This week I shall be comparing “Peter Pan’s Flight” in Disneyland (California) with its equivalent in Disneyland Paris.
When I mention the Anaheim attraction in this article, I am referring only to how it stands after the 1983 refurb, which added the interior section of the queue-line, a Peter Pan audio-animatronic, the pirate-ship deck scene and the “Return from Neverland” finalé.
Both versions (California and Paris) have been residing in Fantasyland, in some form, since their parks’ respective opening. They use the same overhanging mechanism to transport the rider above scenes from Peter Pan in chronological order and have very similar “hidden” details, such as the smoke coming out of the chimneys, the blocks in the nursery spelling out D15NEY and the mermaid resembling Ariel.
The Paris ride is slightly longer than California’s which in part is because the vehicles in Europe travel slightly slower. The slower speed does make the attraction somewhat jerky on occasion though.
The more relaxed pace of the ride is the best explanation I can give for preferring the one in Paris. I do have other reasons however: Paris has a greater number of interesting details (such as the picture of George Darling in the Nursery), a soundtrack which suits the visuals more and a FastPass option.
Geographically, I also prefer the position of the one in Paris. It is next to Adventureland’s Pirates of The Caribbean whereas in California, Peter Pan’s Flight is close to the Castle. Although the latter makes sense in terms of keeping it with other cartoon based dark rides, the former helps with the transition from Fantasyland to Adventureland both thematically and visually.
Portions of this article first appeared in my musings for DLDHistory.com in January 2011.