Just talking about Fantasyland only… What are you most overrated & underrated attractions / rides / shows at DLR in this land?
I’m trying to make my DLR bucket list for my upcoming trip and want to make sure that I not only see everything, but don’t plan on doing something “meh” 3+ times.
From my first-time-in-45-years trip earlier this month, my highest rated (really, so much great stuff, but since you want to prioritize):
DL:
for nostalgia: Snow White, Mr. Toad’s
for wonderful: Small World, Pirates, Matterhorn, Haunted Mansion, BTMRR, Splash
for fantasticness: Indiana Jones, Fantasmic, Smugglers Run
DCA (so my first time):
Radiator Springs
Guardians of the Galaxy
Frozen stage show
Incredicoaster
Grizzly river
Ferris wheel swinging cars
Luigi’s car dance
Bakery tour
So there’s nothing “overrated” at DLR / DCA?? 
I may be an outlier. All I kept thinking was “I remember this!”
After decades of Orlando trips, I’m finally going to DLR for 5 full days + arrival / departure days. It’ll probably be my only trip, so I wanted to do a Mon. - Fri. in Sept. when crowds would be lowest. I’ll be able to do every thing at both parks. However, for example, I don’t want to plan on riding Pinocchio’s Daring Journey 4 times if it’s “just ok”.
I skipped it, lines were long and I didn’t actually remember it, but I did see reviews were positive
Fantasyland is my favorite land in my favorite Disney park so I’m extremely biased and love all of it, even the hokey Pinoochio’s Daring Journey, Snow White’s Scary Adventure & definite kiddie ride Casey Jr.'s.
However, in my book, the absolute must-do’s for your standard Disney fan are:
Alice in Wonderland
it’s a small world
Storybook Land Canal Boat
Matterhorn (if you don’t have back/neck issues that may be aggravated by the extreme jerkiness of the original track)
Sleeping Beauty Castle-Walkthrough
Mickey & the Magical Map (great Disney stage show)
Storytelling at the Royal Theater (a very fun & witty show on a smaller stage, no princess fandom required to enjoy the banter here)
Royal Hall (could be skipped if you are not a big princess or face character fan, but I always leave in such a great mood that I can’t help but just love all over it)
Pixie Hollow (could be skipped if you are not a big Tink or face character fan, but is very well done in making you feel the size of a Pixie so even with not being a Tink fan, I like it for that aspect)
As for the rest, it would greatly depend & I appreciate that not everyone feels the way I do about Fantasyland so I’ll try to objectively describe.
Most of rest of the dark rides (Snow White’s, Pinocchio’s and Mr. Toad’s) are from another era so if you appreciate them for what they are (or have the nostalgia from a long-ago trip to Disneyland or even the versions of some of them that used to exist at WDW) they can be fabulous, but if you don’t know the characters/stories very well can be a bit weird/hokey and I’ve heard more than one family exiting them stating opinions on the oddness & lackluster experience that they were. In practical terms, even though I personally enjoy them, these ones are some of my family’s overall least favorite & first to get cut from the Touring Plan as time runs out, but I do love it when they decide they “feel like” doing these “less loved” dark rides.
The last dark ride, Peter Pan is one of my absolute fave attractions in Disneyland but it is very hard for me to justify waiting in the long lines it draws all day long. And I’m not a fan of the push 'n shove show that the rope drop dash to it has become. If we do it, we look for the line to be closer to 25 min wait & usually that’s at the end of the night (which also means we have to have the stamina to be there until park close AND wait through a 25 min. line), but if we do have enough energy, it’s a nice send-off of Pixie dust for the walk out of a (more) quiet Fantasyland Main St & out to our hotel.
That then just leaves the “kiddie” rides: King Arthur Carousel, Mad Tea Party, Dumbo & Casey Jr. all of which while not truly unique to Disneyland, are to me, part of the joy of that land so even if I were to go alone without my kids I wouldn’t ever skip all of them, especially the Carousel which my favorite of the bunch. The carousel & Mad Tea Party are also really beautiful at night so even if you don’t ride them, I would be sure to catch a cycle of them running at night for the lit-up beautiful ambiance.
As a parent who’s had kids that loved both Dumbo & Casey Jr. rides, I probably would be hard-pressed to skip those either (even going without the kids) unless the lines were completely unmanageable, which for both are often a walk-on in the last hour of the parks & for the first 30 min. or more in the morning depending on what time the park opens & how busy it is that day. But those could be skipped if time were an issue.
Absolutely! I’m in my 40s, so I grew up on these characters and style of attraction. Plus, I truly am a theme park - not just Disney - fan and former theme park employee. It’s my passion.
