Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure is a 3D attraction that takes guests sailing and soaring through the film’s world. This new ride is in Tokyo DisneySea’s Fantasy Springs. As of opening week, the attraction must be experienced via Standby Pass, Disney Premier Access or a special ticket that comes with the Tokyo Disney Resort Vacation Package. In this post, we’ll review Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure.

The inclusion of Peter Pan in Fantasy Springs is an interesting choice. Tangled and Frozen were obvious, modern tentpole franchises to include but Peter Pan doesn’t fit that bill. The IP also has one of the most iconic rides in Fantasyland, that’s something to contend with for any new attraction. If there’s one thing that Fantasy Springs caught flack for when announced it’s that it was a Fantasyland repeat, including Peter Pan in the new port didn’t help combat that notion.

In some ways, I could see the reasoning for the inclusion even before experiencing the attraction. Tangled and Frozen are obviously focusing on two princess stories, which is great! But including a non-princess movie, for those kids that aren’t interested in them, makes sense. Even so, Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure, and that area of Fantasy Springs, needed to be original and a hit to make it past those connotations. Thankfully, it is!

The setting was the first place to differentiate itself from the classic Peter Pan’s Flight. Throughout that area of Fantasy Springs, including the queue and most of the ride, we (the guest) are hanging out in Lost Boys territory. Just across the pathway from the attraction entrance is Skull Rock and Captain Hook’s ship. Inside that entrance is the Lost Boys’ cave, made up of different wood and material they’ve found throughout Never Land.

Stepping into the queue is the first sign of how spectacular Never Land Adventure is. In practical terms, there’s some wrapping around outside under the rockwork. This is the first view of the beautiful lanterns that you’ll find inside.

Once inside, the room glows a vibrant purple with a change of color from time to time. That backdrop comes from a well disguised screen that also projects clouds taking on familiar shapes. But that’s just the backdrop! The queue winds around different trees and props that the Lost Boys have used. There’s a seemingly endless variety of lights in there. My friends tease me about loving to photograph different light fixtures so I’ll try to play it cool when I go on this ride with them. It won’t work.

Never does the creative team try to do too much with the queue though, the details are aplenty but quiet. Even the colorful backdrop is more of a mood setter than it is show piece. Moving through the line is typically pretty quick, thanks to a high capacity (more on that in a minute), and that inside room leads to the pre-show where we meet the Lost Boys. Peter Pan wakes them up because John has been captured. Some silliness ensues (all in Japanese but it’s easy to follow) before we’re on our way.

The loading room, where riders pick up their 3D goggles, is also stunning. There are so many different textures and colors. This is the true Lost Boys hideout and they’ve built themselves something really eclectic! As usual with Tokyo Disney Resort, nothing seems to be left undone on the attraction. The loading room didn’t need to be that ornate and articulately designed but it is and the ride is better for it.

This isn’t Magic Kingdom’s Little Mermaid attraction though, the queue isn’t better than the actual ride. It is just a perfect setup. Guests board a wooden ride vehicle that looks like half of a boat. It’s noticeably not boarding over water but before long it’s bobbing and flowing like a canoe on the river.

I won’t go through the entire plot or every scene, as guests should experience the ride for themselves. In short, Peter Pan gets the boat to fly and we help him, Wendy and the Lost Boys go save the day. As far as plot goes, it’s a very well thought out adventure story that is clear and concisely told. DisneySea is prone to triumphant celebratory endings and this is no exception. Any minor plot side paths are in the name of cuteness. I’m pretty sure I heard a guest squeal “Smee!” in excitement every time we passed him.

But the plot isn’t the star of the show. Really, the story is similar to Peter Pan’s Flight just with a different framing around the Lost Boys. That’s not an issue though thanks to the ride vehicle. That wooden boat going from floating to flying is, and I hardly ever use this term, Disney magic. We rode Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure double digit times over the course of 3 days and every time brought a boatful (pun intended) of excitement. It’s an absolutely thrilling moment.

The Disney magic comment might be soaked in a bit of hypocrisy because the ride system most reminiscent to it, at least in my mind, is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey at Universal. This boat doesn’t tip upside down or do nearly as many quick movements, but the lift brings guests up and down as they interact with both screens and props.

That comparison mainly works for the ride system but not the actual attraction. Relating this to a mix of Soarin’ (or Flight of Passage) and Web Slingers (or Toy Story Mania) works, as the boats move around effortlessly from screen to screen while guests fly with Peter Pan. Never Land Adventure is a better attraction than both of those though, as the story is more gripping and the transitions are nearly perfect.

If there’s a bone to pick with this new hit it’s that guests can see the top of the screen from time to time. That’s a product of the impressive ride system and far from a big issue. For whatever reason, I actually noticed that less and less the more I went on the attraction.

Along with giving us some incredible rides and sights, Fantasy Springs boasts impressive ride capacities. Boat rides like Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival and Anna and Elsa’s Frozen Journey will churn through people quickly but Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure might be able to do that even faster. My very simple and largely unknowing estimates puts the hourly capacity over 2,150 guests/hour. That’s a great number for what amounts to the port’s thrill ride. It should make wait times pretty manageable once the new port gets past the initial opening rush.

All of this amounts to a fantastic attraction. Never Land Adventure is an absolute blast. Like Frozen Journey, there’s respect paid to the classic Fantasyland attractions while also taking a few modern risks. There was a fine line to walk and the Imagineering team soars right above that line, never breaking from it.

From the moment the boat starts flying, the sense of joy in Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure stopped any second guessing about having another Fanasyland style attraction based on the boy who never grew up. There’s a glee that takes over the ride and nothing else really matters at that point. We all get to be kids again, honorary members of the Lost Boys.

I can’t help but think about a few of my favorite times riding Never Land Adventure. My very first time through, the whole boat started clapping along with the opening song, unprompted. Another ride brought howls of excitement as the boat followed Peter Pan soaring down a waterfall. On my last ride through, the young lady beside me was brought to tears throughout the attraction. Issues like multiple Peter Pan attractions become miniscule when a piece of art can make people feel like that.

Have you been on Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure? Let us know your thoughts, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below! If you are planning a trip to Tokyo Disney Resort, check out our Trip Planning Guide. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!