Friday, January 22, 2016
When I See an Elephant Fly … from the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland Park
Disney Parks Blog: Disneyland Resort fans know that our attractions need a bit of scrubbing and polishing every now and then. But when the attraction in question is the world famous Jungle Cruise, and the scrubbing and polishing involves one rather hefty bull elephant … well then, you just call in a helicopter.
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I always new Disney goes all out so I do not know why I was surprised to see an elephant strung to a helicopter. How else would they get that elephant out of there. I think what is so cool about Disney is they can just do what needs to be done, yes I am sure they have budgets, but budgets that are lots of money. I wonder how many other options there were for getting that elephant out of there. They must have thought of other ways, but It is cool that the best was a helicopter. I am confused about when this took place since it is daylight in the video and usually when it is daylight Disney world is open. I can only imagine what guests were thinking when they were seeing an elephant fly through the air, and it wasn’t Dumbo. I was also extremely impressed by the helicopter pilot, he or she landed the elephant right where it needed to go and then landed the helicopter on what looked like a trailer. And that brings another question. I understand putting a boat on a trailer because boats don’t work well on land, but why drive a helicopter where it needs to go? It can just fly there.
Having worked at Disney and participate in their Disney College Program, I’ve been privy to some behind the scenes methods and approaches that the company uses. The Disney parks operate in a very high stakes environment, where every visual aspect directly correlates to the guest experience. The brand Disney has created for itself is of the highest caliber. Marinating a polished park environment for guests is an absolute priority. That’s why it comes as no surprise to me that the folks at Disney would utilize a helicopter to fly out an elephant. In order to get that elephant out of it’s themed area it would need to be done with the smallest level of impact to the theming surrounding the piece. There is also an element of time that plays a significant role here. A helicopter can quickly swoop in, get attached to the elephant and fly out of the park in a very short timespan. An alternative such as trucking/hauling the elephant out would require a sturdy path, free of obstacles, and cause a substantial interruption to the surrounding theming, as well as a significant time investment at the location of the elephant prop. This could potentially lead to delays in the attraction opening, not to mention the obvious interruption to theming, which Disney so prides itself with. The helicopter approach is not only cool, but extremely practical.
Yet again Disney and their massive financial empire showing us how entertainment can be done when you have a practically infinite budget. We all know what happens to installations left out in the elements for years as the handiwork of hundreds of artists is slowly worn away and dulled by the weather. I am glad and unsurprised to see Disney hard at work maintaining their parks to an opening day standard. The elephant in the video looked just fine to be from a distance but that’s what makes Disney quite special, if someone looks at anything and says “that’s fine” it’s a problem. Everything has to be kept to a high standard of perfection in order to give everyone the best experience they can possibly have. Every elephant, ride, and costume should be exquisite so that when any guest walks into a Disney park their reaction should be “that’s amazing, can I ride it?”.
This is completely hilarious to me. First of all, as Drew points out, it is a helicopter flying through the air with an elephant during the day at Disneyland. Did they think the children would just assume it was Dumbo, or was there a cleverly placed parade to distract the ignorant public eye? Mostly, when I look at this, I see a huge blunder on Disney's part. Why wasn't there a power washer installed near the Jungle Cruise for these kinds of things in the first place? It seems completely absurd that they should have to fly an elephant out every time it starts looking a little nasty. I mean you're really, truly telling me there was no other way to get that elephant clean? I certainly hope he enjoyed his ride though.
And Drew: because there isn't always a place for a helicopter to land/they are probably storing it somewhere.
I think two of the things I associate the most with Disney are excess and polish. Everything they produce must be over the top to the degree that their guests think that magic is happening. I'm not at all surprised that they used a helicopter to lift the elephant, and if they have the budget for it then I'm all for it. Like John Walker said, Disney hold themselves to an extremely high standard of perfection but it completely pays off. When I went to Disney World last spring I was completely engrossed in the world that they had created, and really had a magical experience. Everything was very clean, the rides drew you in, and all of the staff were super friendly. Sometimes in order to maintain that world extreme measures must be taken, and I suppose that includes flying out a giant elephant by helicopter. Maybe a kid who loves the movie Dumbo was even more engrossed by finally seeing an elephant fly.
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