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{{Infobox attraction
| name = Silly Symphony Swings
| park = [[Disney California Adventure]]
| land = [[Paradise Gardens Park]]
| type = Wave swinger
| opened = June 11, 2010
| manufacturer = Zierer
| height = 40 ft (12 m)
| status = Operating
}}

'''Silly Symphony Swings''' is a wave swinger attraction in [[Paradise Gardens Park]] at [[Disney California Adventure]] at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Riders sit in suspended chairs beneath a decorated canopy and swing outward over the edge of Paradise Bay as the ride rotates. The attraction is themed to ''The Band Concert'', the 1935 Mickey Mouse cartoon in which Mickey conducts an outdoor orchestra through a performance of the ''William Tell Overture'' that is interrupted by a tornado. A figure of Mickey in his red bandleader uniform, baton in hand, stands conducting on top of the canopy.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silly_Symphony_Swings</ref>

== History ==

The ride mechanism began life as the Orange Stinger, an opening-day attraction on February 8, 2001. It used the same Zierer wave swinger hardware, but enclosed it inside a giant, partially peeled orange. Riders swung inside the orange surrounded by bee theming, a play on bumblebees stinging the fruit. The orange was a tribute to Orange County and to the orange groves that once covered the land around Anaheim, but the enclosure hid the ride's motion from passers-by and gave guests little view once airborne.<ref>https://www.yesterland.com/orange.html</ref>

The Orange Stinger closed in July 2009 as part of the reworking of Paradise Pier during the park's major expansion programme. Over the following ten months the orange shell was removed entirely, opening the swinger up as a conventional wave swinger, and the structure was repainted in crimson and cream. Panels around the canopy, called cartouches, were painted with scenes from ''The Band Concert'', and the conducting Mickey figure was installed on top.<ref>https://allears.net/dlr/tp/dca/sswings.htm</ref>

Silly Symphony Swings soft-opened on May 28, 2010, and held its official grand opening on June 11, 2010, the night World of Color premiered on Paradise Bay. The date was chosen in the 75th anniversary year of ''The Band Concert''. Strictly speaking, the cartoon was a Mickey Mouse short rather than part of Walt Disney's ''Silly Symphony'' series, which ran from 1929 to 1939; the attraction's name borrows the series title for its musical theme anyway, a point Disney's own publicity acknowledged.<ref>https://chipandco.com/a-second-look-at-the-silly-symphony-swings-10458/</ref> When Paradise Pier was divided in 2018, the swings remained in [[Paradise Gardens Park]], across the bay from the new [[Pixar Pier]].

== Experience ==

Guests choose between single swings and tandem swings. There are 32 single seats, plus eight tandem seats intended for a smaller rider sitting with a responsible companion. Riders must be at least 40 inches (102 cm) tall, and those under 48 inches ride in a tandem swing rather than alone.

Once loaded, the central column rises and begins to rotate, lifting the chairs about 40 feet (12 m) into the air overall. As speed builds, the canopy tilts and the chairs swing outward in a wave pattern, circling above the promenade with views across Paradise Bay toward [[Pixar Pier]]. The ride follows the cartoon's plot in miniature: the music is drawn from the ''William Tell Overture'', and the column is painted with the tornado that, in the film, picks up the band and carries on playing regardless. Mickey conducts throughout, synchronised to the music.

The open design means the experience is as much about the setting as the motion. At night the canopy is outlined in lights, and the swinging chairs form part of the kinetic backdrop of [[Paradise Gardens Park]] alongside the neighbouring attractions in [[Disney California Adventure]].

== See also ==
* [[Paradise Gardens Park]]
* [[Pixar Pier]]
* [[Disney California Adventure]]
* [[Hollywood Land]]

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Attractions]]
[[Category:Disney California Adventure]]
[[Category:Flat rides]]
[[Category:2010 establishments]]

Silly Symphony Swings - Revision history

Admin: ParksWiki backfill wave 1 (swarm)