Dumbo Isn’t the Only Flying Elephant at Disneyland Park

Erin Glover

by , Director, Publicity, Walt Disney Animation Studios

Early one morning in May, before Disneyland park opened for guests, an African bull elephant departed the Jungle Cruise in a pretty spectacular way. He was removed via helicopter and traveled over the River Belle Terrace, the Rivers of America and Circle D on his way to be refurbished.

Once every 7-10 years, the Jungle Cruise elephants are given a “check-up,” which takes about 7 weeks. When his refurbishment is complete, he will return to the Jungle Cruise once again.

Destinations: Dumbo Isn’t the Only Flying Elephant at Disneyland Park

Comments

  • I wondered where it was myself when I was there a week ago. I figured it must have been getting a check-up. … Wish I could’ve seen that elephant fly!

  • That is sweet!

    We did something like this at school but we weren’t transporting and ELEPHANT!

    Nice 🙂

  • I guess this menas the boat captains have to skip one of my favorite jokes: “On your left you can see the amazing and incredibly rare African bull elephant. It’s so rare that you’ll probably never see one again in your entire life. For those of you with short attention spans, on your right you can see the amazing and incredibly rare African bull elephant. It’s so rare that you’ll probably never see one again in your entire life.”

  • I wonder…..Did that elephant have takeoff clearance from the FAA? If so, would its call sing be “jumbo jet” 🙂

  • Aw! I wonder if he was scared that high up in the air :).

  • This is pretty awesome…do you put them back the same way? This must be pretty nerve racking though for Imagineers to watch them travel like this lol

  • I rode the Jungle Cruise last week and noticed it missing but didn’t know why until now – thanks.

  • This reminds of a movie that I havent seen in years…. Operation Dumbo Drop!

    which, if memory serves well, is a Disney movie…

  • I love it when you share this kind of behind-the-scenes stories on the blog! Thanks, Erin!

  • “Well, I done seen about everything, when I seen an elephant fly!” Love it!

  • Awesome. Thanks for the video

  • Well I just about seen everything now I’ve seen an Elephant Fly lol

  • I appreciate the video! It’s great to see Disney keeping up with their social media and keeping its guests entertained even outside of the park.

  • Thank you! Loved the video!! Wish I were a fly on a wall if a child saw this and was trying to insist to a parent that they SAW an elephant flying over the park! haha

  • Now THAT would be an ‘E’ ticket ride!

Comments are closed.