New Tiger Lily scene now in Peter Pan's Flight at Disney World

A new scene onboard Peter Pan’s Flight at Walt Disney World updates the ride’s portrayal of the Never Land Tribe and Tiger Lily.

Tiger Lily, Peter Pan's Flight new scene — _{Photo courtesy of Disney}

Peter Pan’s Flight reopens with new Tiger Lily scene

Walt Disney World has introduced a new scene to Peter Pan’s Flight at Magic Kingdom featuring the Never Land Tribe. The scene debuted today, Aug. 16, 2024, at the Orlando park, Disney shared with Attractions Magazine exclusively.

Peter Pan's Flight, Magic Kingdom — _{Photo by Blake Taylor}

As described by Disney, “the scene features the Never Land Tribe’s harvest celebration, with Tiger Lily performing by the fire with her great-grandmother.” In the image of the scene, Tiger Lily and her great-grandmother appear to be on a spinning turntable.

‘An opportunity to evolve our storytelling’

Peter Pan’s Flight had been closed since July for planned maintenance, which provided Disney “an opportunity to evolve our storytelling in the scene featuring the Never Land Tribe.”

The previous version of the scene (pictured side-by-side with its replacement below) depicted Tiger Lily and other members of the Never Land Tribe sitting around a fire and looking stern in the face, one of the characters with their arms crossed and others playing drums.

Tiger Lily, Peter Pan's Flight — *Previous version of Never Land Tribe scene in Peter Pan’s Flight.*
_{Photo by Attractions Magazine}

New designs behind the characters now display a sea turtle, an animal’s paw print, and the “second star to the right,” aka the location of Never Land in the night’s sky. The former designs featured a buffalo, a bird, and the sun.

Peter Pan’s Flight opened with Magic Kingdom in 1971 after likewise being an opening-day ride at California’s Disneyland in 1955. Versions of the classic Fantasyland attraction also exist at Disney parks in Tokyo, Paris, and Shanghai.

Similar updates to the Never Land Tribe scene will be implemented in California and Paris, Disney told us.

Peter Pan’s Flight at Magic Kingdom will be offered as part of Lightning Lane Multi-Pass beginning Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. Until then, the attraction will operate with a standby line only.

Tiger Lily and the Never Land Tribe

Of the depiction of the Never Land Tribe in the 1953 “Peter Pan” animated film, Disney says:

The film portrays Native people in a stereotypical manner that reflects neither the diversity of Native peoples nor their authentic cultural traditions. It shows them speaking in an unintelligible language and repeatedly refers to them as “redskins,” an offensive term. Peter and the Lost Boys engage in dancing, wearing headdresses, and other exaggerated tropes, a form of mockery and appropriation of Native peoples’ culture and imagery.
The Walt Disney Company

Magic Kingdom at night — _{Photo courtesy of Disney}

Elements of these harmful depictions carried over into Peter Pan’s Flight. The new scene in the attraction is part of Disney’s initiative of “investing in new ways to better reflect the rich diversity of stories in our world.” To that end, the company says, “While advisories for negative depictions of people and cultures may be added to some offerings, others will be reimagined.” The scene in Peter Pan’s Flight is one such reimagining.

The Never Land Tribe did not appear in “Return to Never Land,” the 2002 animated sequel from DisneyToon Studios. “Peter and the Starcatcher,” the 2009 play from Disney Theatrical based on Disney Editions novel, referred to the Never Land Tribe as “the Mollusks,” led by Fighting Prawn. In later years, Tiger Lily appeared in “Once Upon a Time” (the 2010s drama series on ABC) and “Peter Pan & Wendy” (the live-action 2023 film).

Tiger Lily and Peter Pan’s newest flight in Tokyo

In addition to the traditional Peter Pan’s Flight attraction, Tokyo Disney Resort now boasts an entirely separate themed area, Peter Pan’s Never Land, within the new Fantasy Springs expansion of Tokyo DisneySea, which opened in June 2024. The area’s signature attraction is Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure, an indoor dark ride combining physical sets and computer animation. Take a ride for yourself:

In Peter Pan’s Never Land Flight, Tiger Lily and Michael Darling dance together.