January 16, 2009: Original Dumbo

[Werner Weiss]

Sure, you’ll still find a Dumbo, the Flying Elephant ride at Disneyland—but the original Dumbo Flying Elephants ride is in Yesterland.

Link to The Original Dumbo Flying Elephants at Yesterland

Please discuss it here.

[Disneykin Kid]

Excellent, excellent, excellent!

[lighttragic]

I will be at tokyo disney next month and take some pictures back to report

[KENfromOC]

I remember years ago when I was a kid (1960's) having elephant meat in a Chinatown place in San Francisco. It was cut into strips within this tangy sauce with mushrooms and other veggies. I remember loving the elephant, but not the mushrooms (although I like mushrooms now). I also recall my grandfather saying we were eating "Dumbo Stew"!. When we went to Disney World in 2005 and ate at Juko (Animal Kingdom Lodge) I asked if they served elephant, but no they didn't...And they thought I was joking! AH, too bad no one does elephant anymore unless, I guess, you over over to Thailand or someplace like that.

Maybe I can get it online, but I'm sure the shipping cost would be huge!

[Werner Weiss]

Excellent, excellent, excellent!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I will be at tokyo disney next month and take some pictures back to report

Thank you very much. I really appreciate that. I look forward to updating the Dumbo article with a better photo of the Dumbo ride at Tokyo Disneyland.

[xalesa]

What a great bit of Dumbo history. Thanks for sharing!

[Tannerman]

I had no idea about the change from 10 to 16 elephants. Very informative. Thanks Werner!

[Dante101]

I notice you didn't mention the accident that happened on the Dumbo ride around 1990, when one of the Dumbo's came loose from its support arm, injuring a guest (not fatally, thank God). I can understand not mentioning it, but in this case the accident played a role in the evolvement of the attraction. Dumbo was closed after the accident and replaced with the new Euro Disney version.

I don't think that was a coincidence -- I think Anaheim got the new version due to the accident, not just to increase capacity (timed coincidentally with an accident).

BTW, I love your Yesterland site. You do a great job there. Leaves me wanting more each time!

[dreemfinder]

I notice you didn't mention the accident that happened on the Dumbo ride around 1990, when one of the Dumbo's came loose from its support arm, injuring a guest (not fatally, thank God). I can understand not mentioning it, but in this case the accident played a role in the evolvement of the attraction. Dumbo was closed after the accident and replaced with the new Euro Disney version.

I don't think that was a coincidence -- I think Anaheim got the new version due to the accident, not just to increase capacity (timed coincidentally with an accident).

BTW, I love your Yesterland site. You do a great job there. Leaves me wanting more each time!

Yet another footnote...

I was visiting L.A. in 1990 when I saw that Dumbo AND THE ROCKET JETS were both totally missing. Since the newly redesigned Dumbos were not even a decade old at the time, I was curious as to why.

A good friend (and fellow Disnoid) told me that Dumbo had, indeed, 'taken a flight' and that closer inspection revealed that a lack of regular maintenance (Thank you, Mr. E!) had allowed hairline fractures to appear in the ride's supporting arms.

The investigating committee (on a hunch) checked out the similarly-neglected Rocket Jets and immediately shuttered the ride until the entire mechanism could be replaced.

Anyone want to guess why the entire Space Mountain track had to be replaced only a few years later?

Quality will out... Neglect will cost you. <g>

[Werner Weiss]

I notice you didn't mention the accident that happened on the Dumbo ride around 1990, when one of the Dumbo's came loose from its support arm, injuring a guest (not fatally, thank God).

I has not aware of accidents on the Dumbo ride until I received a note from a Yesterland reader. I checked the details using ProQuest to access Orange County Register and LA Times archives.

There were two accidents.

On March 29, 1989, one of the fiberglass elephants partially separated from a support arm, injuring a Garden Grove couple and their 3-year-old daughter. The family suffered "bruises and scrapes." Dumbo reopened the next day.

A year later, on April 1, 1990, one of the support arms collapsed, injuring a 13-year-old girl from Canada. The teenager suffered "minor bruises." After being checked at Garden Grove Hospital, she returned to the park for the rest of the day. This time, Dumbo was grounded for seven months.

So, not only were the injuries not fatal, they were minor. But the accidents should not have happened at all. The result was that Disneyland installed the ride that had been built for Euro Disneyland.

I'll update the Yesterland article today or tomorrow. I tend to avoid writing about minor accidents, but, in this case, the timing suggests a direct relationship between the 1990 accident and the 1990 decision to install the Euro Disneyland version of Dumbo at Disneyland.

[Katella Gate]

Thanks Werner for another most excellent article. I had no idea about the steel failures at Dumbo, but I'm not surprised.

[pussnboots]

It might be worth noting that the Disneyland Paris version is also surrounded by water (not just the little doughnut-shaped pool around the main mechanism) and is elevated as a whole. Makes all the difference.

http://afterthemouse.com/files/wallp...1024-Dumbo.jpg

[Werner Weiss]

It might be worth noting that the Disneyland Paris version is also surrounded by water (not just the little doughnut-shaped pool around the main mechanism) and is elevated as a whole. Makes all the difference.

http://afterthemouse.com/files/wallp...1024-Dumbo.jpg

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of Dumbo at Disneyland Paris, so I didn't have a picture for the article.

Disneyland Paris is beautifully designed. The Imagineers applied everything they learned from the earlier parks. Disneyland Paris makes excellent use of water in Fantasyland, Adventureland, Tomorrowland, and Frontierland.

[Aladdin]

What a nice mini history on all the Dumbo attractions! This little piece reminds me of the stuff we used to see in the E-Ticket magazine.

[filmfreak11]

indeed a very nice article

i'm not sure, but i think the photo-op dumbo elephant to the side of the attraction was put there for a golden 50th elephant. now it's there for good with a grey elephant. correct me if i'm wrong.