A look at Peter Pan’s Never Land pitched for Disneyland expansion

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The world’s first Peter Pan-themed land set to debut at the Tokyo Disneyland resort offers a glimpse of what the future could hold for Disneyland over the next few decades under a reimagined long-term vision for the Anaheim theme park district.

Peter Pan’s Never Land has been pitched as a possible project for the DisneylandForward theme park expansion plan recently approved by the city of Anaheim.

The new Peter Pan’s Never Land officially debuts on June 6 at Tokyo DisneySea following an extended soft opening.

Peter Pan’s Never Land will be part of Fantasy Springs, the newest port set to debut at Tokyo DisneySea that also features Rapunzel’s Forest and Frozen Kingdom. Visitors will enter Fantasy Springs through an archway surrounded by rockwork representing Peter Pan, Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa.

The backstory for Peter Pan’s Never Land finds visitors joining the now gender-neutral Lost Kids on a fun-loving adventure stretching from Pixie Hollow to Captain Hook’s pirate ship.

The marquee attraction is Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure 3D dark ride where our mission is to help Peter, Tink and the Lost Kids rescue John from Captain Hook and his band of pirates. Along the way we encounter Wendy, Michael and the mermaids before finally reaching Hook’s Jolly Roger ship for a swashbuckling showdown.

Riders board 12-seat boats sprinkled with a hefty dose of fairy dust courtesy of Tinker Bell and take off through the sky on a six minute epic journey.

Walt Disney Imagineering combined motion base ride vehicles with 3D effects, custom animation and practical sets to create the sense of flight on the new dark ride.

Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies, the second attraction in Never Land, sends riders around Pixie Hollow with Tink as she delivers gifts to her fellow fairies.

The Busy Buggies queue is filled with larger-than-life flowers, mushrooms, paint brushes and nibbled cheese to create the illusion riders have been shrunk to the size of a fairy.

Riders climb into wicker baskets with seat backs made from envelopes for a two-minute ride through the fairy valley on ride vehicles with spinning bases.

“Fairy Tinker Bell’s Busy Buggies is an outdoor track ride that might give Disneyland resort fans in California flashbacks to Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train,” according to Theme Park Insider. “Again, you’re shrunk to a small size for a tour around common objects that now appear super-sized.”

The Lookout Cookout counter service restaurant assembled from a salvaged shipwreck is themed as the Lost Kids’ hideout, complete with comfy hammocks and hastily strewn pajamas.

The Lost Kids Snack Box on the menu comes with chicken tenders, seaweed fritters, shrimp chips and banana chips.

The signature drink: A kiwi-flavored Pixie Dust Soda with a gold star floating on top that dissolves with a silver sparkling effect.

Peter Pan’s Never Land was among the possible projects floated in the DisneylandForward expansion plan approved by the Anaheim City Council in early May that updates a 1990s city plan to allow for a mix of theme park, hotel, retail, dining and entertainment on the eastern and western edges of the Disneyland resort.

DisneylandForward dangled 10 themed lands based on Peter Pan, Tangled, Avatar, Frozen, Zootopia, Toy Story, Black Panther, Coco, Tron and Encanto as potential expansion projects in Anaheim.

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