated to be ADA compliant. Right now, it's grandfathered in because the inside hasn't been changed at all since 1971. Even the fake bushes in London have never been replaced, and they are so decrepit, they look like pieces of trash now. :/ I'm not even sure if the ride's been painted; only cleaned.

There's no official list or rating system nowadays; it's pretty much your-opinion-versus-mine. Country Bears was an E-ticket back in the day, so who's to say what an E-ticket truly is?

 

[DocMcHulk]

The wait is 45 minutes or longer because it has a horrible capacity compared to guest demand. More people can and do ride Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - it's a better ride with a higher capacity.

I believe part of the the problem with Peter Pan's Flight is that it's not ADA compliant and has been grandfathered in. Any significant changes to the attraction would result in them having to upgrade the ADA compliance for the attraction. A new ride system that can support heavier boats (read larger boats) is necessary for the capacity issues with this attraction. However, to do that they would probably need a way to stop a boat without completely disrupting the ride. This would probably mean a boat taken off the track to a side area similar to Space Mountain at Disneyland or Toy Story Mania. My hope is that this happens after the expansion, and during this technical refurbishment the ride itself is refreshed and possibly improved upon.

I am thinking the Little Mermaid would take some pressure off of Peter Pan and allow it to close for a while.

 

[Yodadudeman]

I completelty agree. I actually think that the entire Fantasyland expansion will take alot of pressure off of the other rides in Fantasyland. Maybe then, the execs at Disney may take a gamble and refurb the entire Peter Pan ride. Who knows tho? The ride, as many have said, is still very popular. And it is a classic. So maybe they just keep the ride and change the line. Either way its an upgrade.

 

[BalooChicago]

How does Pan compare to Small World in terms of capacity? Small World has been down for extended refurbs in recent history, and the world survived.

 

[Yodadudeman]

How does Pan compare to Small World in terms of capacity? Small World has been down for extended refurbs in recent history, and the world survived.

The Peter Pan ride is significantly more popular, IMO, then Small World. They were able to close Small World for extended periods of time because no one REALLY cared that much. Closing Pan would be a big blow to the current Fantasyland...

 

[Scuttle]

How does Pan compare to Small World in terms of capacity? Small World has been down for extended refurbs in recent history, and the world survived.

Not even in the same ball park! Peter Pan has an hourly capacity of 1,200 an hour compared to it's a small world which has a capacity of 3,300 an hour.

 

[wdwfan22]

The Peter Pan ride is significantly more popular, IMO, then Small World. They were able to close Small World for extended periods of time because no one REALLY cared that much. Closing Pan would be a big blow to the current Fantasyland...

That's not true at all. Small World has a much high capacity then Peter Pan, both attractions are very popular with Guests.

 

[Slugger]

That's not true at all. Small World has a much high capacity then Peter Pan, both attractions are very popular with Guests.

Both are very popular attractions during the day. About 8 o clock or so Small World is just about walk on, while Pan will stay atleast a 30 minute wait until 30 to 45 minutes to park close.

 

[Yodadudeman]

That's not true at all. Small World has a much high capacity then Peter Pan, both attractions are very popular with Guests.

Small World does have a higher capacity, but Peter Pan is definately more popular. I'm not so sure I would call Small World "Very popular with guests". Don't get me wrong, its a classic, but I don't see people running to Small World once the park opens or hear people saying, "If I hit one ride today, it HAS to be Small World". Its popular, just not in the same ballpark as peter pan.

 

[Lee]

but I don't see people running to Small World once the park opens or hear people saying, "If I hit one ride today, it HAS to be Small World". Its popular, just not in the same ballpark as peter pan.

True, but little of that is due to popularity. It is due to the fact that if you don't ride Pan early, you will inevitable face a long wait due to it's horrible capacity.
Sort of the same for Midway Mania. Yes, it is popular, but the rush to get there, and consistantly long lines are also a product of it's limited capacity.

On the subject of Pan, I'd love to see it be closed when FLE opens for a complete re-imagining. It deserves it, but likely won't get it.

 

[KingdomofDreams]

We always ride both, but if forced to choose, our preference would definitely be PPF. All ages of our family feel PPF is quintessential Disney and truly special, while some are not so fond of IASW.

I can understand it would be a big undertaking to make the needed improvements/upgrades and also have to bring it up to ADA compliance, but imo it would be worth the investment. Many people still love it, in spite of it's current condition, but I imagine it's popularity would only grow with some well executed improvements.

Didn't Disneyland's PPF also have the ADA issue to contend with?

 

[Neverland]

True, but little of that is due to popularity. It is due to the fact that if you don't ride Pan early, you will inevitable face a long wait due to it's horrible capacity.
Sort of the same for Midway Mania. Yes, it is popular, but the rush to get there, and consistantly long lines are also a product of it's limited capacity.
.

Pan's line is really more made from popularity and a horrible fastpass system. The standby line has to be completely halted while fastpass people flood in for 3-4 minutes. A few people are let in from standby, and then the line is halted again to let tons more FP guests in. At times when there are no fastpass guests (like MNSSHPs, or that period right when EMH starts and FPs haven't kicked in yet), the entire, full queue is only about a 30-35 minute wait.

Pan actually has the best hourly capacity of the dark rides; it's hundreds more than Snow and Pooh. Snow and Pooh's vehicles seat more people, but Pan has twice the vehicles, and is an almost continuous loader.

 

[CountryBearFan]

I completelty agree. I actually think that the entire Fantasyland expansion will take alot of pressure off of the other rides in Fantasyland. Maybe then, the execs at Disney may take a gamble and refurb the entire Peter Pan ride. Who knows tho? The ride, as many have said, is still very popular. And it is a classic. So maybe they just keep the ride and change the line. Either way its an upgrade.

I fully agree that the Fantasyland expansion will indeed take a lot of pressure off of not just the older Fantasyland attractions, but on a lot of the other attractions and facilities throughout the Magic Kingdom as well.

That way, they can be able to schedule more rehabs without fear.

 

[castevens]

Not even in the same ball park! Peter Pan has an hourly capacity of 1,200 an hour compared to it's a small world which has a capacity of 3,300 an hour.

So factoring in the 2,100 people waiting in line for PPF, the rides have the same number of people within the building during a given hour :lookaroun