This week, a strange sight was captured over Disneyland Park in Anaheim, California: a flying elephant.
Related: Walt Disney World To Repurpose Abandoned Resort Experience
Not Dumbo
A “flying” elephant carried by a helicopter was spotted soaring at Disneyland Resort. The shocking sight caught many Disney Park guests and tourists by surprise.
Spotting a massive pachyderm being guided through the air on a helicopter cable is not something someone expects to see when they look out their hotel window or prepare to take a picture of Sleeping Beauty Castle.
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But this was no accident. In fact, it’s more common than you may think.
What guests saw was Disneyland Resort simply returning an audio-animatronic to its natural habitat…the Jungle Cruise.
It was Elephant day at Disneyland Resort! pic.twitter.com/qMZlx8Qpqd
— 💚🩷✨Stressy Depressy Fellow Ozian🩷💚✨ (@Adorian1989) January 16, 2024
During a recent refurbishment of the Jungle Cruise, the African elephant was removed in December 2023. However, the footage of the flying elephant shows that the pachyderm is returning.
Related: The Jungle Cruise: A History
Have you ever seen an elephant fly? (cue the Dumbo jokes).
Jungle Cruise Refurbishment
The Jungle Cruise ride at both Disneyland Park and Magic Kingdom Park have undergone recent refurbishments to address certain scenes many felt were problematic.
These were primarily scenes that depicted indigenous people in negative ways. Much of these were removed or changed in 2021.
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The new Disneyland Park Jungle Cruise includes a storyline that focuses on a skipper’s boat with an adventure gone wrong. However, Disney has confirmed that the same jokes, for which the Jungle Cruise skippers are famous, will remain.
“Cast off on a guided tour of the world’s most remote rivers where adventure abounds—and the animals get the last laugh,” the official Disneyland Resort description reads,
“Board a canopied tramp steamer and leave civilization behind on a tongue-in-cheek journey through the globe’s most ‘treacherous’ rivers—and oldest gags… Throughout your voyage, you’ll enjoy lively narration from your brave and trusty skipper. It’s a sometimes perilous, always hilarious 10,000-mile journey you won’t soon forget!”
