Don’t Waste Your Precious Disney Minutes Waiting for This Beloved Ride

Grab your phone on, say, a random Wednesday. Open the My Disney Experience App and look around at some of the wait times. Admittedly, I do this sometimes when I’m bored and want to feel like I’m there, if only for a brief moment.

But I digress. Head over to Magic Kingdom, and you’ll see the longest wait time is usually for Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, and rightfully so. It is the newest, albeit nearly a decade-old, rollercoaster in the Park (until TRON Lightcycle / Run opens this April.)

That makes sense. A ride like that should have the longest wait time, but what has the second longest wait time baffles my mind. On most days, be they busy or slow, the ride that usually has the second longest wait time is Peter Pan’s Flight. And so, I want to know why?

You have so few precious minutes in Magic Kingdom on any given day; why waste them waiting in line for a simply average ride?

Let’s start with some basics. On any given day, you should plan on waiting anywhere between 50-90 minutes, depending on how crowded the Park is on that day. From the time you sit down in your flying pirate ship until you get off, start to finish; it is approximately three minutes.

I get it. Peter Pan’s Flights is one of Magic Kingdom’s opening day experiences, and everyone should ride it. And if you love a list like me, you feel the need to check everything off of it, but really it’s just not necessary.

The ride has not changed much since Magic Kingdom opened 50-plus years ago. Yes, I will grant you that the queue is cool, but it better be if you’re waiting that long for this ride. And you say that if you have children, it’s a great ride for them. You’re not wrong, but really how many of you have actually shown Peter Pan to your kids? That’s what I thought.

But what about Lighting Lane or running from rope drop, you say? Do you really want to waste your first Lightning Lane on this ride? Really? Save it for one of the Mountains or meeting your favorite Princess. The same goes for running there at rope drop.  Go to something that is actually fun and not just nostalgic.

If you’re that desperate to ride one of the original attractions, head over to the Haunted Mansion for a much better experience and, at the very least, a longer one.  You can even take home one of the ghosts if you’re interested.

Maybe, just maybe, if we all avoid Peter Pan’s Flight, Disney will do the right thing and update it or even replace it with something better. This way, you won’t be disappointed like I’m sure you are every time you get off this ride.

Disclaimer: The opinions addressed in this article are the writer’s and may not reflect the sentiments of Disney Fanatic as a whole.