Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride at Magic Kingdom With Young Kids
Dumbo the Flying Elephant Ride is a classic, and one that I remember going on as a kid. Today, my husband and I enjoy visiting Walt Disney World with our own kids, currently ages 5 and 2 ½, and it’s been fun getting to share that same experience with them.
Located in Storybook Circus in Fantasyland, this highly-themed section of Magic Kingdom is one of our favorite areas to walk through with the kids. The Dumbo ride is easy for young kids to enjoy, gives them the chance to control how high their elephant flies, and offers some great views of Storybook Circus from above. There’s also a hidden surprise waiting in the queue that many families don’t know about before they ride.
In this post, I’ll share why our family enjoys Dumbo the Flying Elephant, what you can expect from the ride, and why we think it’s a great choice for toddlers and preschoolers.
Ride Stats
Location: Storybook Circus in Fantasyland at Disney’s Magic Kingdom
Height Requirement: None
Ride Duration: About 2 minutes
Ride Type: Slow-moving, carousel-style ride that lets you control how high your elephant flies
Ride Vehicle: Flying elephant that seats 2; single seatbelt restraint
Lightning Lane: Available
The Queue
The Dumbo queue begins like most others in Magic Kingdom. But as you make your way inside the big-top circus tent, you’ll discover one of the most unique queues in the park: an indoor playground themed to Dumbo.
It’s a great place to spend a few minutes cooling off in the air conditioning while your little ones run around and play. There are climbing structures, slides, interactive elements, and even a small play area designed just for younger kids. Parents can relax on the bench-style seating surrounding the playground while keeping an eye on their children.
When you’re ready to continue, simply get back in line and make your way to the loading area. If you’d rather skip the ride and only visit the playground, there are exits that lead back to the stroller parking area.
We love stopping here because there’s something for both of our kids to enjoy. The slides are just the right size for our toddler, while the climbing structures are a better fit for our 5-year-old. Cast Members are stationed at the entrance to help manage the number of families inside and make sure everyone is playing safely. Even on busier park days, we’ve never had to wait to enter.
If you’d like a closer look at everything the playground has to offer, be sure to check out our guide to the Dumbo Indoor Playground here.
Once you leave the playground area, the rest of the queue is fairly standard. It’s covered from the sun, although parts of it are outdoors, and there aren’t any additional interactive elements before the ride.
The Ride Experience
Once it’s your turn to ride, you’ll make your way over to one of the flying elephants. Each one has a different colored hat and blanket. Cast Members will have little ones board first and sit on the inside of the elephant. Each elephant seats two people, and a single seatbelt goes across both riders. There are no height restrictions, but kids under the age of 7 must ride with someone who is at least 14 years old.
One of the fun parts about Dumbo is that you get to control how high or low your elephant flies using the joystick inside your ride vehicle. You can fly all the way to the top or stay closer to the ground. My 5-year-old was big enough to reach the joystick by himself, but my toddler couldn’t quite reach it yet, so I controlled it for him.
The ride lasts about 2 minutes before your elephant slowly flies back down. While you’re flying around, you’ll get some fun views of Storybook Circus and the surrounding area. I also like to take a few minutes looking at all the little details on the ride. The bright colors and gold accents are really nice in person.
Even though you’re moving in a circle, it never feels too fast. Both of my kids have always been comfortable with the height and the speed, and on a hot Florida day, it’s actually nice catching a little breeze while you’re up in the air.
How Long Would We Wait?
Our family would probably wait no more than 15 minutes for Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Although the ride is fun, and we like that it’s something we can all enjoy together as a family, if the wait gets much longer than that, we’d usually come back later or use a Lightning Lane instead.
There are several other attractions nearby that we’d choose first, like “it’s a small world,” before spending 30 or 45 minutes waiting for Dumbo. Thankfully, Dumbo doesn’t usually have long wait times, and having two flying elephant carousels helps keep the line moving.
If we happen to visit on a really busy park day and notice the line is longer than it typically is, we’ll usually spend a little extra time in the indoor playground or come back later when the wait has dropped. We’ve also used Lightning Lane in the past when we wanted to skip the line altogether. If you’re thinking about purchasing Lightning Lanes for your trip and would like to learn more about how they work, be sure to check out our post here.
Since the wait time is often fairly short, we’ve found it’s pretty easy to fit Dumbo into our day without spending too much time in line.
Final Thoughts
If you’re looking for rides that don’t have a height restriction and work well for toddlers and young kids, Dumbo the Flying Elephant is a great choice. With the surprise indoor playground in the queue and relatively short wait times overall, it’s a stop we make on most visits to Magic Kingdom.
After your ride, be sure to spend a few minutes exploring the rest of Storybook Circus. There’s even a fun photo opportunity where kids can climb inside one of the Dumbo elephants before continuing on to your next attraction.
Whether it’s your child’s first visit or one of many, we hope your family enjoys making memories on Dumbo the Flying Elephant as much as ours has.