I’m really avoiding watching YouTube ride videos so I can experience it all in person for the first time. I do have time to do everything & have planned it. Now, it’s just how many times do I ride Mr. Toad or Alice in Wonderland! 
I have a whole TP titled Fantasyland - ALL DAY.
BTW - Matterhorn is my #1 must do at DLR. I have seen pictures and heard tales my entire life. My current plan has me riding it 5 times - at least once per day. PPF is in my plans just twice, since I can ride it at WDW too.
This is my new dream (for if I ever go on a solo trip). You’ll probably love it all. I’m a bit younger, but I grew up on a lot of the Disney classics so they resonate with me as well. Even the weirdness that is the ending of Mr. Toad’s.
My first visit to Disneyland was when I was 5 or so. I remember two things - Pirates and Tea Cups. So the Tea Cups are #1 for me in Fantasyland.
Teacups are a “family thing” for us so most of our trips include at least one ride on them, if not more & usually one at night as well.
Having lived 25 minutes from DLR for my first 45 years, I have a lot of experience.
First of all, Fantasyland is by far so much better than the one at MK so you definitely want to ride most of the rides .
I wish I knew if you were going to DLR with kids and their ages but since I don’t know, I’ll rate my “musts” from an adult perspective.
When I visit Fantasyland, I head to Alice in Wonderland, the Matterhorn Bobsleds, Storybook Land Canal Boats, Mr. Toad’s, and King Arthur’s Carousel. If you have time, walk through the castle, and ride Snow White’s Scary Adventures, Pinocchio’s daring Journey, and Casey Jr.'s Train. It’s a Small World must be seen at least from the outside for photos.
Most of all, just soak in the incredible detail of this special place. The chipmunk and acorn carvings on the columns are wonderful.
No kids on this trip. My daughter is going off to college that August. This is a trip for my wife & I - mostly me - to celebrate!!
I love all the rides and go on each every time I attend with my kids. As an adult, there are a few I’d skip, like the Carousel and Dumbo.
Underrated: it’s a small world (unwarranted hatred), Pinocchio, Casey Jr (great to ride at night!), Tea Cups (doesn’t make me sick at all and can be quite exhilarating)
Overrated: Mr Toad (worth a ride though), Matterhorn (must ride, but pretty bumpy), Storybookland Canal Boats (wish it were more magical)
The rest are “just about right” rated.
Just my opinions!
Thank you. This is exactly the feedback I was looking for!
As others have alluded to, a lot of it is subjective, so “over-rated and underrated” are difficult to apply terms.
My “must do” rides are: Alice in Wonderland, Roger Rabbit (I’ve always considered Toontown a part of FL), iasw, and the Matterhorn.
As I don’t get to DLR as often as I get to WDW, my next tier of FL rides has those unique to DL: Snow White, Pinocchio, and Mr. Toad.
I’ve never understood Peter Pan. it’s a very nice ride, and has a lot of historic provenance - but I’m not going to wait more than 10 or 15 minutes for it, and as that virtually never happens, I don’t ride it very often.
Everything else pretty much falls into the “I’ll do them if I have some extra time and the lines aren’t too long”. I never do M&Gs and rarely watch any of the shows; at 60, with no kids, neither of these are of much interest to me.
Agreed! But that’s why I’m asking for everyone’s opinions. I’m hoping to get a general consensus. Thanks for the opinions!
OK. Most underrated would be Roger Rabbit. The queue is not interactive, but it’s very well done. The ride itself is probably the most “fun” of any Disney dark ride; I always leave it laughing. For some reason it has become “Chic” to hate iasw (especially among non-Disney loving DHs). The WDW version is kind of lame, but the original DL version is just plain beautiful
For overrated, I guess I’d have to go with Peter Pan. As I said above it’s a “nice” ride, with a unique ride system (suspended), but I just don’t know why it develops such long lines.
With 5 full days, you will be able to do all the rides once and then decide which ones you want to ride continuously. Compared to MK, DL is very small and CA Adventure is a short walk across the plaza.
We think Splash and Small World is much better at DLR. We skip those in WDW. We love the classics and the originals in Fantasyland.
Matterhorn is just careening down and around the mountain but fun. We like the coaster and Roger Rabbit in Toontown as adults 
. No shame in lining up for those well into adulthood without kids.
That’s not really accurate because I do know at least part of the reason. The pirate ships seat only 2 people (maybe 3 if kids are involved) compared to Pinocchio and Snow White which both seat between 4 and 6 people. Plus the time between ships is slightly longer). This means that PP can only handle about half the number of people per hour than other dark rides (Mr. Toad has a similar issue).