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Dumbo the Flying Elephant
When you see an elephant fly...
Everybody hurries to the circus towns - time for lemonade and cracker jack! But here, in Fantasyland, something even more magnificent: behold, Dumbo – the Flying Elephant!!
The iconic attraction without which no Disneyland would be complete sits right at the heart of this Fantasyland atop an elevated platform surrounded by clean, cascading waterfalls, swirling green topiaries and colourful circus marquees, all framed by the branches of weeping willow trees.
Flying into the sky aboard Dumbo is somewhat of a Disneyland initiation ritual for both the young and young at heart. There's just something miraculously enchanting and entirely timeless about this simple carousel-in-the-sky.
Much of the magic in Paris comes from the attraction's design, with the Imagineers somehow able to effortlessly turn a "circus" theme into a beautiful and elegantly-designed space.
It should be a fun little aside, but somehow this Flying Elephant always manages to steal the show.
Circling elevated circus of guest-controlled flying elephants.
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Opening Date
12th April 1992
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Attraction Type
Aerial carousel
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Duration
1 minute 30 seconds
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Capacity
2 Guests per elephant,
16 elephants
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Category
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Wait Time
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Suitablility
- Children 3-7
- Children 8-12
- Young Adults
- Adults
- Seniors
Trivia
- Dumbo allows you to fly between 1.5 and 7 metres above the ground.
- The Dumbo elephants you ride on here are actually the second set built for Paris — the first were diverted to Disneyland in California at the last minute in 1990. A series of technical faults and mechanical failures had closed the Californian attraction almost indefinitely, but the Imagineers eyed a solution — send the new 16-elephant model to California, and order another for Euro Disneyland — just 18 months before the scheduled opening!
- Though often cited as one of the "opening day" attractions at Disneyland on 17th July 1955, Dumbo the Flying Elephant infact did not open to guests until August that year. Apparently, the vehicles were just too heavy to fly, even with Dumbo's ears!
- For the original 1955 Disneyland version, the ears of each Dumbo were attached using hinges and given special mechanisms to allow them to move up and down. However, those mechanisms failed almost instantly and the ears remained stationary until the ride was rebuilt in 1983, without hinged ears.
Original concepts had the ride based on the Pink Elephants on Parade sequence, before Walt Disney threw out the idea of a ride based on an intoxicated "hallucination"!
Tips
- Being both world-famous and short on capacity, long queues form for this attraction throughout most days. Try to ride it either during Extra Magic Hours, in the first hours of the day, or just before park closure.
- Use the small lever in front of your seat to tell Dumbo to fly higher or lower!
- Convince your circus stunt partner to let you sit on the right, on the outside of the ride, and you'll have the best view possible over the whole of Fantasyland!
Advice
- Not recommended for children under 1 year old.
- Priority boarding may be given to children between 1.20 m and 1.55 m tall and to children under 1.20 m accompanied by an adult.
- Transfer required. Must be accompanied in order to assist in transfer to the ride vehicles, which are elevated from the ground and have only a small opening for access.
