Why is Peter Pan line always 5x longer than Toad, Snow White or Pinocchio?
Disneyland: My wife has a theory that the ride is on the right, upon entering the castle, and that most people are right handed and lean towards that.
From A Hughes
Posted April 20, 2005 at 10:35 AM
Whether it's a weekday morning in the middle of winter or Saturday in July - Peter Pan is always packed, and the line is always one of the longest in the park.
On most days, you can literally (done it) ride Snow White, Pinnochio and Mr Toad *before* another person can wait in Peter Pan line and finish the ride.
These are the silly things you do when you have a season pass . . . :)
My wife has a theory that the ride is on the right, upon entering the castle, and that most people are right handed and lean towards that.
I note that it's the only one of the 4 that goes counterclockwise. Coincidence? Hmmm. (just kidding)
It's also possible that it just takes loonger to load people, plus you can only squeeze 3, whereas others can fit 4 riders.
Peter Pan is a better ride, that can tend to draw a longer line. Also the ride moves a little bit slower than most of the other dark rides because of the ride system. Snow White can also tend to have a slightly shorter line because its Snow White's
"Scary" Adventures, which can weed out families with really young ones and push them across the way to Peter Pan.
I always assumed it was due to ride capacity. (Though Pan is the first queue entrance folks hit upon entering the land from Main Street.)
Pan is a slow-loading, low-capacity ride, due to its suspended design. I don't remember the actual numbers for the Disneyland versions (I worked at Walt Disney World), but the principle's always the same. If one ride can put through 500 people per hour and the second can do 2,000, the first will have four times as long a line, assuming the same number of people want to ride each ride.
That's why Disney wised up and started building larger capacity rides like Pirates and Mansion, which put through many times more people per hour than the Fantasyland dark rides.
Continuing... that's why ride capacity ought to be more important than ride popularity in determining which rides to hit when the park opens. Opt for low-capacity stuff like Dumbo and Pan before even thinking of riding high capacity rides like Pirates and Mansion. Ideally, the very first stop should be a high-popularity, low-capacity ride, which at Disneyland right now is Splash Mountain, due to the four-person-per-log limit.
From Ben Mills
Posted April 20, 2005 at 11:20 AM
Robert puts a good point across... ask anybody once they've left one of the Disney parks if they went on Pirates or Mansion (or Manor, if you want to be awkward) and they'll mostly all say yes. Ask them if they went on Dumbo, and it'll be a considerably lower number. But which one had the longer line all day? Dumbo, without fail.
My view is a little different in that I think it is simply a better ride with a unique overhead transportation system. The other Fantasyland dark rides are all typical dark ride-type vehicles that roll along the ground. Peter Pan is much more interesting being aerial and therefore I say more popular. Also, the story is classic, well-known before the Disney film version appeared and the "flying ships" are more intriquing to ride.
I have ridden Peter Pan at WDW and think it is improved with a cou;le scenes done in larger scale.
Bringing Disney World into it, it always has a massive line that snakes around fantasyland. I too think it has something to do with ride capacity since I do not see Peter Pan being so good. Don't get me wrong, this ride is very cool and nice, but the long lines are insane for a ride like that. THe Haunted Mansion Doesn't even have a line like that!
WDW's version of Pan uses continuous loading, "Omnimover" style--and the line is still outrageously long. At least that's how they were running it the last time I visited.
I have always assumed that this line was longer because of Fastpass. While the Fastpass riders board almost immediately, the standby line is at a complete standstill.
I'd say the #1 issue is that the Peter Pan ride vehicles have one row of seats, while Pinnochio's Daring Journey and Snow White's Scary Adventures have more.
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride also has one row of seats, and it seems to consistently have the 2nd longest line (after Peter Pan Flight) of the 4 dark rides at DL's Fantasyland.
Also, I seem to remember that there is a longer interval between each vehicle's dispatch vs. the ground-based rides.
All in all, I only ride it with visiting relatives or small children who threaten to cry unless they ride it.
Good point, Michael--Pan and Toad appear to have half the capacity of Snow White and Pinocchio (unless the first two have double the number of ride vehicles, which doesn't seem likely).
Pan and Toad are also better rides than Snow and Pinoke; thus, they're more popular.
It may as well be based on the customer's idea of the better movie. For example, not many people have actually seen Mr. Toad's movie, while for Snow White, as I read earlier it is in the title...scary, thus the customer goes to the most convient ride of a beloved film that most everyone has indeed seen. Plus, this ride is the most different from the others, you are in a cart lifted from above... and not to exclude their fiber-active London scene. I overall enjoyed the Peter Pan ride more than the other Disney Fanastyland darkrides.
Did they not have a fastpass system like walt disney world, when you have small children wouldnt it be easier
No fastpass for Pan at Disneyland.
Good point! Maybe they should have that!
true..peter pan has line even when the park is closed!!!! LOL! :)
Obviously there are lots of factors involved. Just look at the Disneyland page on TPI. What's everyone's favorite? Peter Pan. Followed by Alice (which also ALWAYS has a line), then Toad's, then Snow White, then Pinocchio. I would have thought Pinocchio would be more popular than Snow White, but they're close. Then there are the vehicle differences. And loading times. Which is why the low-rated Dumbo always has an insane line. But I still think most of it has to do with popularity. The two favorites here always have lines, the others rarely do.
I think the major question here is WHY is Peter Pan the favorite not just in Disneyland, but it Disney World as far as I know!
Cuz you're up in the air. And Alice is probably up there because of the leafy exit.
I can't do those rides more than once.
Because it is the best kiddy-dark ride and the effects are not too bad,too.The line was horibble.Last time in MK,I arrived in 11 a.m. and I got the fastpasses for 1 a.m.(It was 31 December)!
peter pan is also a good make out ride :]
Your theory about venturing towards the right is true.
At the MK in WDW, the paths towards tomorrowland are wider than the ones going left towards adventureland, as most people go right in the morning. This is also the reason that most tomorrowland attractions open up at 9:00, while adventureland attractions can open up as late as 11:00, and still have a short line.
It is also because Tomorrowland has a great coaster called Space Mountain.It is the most intense ride in the park(except if Alien Encounter still open).Adventureland doesn't have any major ride.Pirates of The Caribbean doesn't have any thrill factor.Only about 15 foot drop?You're kidding.Jungle Cruise is somewhat is a kiddie ride.They at least must build something like Indiana Jones or Raging Spirits.
This is just what someone told us on a Keys to the Kingdom Tour, so I don't know how the thrill factor would come intyo things.
I think another reason is that Peter Pan has a very innovative ride vehicle that gives a somewhat sensation that you are airborne. It has no track underneath it only above.
Plus everyone loves tinkerbell...
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