Description

Dumbo's Circusland, also sometimes known as simply Circusland, was, as the name implies, a land themed around Dumbo and the circus, but more than this was going to be a home for the more wacky Disney characters that didn't quite fit into the elegant Fantasyland.

Walt Disney loved the circus, and attempts at including a circus in Disneyland go back as far as the first panoramic painting of Disneyland. But pretty much all attempts, even the Mickey Mouse Club Circus, never quite worked. Walt's original Imagineers even designed their own circus miniland that never got built, a picture of which I include in the gallery.

Circusland was an attempt to change all that, developed by Tony Baxter at the same time as Discovery Bay. Sharing five acres of undeveloped land with Discovery Bay, Circusland's entrance would have been where the Fantasyland Theater currently stands, heralded by banners, marquees and flags. Here, guests would find a relocated Dumbo the Flying Elephant, now located high up on a raised platform (an ironic inversion - Tony Baxter made the decision to move the raised up Astro Orbitor to the ground in Tomorrowland), therefore freeing up much needed room in the Fantasyland courtyard.

Guests would find a Pinocchio dark ride (this was before it was added to Fantasyland), including Stromboli's Little Puppet Theater in the queue. Mickey's Mad House would be another thrilling dark ride, based on the classic 1930's black and white Mickey Mouse cartoons and ragtime music. One possible, the Western Balloon Ascent, would be a transportation ride between Circusland and Discovery Bay, allowing guests to travel in hot air balloons between the two new lands. Alternatively, a new path would have connected the two lands, north of the existing Fantasyland.

The major attraction of the land would have been Circus Disney, an animatronics spectacular featuring classic Disney characters performing in their own circus acts. Shere Khan and King Louis would be part of the wild animal menagerie, guests could marvel at "the Amazing Flying Dumbo - Ninth Wonder of the World!", "Horace Horsecollar - the One Man Rubberband!" and "the Reluctant Dragon - Fire Eater!", they could then pass through Clown Alley, and then witness the spectacular finale - the daredevil act "the Flying Goofys".

Why Wasn't It Built?

Legacy

The Pinocchio dark ride did get built, taking the space formerly held by the Mickey Mouse Club Theater, as part of 1983's New Fantasyland, a project which also relocated the Teacups rather than Dumbo to free up space in the Fantasyland courtyard. Eventually the classic and wacky Disney would get their own home, and not too far from where Circusland was intended - Mickey's Toontown.

A circus area was proposed for Tokyo's Fantasyland, in which a circus train would be the facade of a restaurant and seating area surrounding the Dumbo attraction.

Most recently, it was announced Dumbo was getting his own miniland as part of the Walt Disney World Fantasyland expansion - an area which will have two Dumbo rides (the 'Dueling Dumbo's'), a clown kidder rollercoaster, and other sideshow attractions.

Gallery