I hope this is the first of many cardboard Disneyland creations. (Technically it’s the second — I already made a cardboard Sleeping Beauty castle and will share that tutorial soon.) I have so many ideas and I can’t wait to make more.
Today I’ll show you how to make a cardboard Dumbo ride that actually spins. We’ve been having a lot of fun with it, using Disney figurines for play. The project has several steps but most of the materials can come from recycled cardboard and simple hardware you likely have in a toolbox.
If you love Disney, you’ll know the Dumbo ride has had several looks over the years. This version is modeled after the recent Disneyland update, with lots of gold and a rainbow balloon topper. Feel free to adapt colors and details to your favorite era or park. Let’s get started.
Supplies For Making Your Dumbo Ride
- Corrugated cardboard (shipping boxes)
- Thin cardboard (cereal box or similar)
- Five cardboard tubes (toilet paper rolls)
- Cardstock
- 1 bolt, 3 washers, 3 nuts
- Six dowels (about 3/8″ x 12″ recommended)
- One wood sphere or bead (about 1½”)
- Paint or paint markers: red, blue, gold, white, gray and various pastels
- Markers: black and brighter shades to match pastels
- Colored pencils in matching pastel colors
- Pencil
- Twine
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
- Optional: gold glitter foam sheet (you can substitute cardboard)
How To Make the Cardboard Dumbo Ride
1. Cut an 18″ cardboard circle and draw a smaller 3″ circle in the center. Divide the large circle into ten narrow petal-shaped sections by cutting toward the inner circle, leaving the center intact.
2. Cut the following from cardboard:
- Two 4″ circles
- One 3″ circle
- One 1½” x 15″ strip
- One 1½” x 14″ strip
- One 2″ square
- One 4½” x 8″ rectangle
- Five toilet paper rolls with an oval cut into the top of each (set aside for vehicles)
3. Make the base: poke a hole through the center of one 4″ circle and the 2″ square, stack the square on top of the circle. Slide a washer and nut onto the bolt, pass the bolt through both pieces, add a washer and nut on top, tighten, and secure with hot glue so it doesn’t loosen while spinning. Glue the 15″ strip around the edge of the circle to form the base rim.
4. Form the center column by folding the 4½” x 8″ rectangle into a column shape lengthwise (each long side about 2″ wide) and hot glue the seams.
5. Paint pieces as follows:
- Paint the flower-shaped piece blue on the inside and gold on the outside. Add red and white stripes to the petal tips on the gold side.
- Paint the outside of the base with a blue and red triangle pattern, outlined in gold.
- Paint the 14″ strip blue and add gold stars.
- Paint the column blue.
- Paint the remaining 4″ and 3″ circles gold.
- Paint five dowels red.
Tip: paint markers make many of these details much easier.
6. Poke a hole through the center of the flower piece, slide it onto the bolt, add a washer and nut, tighten so the flower spins freely, and secure with hot glue.
7. Hot glue the column in the center of the flower, concealing the bolt, then glue the 14″ blue strip around the flower’s inner circle edge.
8. Decide dowel length — trimming 2″ from each worked well for me — and insert the red dowels into the column. Position five dowels evenly spaced so each fits between two petals when the petals are folded up. Place each dowel at slightly different heights to simulate movement. Use scissors to make entry holes in the column, add a large dab of hot glue on the dowel end, push through until it adheres, and let cool.
9. Curve each petal with your fingers, fold them up, and hot glue their bases to the top of the column so they form a decorative sphere around the center.
How To Make The Dumbo Ride “Vehicles”
These instructions are for one Dumbo vehicle; multiply for each car (I made five).
1. On cardstock, draw and color the following per vehicle in a single pastel color: two mirrored Dumbo faces (leave a tab on the back of the head for the collar), four legs, two ears (each with a tab), one circle matching your tube opening, one wavy circle for the collar (slightly larger than the tube opening), and one tail.
2. Glue one Dumbo face, four legs, two ears, one circle and one tail to the printed side of a cereal box for stability, then cut out. Attach the mirrored face to the back so the figure is double-sided. Color or paint the plain cardboard backs to match the fronts.
3. Paint each cardboard tube with a different pastel “blanket” color.
4. Cut a slit in the wavy collar, slip the face’s tab through and glue. Glue the collar to one end of the tube. Trim the collar where necessary to fit the front legs and glue the legs in place. Fold ear tabs down and glue to each side of the face. Insert the tail tab into a slit in the small circle, glue it, and attach that circle to the other end of the tube. Glue the back legs on.
5. Poke a hole through one side of the tube and slide it onto a red dowel until it reaches the opposite inner wall, then glue in place. Repeat for each vehicle.
How To Finish Your Dumbo Ride
1. Paint the wood bead with rainbow stripes to serve as the hot air balloon.
2. Cut a 3/4″ cardboard square, add a 1/4″ border band, and make a small cube slightly smaller than the square to glue beneath it; paint the whole assembly gold to create the basket.
3. Paint a 2″–3″ dowel segment gold and poke a hole in the cardboard square. Insert the dowel through the square and glue its other end to the bottom of the wood bead.
4. Cut three twine strands long enough to go from basket top, around the balloon and back down. Glue each strand’s midpoint to the top of the bead and the ends to the basket top in different directions.
5. Draw and color a small Timothy mouse on cardstock (use a screen as a lightbox to trace if helpful), glue to thin cardboard, color the back, and glue him to the top of the balloon.
6. Glue the remaining small cardboard circle to the top of the ride to cover petal tops. Poke a center hole and insert the balloon’s dowel into it, securing with hot glue.
7. Optionally glue a narrow strip of gold foam or painted cardboard along exposed edges, and create ten little gold flourishes to glue to each petal top.
You’re done — balance the ride with a toy in each car and enjoy watching it spin.
Tips for Making a Dumbo Ride
- Use your computer as a lightbox to trace Dumbo and Timothy mouse outlines — open an image and hold cardstock to the screen, trace lightly, then refine the lines.
- Get kids involved: young children can help paint large color areas, which is a fun and simple task for toddlers.
- Keep the ride balanced when playing — placing a toy in each car helps it spin evenly.
Photos by Jeff Mindell
Tell me which ride you’d like to see recreated next — the teacups and It’s A Small World are high on our list. p.s. The map in the background is a vintage Disneyland map we found at a flea market.