Changes

Dumbo the Flying Elephant began as an attraction for Disneyland, in the early 1950s. The attraction is a "hub and spoke" attraction based on the 1941 Disney movie, Dumbo. Original designs for the attraction depicted guests riding in the "Pink Elephants" that Dumbo hallucinates in the movie, with the working title of the attraction being "10 Pink Elephants On Parade". The Pink Elephants were chosen because while there were going to be ten ride vehicles on the attraction, there was only one Dumbo. Walt Disney however, did not want his guests riding in alcohol induced elephants, and he ordered the ride vehicles painted grey. The attraction's names was thus changed to Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and it opened in Disneyland in October of 1955.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant proved to be so popular in Disneyland, that it was an obvious choice for inclusion in Walt Disney World. A replica Dumbo was built, and the attraction was operational in time for opening day on October 1, 1971. The ride consisted of 10 Dumbo's flying around Timothy the Mouse, who holds held a whip and standing stood on a disco ball. There were no major changes to the attraction until 1993, when the ride was closed for refurbishment. During the refurbishment, the ride mechanism was changed to make the attraction more kinetic and six more Dumbo's were added in order to increase capacity. While the ride was closed, Timothy the Mouse's whip was also removed and replaced with Dumbo's "magic feather". Furthermore, The disco ball that the mouse stood on was also replaced with a small hot air balloon. The final change to the attraction during the refurbishment involved moving the queue away from the carousel, to give guests some cover from the sun.