Matterhorn Bobsleds 61 Years Later

Matterhorn Bobsleds is an attraction at Disneyland that is wildly popular today as it was 61 years ago! Today I thought I would take a look at this attraction and share its start, changes and fun facts. Join me for Matterhorn Bobsleds 61 Years Later.

Matterhorn Bobsleds 61 Years Later

Have you been on the Matterhorn Bobsleds? Ever been curious about how this attraction came to be? Did you know that it is the first roller coaster style attraction to be built at the Disneyland Resort? So much information, so little time! Let’s get started!

How Matterhorn Bobsleds came to be

While Disneyland was being built, the dirt removed to make the moat around Sleeping Beauty’s Castle was piled up in the spot where Matterhorn Bobsleds is today. Disney tried to get the area to be a picnic area. However, it was not working out to be that and Walt started thinking of a way to use the underutilized area. At the same time, Walt Disney thought of incorporating a toboggan-style ride for the park.

In the late ’50s, Walt Disney was in Switzerland filming Third Man on the Mountain and was also staying in Switzerland for an extended vacation, Walt Disney fell in love with the real-life Matterhorn Mountain. As a result, Walt got a postcard of Matterhorn Mountain and sent it to his Imagineer Vic Greene. All he wrote on it was “Vic, build this. Walt”.

Therefore the idea came about to build Matterhorn Mountain and make it a toboggan-style rollercoaster.

Type of Coaster

Matterhorn Bobsleds is a tubular steel roller coaster. It was the first roller coaster in Disneyland, opening June 14, 1959. This attraction features not one track but two tracks that wind inside and outside of the mountain.

Fact: Matterhorn Bobsleds was the first continuous tubular steel roller coaster in the world!

Ride Vehicles

First, the original bobsleds were a single car that seated four people in a single file fashion. Second, in 1978, two of the bobsleds were joined together and had lap seating. Therefore, this increased the capacity to eight people per car. Finally, in 2012, the bobsleds were changed again. This time Disney went back to the single file fashion. While still having two bobsleds attached together, they only hold a total of six people.

Fact: Matterhorn Bobsleds safety restraints are seatbelts.

Location

For many years, Matterhorn Bobsleds was listed as Tomorrowland and as Fantasyland. Sometimes they switched back and forth. I am thinking this was a result of the two tracks. One being on Tomorrowland’s side and the other on Fantasyland. However, in the ’70s, Matterhorn Bobsleds were officially made part of Fantasyland.

Fact: Speaking of the two tracks, the Fantasyland track is longer than the Tomorrowland track, in addition to having sharper curves as well.

Ride Facts

At the end of the ride, the bobsleds splash down into pools of water. This is for a couple of reasons. The first is to cool down the brake system that is under the bobsleds. The second is to slow down the bobsleds as you come back to the loading dock. Not to mention cooling you down with a little spray of water.

The lift that the bobsleds climb at the beginning of the ride reaches a height of 80 feet.

The snow that is painted on Matterhorn Bobsleds takes 800 gallons of paint. Another fun fact about the snow is that there is heavier snowfall on the Tomorrowland side than the Fantasyland side.

Forced Perspective

Matterhorn Bobsleds is not as tall as it appears. Disney likes to use forced perspective on many of its buildings and attractions. Forced perspective is where you use an optical illusion to make things appear bigger or smaller.

In this case, the trees on the side of the mountain get smaller and smaller the higher they are.

Addition of Theming

In 1978, a lot of holes in the mountain were closed in to help with the theming. Another change was that they closed in open area parts of the track and made icy caves and tunnels. Next, they added audio-animatronic abominable snowmen to the track.

Next, the Skyway closed in 1994, and since that attraction went right through the mountain of Matterhorn Bobsleds Disney partially filled in the huge holes. Another addition during that year was a crate that was added to the attraction that said “Wells expedition”. This was a tribute to a Disney Imagineer that had passed away that year.

During a refurbishment in 2012, the mountain was repainted. This time they added glass beads to the paint so that the sun would reflect off of it as real snow does so it would give it a more realistic look.

Finally, in 2015, updated audio-animatronic abominable snowmen were placed into the attraction. Disneyland also added a new projection to the lift. An abominable snowman can be seen looking at you through a sheet of ice.

I saw a video of the newest additions. It makes it more thrilling that is for sure!

FastPass

Just last year FastPass was added to this attraction.

In Conclusion

I hope that you enjoyed today’s post on Matterhorn Bobsleds in Disneyland. It has been a popular attraction for the last 61years with no signs of it slowing down!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them down below.

What would you like to read?

If there is anything you would like to know about regarding the Disneyland Resort, please let me know in the comments below. I would love to help you out!

Thanks for stopping by Life in Mouse Years!

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