==Attraction History==
The history of Dumbo the Flying Elephant began with an idea for an attraction in Disneyland. In the early 1950s, Imagineers began working on designs for a "hub and spoke" style ride based on the 1941 Disney movie Dumbo. In this early incarnation, guests would have ridden the "Pink Elephants" that Dumbo hallucinates in the movie, with the working title of the attraction being "10 Pink Elephants On Parade" <ref> http://www.yesterland.com/dumbo.html </ref>. The Pink Elephants were initially chosen because, while there were going to be ten ride vehicles on the attraction, there was only one Dumbo <ref name= "nickle"> Gordon, B., & Mumford, D. (2000). Disneyland: The nickel tour (2nd ed.). Santa Clarita, Calif.: Camphor Tree </ref>. Walt Disney however, did not want his guests riding in alcohol induced elephants, and he ordered the ride vehicles painted grey <ref name="nickelnickle"/>. The attraction's name was thus changed to Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and it opened in Disneyland in August 1955 <ref> http://www.davelandweb.com/dumbo/ </ref>.
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 opened with the rest of the park on October 1, 1971 <ref> http://thisdayindisneyhistory.homestead.com/disneyworldgrandopening.html </ref>. The ride consisted of 10 Dumbos flying around in a circle. Two years after the attraction opened, Timothy the Mouse was added to the center hub <ref name= "florida"> http://www.florida-project.com/walt-disney-world-photos/magic-kingdom/fantasyland/dumbo-the-flying-elephant </ref>. Besides being the object that guests now flew around, Timothy was also holding a whip and standing on a disco ball. There were no other major changes to Dumbo the Flying Elephant until 1993, when the ride was closed for renovations. 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 <ref> http://www.wdwradio.com/2007/09/dumbo-the-flying-elephant/ </ref>. While Dumbo was closed, Timothy the Mouse's whip was removed and replaced with Dumbo's "Magic Feather". Furthermore, the disco ball that the mouse stood on was replaced with a small hot air balloon. Subsequently, in 1997 a new covered queue was added to the attraction in an attempt to protect guests from the beating sun <ref name= "florida"/>