Dumbo the Flying Elephant
Takes Flight
August 16, 1955
1st Fire Truck
Added to Main Street USA’s Fleet
August 16, 1958
“The very things that held you down are gonna carry you up and up and up.” ― Timothy Mouse
On
August 16, 1955, everyone’s favorite elephant Dumbo,
first took flight in Disneyland. Based on the character from the 1941 animated feature, passengers are
given a feather that allows them to board one of the sixteen ride vehicles each
painted to resemble Dumbo. The ride was
scheduled to be one of Disneyland's opening day attractions, but instead opened
a month after the park's grand opening, due to the fiberglass prototypes
weighed 700 pounds. For the first two years, the hub of the original Dumbo ride
lacked the disco ball with the Timothy Mouse figure. Also, the original Dumbos
has hinged ears that were supposed to flap, but failed, due to a number of
mechanical problems. The ears remained stationary until the mid-1960s,
when new Dumbos were given casts with no hinges for movement.
During
his 1957 visit to Disneyland, former United States President Harry S.
Truman politely declined a ride on Dumbo the Flying Elephant, due to the
elephant being a Republican symbol. Dumbo was not always located in the heart
of Fantasyland
as it is today. In 1983, as part of Fantasyland's major remodeling, the ride
was moved to where Skull Rock used to be, allowing Dumbo's original location to
be a shortcut to Frontierland.
It was completely rebuilt with a kinetic toymaker-like design, although there
were still ten elephants and Timothy still held the whip. In a featurette of
the ride, as shown on the DVD release of the film's 70th anniversary, head Disney
Imagineer, Tony Baxter noted that the new ride looked like one of Gepetto’s
inventions.
In
1990, the attraction was updated with the sixteen rainbow-colored vehicles and
Timothy's magic feather. Today Dumbo
remains one of the most beloved and iconic Disneyland attractions that is sure
to lift your spirit and remind you that, if you believe in yourself, anything
is possible!
On
August 16, 1958 the first Fire
Truck made its way down Main Street USA as part of the Main
Street Vehicles. A replica of a 1916 fire engine, the fire truck was a
reminder of simpler times at the turn of the century. It’s also serves to
remind us all of Walt Disney and how much he loved to drive it around
Disneyland in the mornings before the park opened. Today you can hop on for a
nostalgic ride to Sleeping
Beauty Castle or Town Square. Along with fire engine Disneyland guests
can choose from a classic horse-drawn streetcar, omnibus, jitney and sit back they
are transported from one end of Main Street, U.S.A. to the other. Along the
way, make sure you take in the 2 and 3-story-high, Victorian-themed shops and
restaurants that adorn Main
Street USA that remind us all of a time and place long since passed. Pick up points for these one-way trips
are located at the transportation stops in Town Square and at Central Plaza in
front of Sleeping
Beauty Castle (excluding parade times). Whether you’re hopping on
board Dumbo, or one the Main Street Fire Truck, both will remind of what
happened today in Disneyland’s history.
