From opening day to today in 2022, Disneyland California has only expanded its creativity and with the constant evolution of technology, the possibilities seem to be endless. With the grand opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019 and the demolished A Bug’s Land becoming the Avengers Campus in California Adventure, it is clear that Disney wants to use its space to celebrate the current popular aspects of their company. The park was also constantly changing and evolving back before the 2000s as well, with the complete overhaul of Fantasyland in 1983 to become New Fantasyland, introducing Pinocchio’s Daring Journey to the Anaheim park.

The 1970s was another decade where Disney felt that they needed to adapt with the times. Bear Country was added to the Disneyland map with its 4 attractions, the Main Street Electrical parade opened in 1972, America Sings replaced the Carousel of Progress in 1974, and Space Mountain opened in 1977 to revere to the new space age. On top of all of this, in 1976, Disney had plans to add yet another land to their map, dividing Fantasyland into 2: Dumbo’s Circus Land.

The Triumph of 1941’s Dumbo

Dumbo is among Disney’s most iconic characters of all time, with its timeless 1941 film and 2019 live action remake. At the time of the original’s release, the studio had been undergoing some major challenges, including the losses endured from Fantasia and Pinocchio in 1940. With the war progressing in the 1940s as well, all of the films after Dumbo didn’t see much success either, as they became feature length films that were comprised of short films to save the company money. With the release of Dumbo and its shorter runtime of 1 hour and 4 minutes, it got the studio back on its feet and inspired Walt to continue his dream of making animated movies. Dumbo is one of the big reasons why we are still seeing Disney movies today.

Dumbo. Image from: https://letterboxd.com/film/dumbo/

Dumbo the Flying Elephant at Disneyland in the 1950s

There were 15 opening day attractions at Disneyland on July 17, 1955, with some still in the works to be added to the park fairly soon after. During that year as well, artist Bjorn Aronson was chosen by the company to design some of Disney’s very first attraction posters. Among these posters, stood one for Fantasyland, including an image of Dumbo the Flying Elephant. The poster was coloured in pinks, blues and greens, but the initial idea for the ride was that each of the 10 elephants would be pink to mimic the hallucination scene in the movie. This idea was scrapped and the elephants were painted grey, with small pupils and blue irises. The ears were also built to flap but due to mechanical issues, they stayed stationary until they were remade to become only stationary.

Fantasyland poster in 1955. Image from: https://www.icollector.com/Fantasyland-Attraction-Poster_i28534986

The ride made its debut in August 1955 once the elephants were ready to go, and was an instant hit with children and families who visited Disneyland. It was located on the far west side of Fantasyland, but moved in 1983 with the opening of New Fantasyland to where it is today. In 1957, a figure of Timothy Q. Mouse was added to the center of the attraction.

Before the opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992, the Dumbo the Flying Elephant attraction that had been built for it in 1990 had much more safe and secure design, adding 6 more elephants to the attraction to stabilize it. With the original ride breaking down in California, the Paris version was shipped over to California for use and another 16-elephant ride was built for Paris.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Image from: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/434175220297566594/

Dumbo’s Circus Land is Imagined

Walt had a unique fascination with circuses, trying to incorporate the look and feel of a circus into his theme park wherever he could. Another land that has since closed was Holidayland, a place where families could gather under red and white tents, one of which was the former Mickey Mouse Club Circus tent. The first ride to be opened after Disneyland’s opening day and just before the flying elephants was Casey Jr.’s Circus Train as well, to pay homage to Dumbo and Walt’s love for the railroad. To build upon this circus theme, Imagineer Tony Baxter designed an all-new land for Disneyland in the 1970s, which would be called Dumbo’s Circus Land. It would be located where Mickey’s ToonTown is today.

The Attractions of Dumbo’s Circus Land

The Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride and the Casey Jr. Circus Train would be the focal points of the land. One of the transportation attractions to sit alongside the list of rides like the Monorail, the Disneyland Railroad and the Skyway, would be a hot air balloon attraction that would move between Fantasyland. It would be in the style of the Skyway, with a red and white circus balloon look.

There were 3 attractions conceptualized for this new land: Mickey’s Madhouse, Circus Disney, and a Pinocchio attraction based on themes of Pleasure Island and Stromboli’s theatre.

Mickey’s Madhouse would feature the sensational six during their time of starring in vintage cartoons. It would follow the theme of a popular carnival ride: the funhouse. Mickey’s Follies would be featured based on the 1929 Mickey cartoon.

“A “Thrill Ride” featuring a combination of film and simplified animatronics. An updated crazy “funhouse” in the style of early Disney cartoon shorts where the participant is treated to visual delights and physical surprises while riding on a vehicle track which combines the best characteristics of the “haunted house” and “space mountain” rides.”

— Mickey's Madhouse description

Circus Disney would be exactly as the name describes, a circus act full of Disney characters. The final performances were never fleshed out, but some of the concepts were clowns, animal tricks, fire-eating, and tightrope walking, all lead by our very own Timothy Q. Mouse.

Circus Disney. Image from: https://twitter.com/ThemeParkReview/status/1064178494895259648/photo/2

The Layout of Dumbo’s Circus Land

As you enter this new land, you’d be greeted by a fountain in the center and a restaurant to your left. To your right is where you could enter into Mickey’s Madhouse to be immersed into the Mickey cartoons. Just passed the fountain would be Dumb the Flying Elephant in the center of the land. Farther into the land would be Circus Disney, to the left would be the Pinocchio attraction, and the last attraction on the left before heading out would be the Casey Jr. Circus Train.

Mickey’s Madhouse. Image from: https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/mickeys-madhouse-information.952742/

Dumbo’s Circus Land Remains an Idea

Dumbo’s Circus Land never came to fruition after many pieces of concept art were made for it, and there’s no official reason why other than investors not wanting to pick it up. The space for the land ended up being used for ToonTown, and the ideas for the rides were used in small ways for future attractions. The Pinocchio ride did end up opening 10 years later, remaining in Fantasyland and called Pinocchio’s Daring Journey.