One of the most iconic Disney attractions is located in Fantasyland and it represents one of Disney's most beloved classics. Peter Pan's Flight is something Walt knew he wanted in Disneyland. After all, it was based on the animated film that Walt Disney Productions had released in 1953, just two years before Walt's theme park was due to open, so it made sense in the Park's most important land to have a ride based on a popular film.
Unlike Alice in Wonderland in 1951, Peter Pan was not a flop and early concept art shows how committed Disney was towards replicating Neverland.
May 1954 saw the beginning of what became Peter Pan's Flight with a concept drawing done by Herb Ryman. The ride system was tested in October 1954 at the Disney Studio in Burbank with Cleveland Tram Rail Company designing the track and mechanisms for the ride system.
In March 1955, Imagineers Claude Coats and Ken Anderson began working on the installation of the attraction and it was finished in time for the grand opening on 17 July 1955.
Despite the popularity of Peter Pan's Flight, there were issues with the tracks and the fiberglass vehicles.
When it came to designing Walt Disney World's version of the Magic Kingdom in 1967, WED debated whether or not to include a number of classic Disneyland attractions in their new park. Rides such as the Pirates of the Caribbean, Submarine Voyage, Adventures Thru Inner Space, and Matterhorn weren't initially included in the plans for the Florida Project (that's a story for a different day) and were slated to be duplicated as different attractions. Instead of an adventure through the bayous, pirate lairs, and port cities of the Caribbean, the Pirates were recast as cowboys and banditos in the Western River Expedition. The Submarine Voyage that debuted in 1959 was arguably dated and was turned into a seafaring journey with Captain Nemo from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Adventures Thru Inner Space had been replaced with a possible Omnimover attraction, sponsored by Eastern Airlines (If You Had Wings) and as for the Matterhorn, the thrill ride planned for Disneyland's 1967 Tomorrowland expansion was put on hold and then suggested for Florida (Space Mountain).
So how is this related to a dark ride in Fantasyland?
Well, since design considerations were made early in the development of the Park and WED wanted Disney World guests to be both wowed by the differences from the original in Anaheim and yet familiar with the park, they had to make decisions on what to include in terms of theming and attractions. So when it came to designing Fantasyland, they knew that they were going to have at least three dark rides (excluding It's a Small World), a theatre, and new facilities to be a slight departure from the Fantasyland at Disneyland.
Instead of Peter Pan's Flight, a Mary Poppins dark ride would fulfill the atmospheric quota for that land. Unfortunately, Roy Disney had objected to this with the logic that guests at the Florida Park might never get to visit the original Disneyland and that guests would expect to see the same rides and shows as advertised. Ultimately, the Peter Pan's Flight dark ride was planned for Florida in 1968 and construction on a new and improved ride system was done by Arrow Dynamics, who worked on several other Disney attractions.
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