“Soar high above the rooftops of London aboard a pirate galleon on an adventure to Neverland.”
BACKSTORY (July 17, 1955—Present): In 1983, during Fantasyland’s remodel, an AA Peter Pan was added to reduce the confusion of why Peter Pan himself was not on his own ride. Features ride vehicles (a pirate ship suspended from a track on the ceiling above to enhance the sensation of flying) soaring through the nursery, out over London, onward to Never Land, and finally through Skull Rock, where riders saw Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Princess Tiger Lily and the Crocodile before unloading. The exterior had a medieval design with the queue being outside.
In 1982, Fantasyland was remodeled. Some attractions were relocated to make room for the expanded dark rides. The retheming of Fantasyland resembled a rustic European Alpine village rather than a Medieval Faire. Mr. Toad & Snow White’s dark rides moved their respective loading areas (and partial murals) indoors, but the Peter Pan attraction still featured a colorful mural, depicting the characters from the film. As part of the new remodel, scenes from the Florida ride were added to Disneyland, including the pirate ship deck. The new version opened as part of the new Fantasyland in May 1983. In July 2015 the beloved attraction reopened after being refurbished with new special effects.
One of my blog readers reached out to me in 2023 with this incredible story:
I grew up with Disneyland from its earliest days and watched as the park changed and evolved over the decades. This ride was always my favorite dark ride. Especially at the very end, before the boat exited the building, Tinkerbell would fly out and hover over the riders. Just out of reach, but you could hear her wings buzzing. It was every local kid’s fantasy to catch her and many tried. There was a renovation of Fantasyland in the 80s and the whole section was dismantled and all the rides were moved over a bit, so the current location of most is close to but not exactly in the original spot. They removed the iconic Tink at the end of the ride. She can be viewed in an earlier scene that was added after the ride was rebuilt. I worked at the Studios in Burbank in the late 80s. My office was an original Studio building that housed The Archives. I mentioned the original ride Tink to the curator one day after getting acquainted with him during our friendly lunch chats. He surprised me by one day asking me to come see him. He left the reception area and disappeared. He brought back with him that original Tink. She had been salvaged, and mounted, and catalogued. He placed her in my hands. A childhood dream realized in an instant frozen in time. She didn’t look like I imagined she would. She was made of some kind of plaster. One arm had been repaired from the elbow down because someone had finally been successful at grabbing hold of her. Her texture was like stucco and her features were crude. She was painted in reactive paint. Her wings were metal barrels with fins like a dart. They spun and made the fluttering noise. She was crafted to catch the black light and appear 3D. She most certainly did. I know this post is old. But memories need to go somewhere before they are lost. Thank you.
Thank YOU, anonymous reader—I completely agree!
