![]() With the lightened elephant cars, the Dumbo ride would work, if a technician skimmed the foam off the lift cylinders. Then the team went to work on the hydraulic lift system, a test-and-adjust period that lasted for days.ĭumbo Attraction with Early Guests – August 1955īy August, the Arrow team had a two part solution. ![]() ![]() The ear motors were stripped from each of the elephants, substantially lightening the weight of each vehicle car. In the days that followed, the Arrow team explored solutions. With these issues, there was no possible way to have the ride available for guests when the park opened on July 17, 1955. The problems were immediately apparent when the Burbank-born elephants were paired up with the San-Jose lift system in Anaheim. That is, they each weight more than an actual baby elephant. 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. Then there was the issue with the elephants. The combination–when jostled–produced foam, effectively disabling the lift system. 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. Testing Dumbo with Sandbags while Park Is Open – July 1955 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). 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. 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. The most significant problem with the Dumbo attraction was the original lift system, which never properly worked. Original Dumbo Lift System – Lasted a Few Months – 1955 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. 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. 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 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. That ride is, of course, the Dumbo Flying Elephant attraction. 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. No, the big headache over in Fantasyland was the Dumbo ride.Įlephants Parked and Broken – Opening Day – July 17, 1955 But again these changes were minor and the existing engine and cars remained at the park. The cars were also fitted with “keeper” systems to keep them from tipping off the tracks. track that–hours after debuting on the Dateline Disneyland TV show–was regraded to make the ride safer. ![]() 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.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |