Dumbo the Flying Elephant
One of the most popular attractions for the preschool set, Dumbo is one of Fantasyland's original attractions. The attraction is modeled on the 1941 animated feature with the titular elephant as the ride vehicle and sidekick Timothy Mouse in the center of the hub directing the action with a “magic” feather in his hand. In imagineering circles, Dumbo is known as a “hub and spoke” attraction because the ride vehicles rotate in a circle around a central hub. You can control the vertical motion of your elephant with the lever inside the vehicle. The attraction underwent a complete refurbishment in 1993 to update the vertical-motion technology and add four new vehicles to increase guest capacity. Though the ride cycle is only 90 seconds long, lines can become extremely long during busy days.
As part of the New Fantasyland expansion, Dumbo's physical location is was moved and a second spinner was added. The original Dumbo spinner closed on January 8, 2012. The new spinner (the first Dumbo ever to spin clockwise) soft-opened on March 12, 2012. The original spinner was refurbished to match the new theming of the attraction and soft-opened on June 15, 2012.
The new attraction's two spinners rotate in opposite directions, so that those looking at the middle of the attraction will see elephants moving toward them on both sides of the walkway.