Dumbo Attraction – 1957

So in 1955 what was the first ride system to leave the park?  There was, of course, the Tomorrowland Boats (quickly redesigned and renamed the Phantom Boats), but aside from some fancy tail fins and other body work, the original boats remained at Disneyland up through the summer of 1956.  Then there was the Casey Jr. track that–hours after debuting on the Dateline Disneyland TV show–was regraded to make the ride safer.  The cars were also fitted with “keeper” systems to keep them from tipping off the tracks.   But again these changes were minor and the existing engine and cars remained at the park.  No, the big headache over in Fantasyland was the Dumbo ride.

Elephants Parked and Broken – Opening Day – July 17, 1955

Next time you pop in your Dateline Disneyland DVD, pay attention to the strange Fantasyland montage in which every area ride is introduced with fanfare–except one.  That ride is, of course, the Dumbo Flying Elephant attraction.  The music, as well as the shooting script, for this montage, was developed weeks before the live broadcast sizzled its way into millions of American homes.  The montage introduced  the carousel, the dark rides, the Mad Tea Party, but as the circus music brassed into the mix, TV cameras didn’t pan over to the Dumbo ride as originally planned.  The ride wasn’t working: the cars were parked at staggered elevations to suggest flight, but the whole contraption had about as much movement as one of Rodin’s outdoor statues.  Instead cameras focused in on a costumed figure of Dumbo  then oddly cut to a long shot of the carousel as the circus theme played to a close.

Original Dumbo Lift System – Lasted a Few Months – 1955

The most significant problem with the Dumbo attraction was the original lift system, which never  properly worked.  Let me break this down for you: back in 1954, the initial plan for the Dumbo attraction was to adapt a popular carnival ride–that old midway fav, the octopus–with elephant cars.  When that idea fell apart, Walt and the WED crew approached the four-member team of Arrow Development (in San Jose, California), who was already working on many Fantasyland rides, to see if they could also create a lift-and-spin system for the Dumbo ride.  Arrow would be responsible for the ride system and lift arms, with the elephants being fabricated and assembled at the Disney studio (300 miles away, in Burbank, California).

Testing Dumbo with Sandbags while Park Is Open – July 1955

Now come all the problems: On the advise of a NASA engineer, the Arrow team used a combination of oil and nitrogen in the hydraulic system for added power, which in theory should’ve worked, but of course didn’t.  The combination–when jostled–produced foam, effectively disabling the lift system.  Then there was the issue with the elephants.  By the time the elephants were finished at the studio–complete with internal engines to make each ear flap–the little pachyderms weighed 800 pounds.  That is, they each weight more than an actual baby elephant.  The problems were immediately apparent when the Burbank-born elephants were paired up with the San-Jose lift system in Anaheim.  With these issues, there was no possible way to have the ride available for guests when the park opened on July 17, 1955.

In the days that followed, the Arrow team explored solutions.  The ear motors were stripped from each of the elephants, substantially lightening the weight of each vehicle car.  Then the team went to work on the hydraulic lift system, a test-and-adjust period that lasted for days. 

Dumbo Attraction with Early Guests – August 1955

By August, the Arrow team had a two part solution.  With the lightened elephant cars, the Dumbo ride would work, if a technician skimmed the foam off the lift cylinders.  When I asked Ed Morgan, one of the four original owners of Arrow Development, about this process, he explained that the foam was removed many times per day, perhaps as often as between each ride cycle.  The joke name for this process was “milking Dumbo.”  To milk Dumbo, the Arrow team left one full-time employee at the  attraction to skim foam and check the lift system many times each day, seven-days-a-week. The other part of the solution was more complicated–and costly.  Walt and the Arrow team decided it would be best to simply build a new left system, one that was better able to handle the weight of the elephants and the constant movement and jostling the ride experienced when loaded with actual guests–that is, jumping, excited kids.

Second Gen Dumbo Lift System – Installed 1955, Photo 1957

Within months, the Arrow team built and installed a new Dumbo lift system, one more capable of carrying the elephants and guests.  According to Ed Morgan, this happened very quickly.  Using photos and film from 1955, I’ve tried to pinpoint an exact date when the new system was installed.  As best I can tell, the Dumbo Lift 2.0 was bolted into the circle of elephants in November or December of 1955.  The new system not only worked well, it was also more elegant than the original, with colorful trimwork and ornamentation, not to mention a newly-added Timothy Mouse atop a spiffy mirror ball.

But  to get back to the larger point: Disneyland, as it opened in 1955, had many problems–issues that were partially due to a compressed construction schedule and constraints in funding.  Also, because this park was the first of its kind, a park that developed new rides and ride systems, transforming  traditional cinema entertainment into a real-world, interactive environment.  The more interesting points of interest here are not the problems–but the innovative ways Walt and his team worked to fix them.

That’s it for this week.  See you next Monday, when, with luck, I’ll spin out a Halloween yarn.  TJP

PS If you’ve enjoyed this article, it’s part of an ongoing series that explores the park as it existed during its first year of operation.  You can find earlier entries with the links below:

Part 1 – Disneyland: Day Three.
Part 2 – Castle Gardens – Adventures in Landscaping.
Part 3 – Windows on Main Street with important updates here.