Originally Posted By Ghost Hostess On June 14th, 1959, Uncle Walt, his wife Lilian, and the Shah of Iran with his wife Farah rode the first bobsled of opening day. The bobsleds were singular, and there were no glacier grottos or Yetis, but the skyway gondolas went right through it! Share your fun Matterhorn memories here!
Originally Posted By ArchtMig Happy 50th anniversary to the Matterhorn! First tubular steel track roller coaster in history. First roller coaster in history to feature the block braking system whereby segments of track are separated by individual brake pads, or "blocks", which allow multiple cars (or trains) to run on the tracks at any one time. Before the block braking system, roller coasters only had one train, and folks would board it, do the ride, then come back into the station and unload and then the next group would board. Or at best, there would be two trains, where one would be out on the track while the other was in the station being loaded and unloaded. The limiting factor was that they didn't want to have any train suddenly become disabled out on the track somewhere (derailment or whatever) and then have the next train come barreling down and rear ending it with no way to stop to prevent that. Matterhorn changed all that. By adding strategically located brake pads throughout the length of the track, they could launch multiple trains (or in this case, bobsleds!) and time them such that there would always be at least one brake pad between cars. Then if the sensors sensed a problem, all the pads pop up and the next car coming along automatically stops on the pad, thus preventing it from rear ending the disabled car further up the track. Matterhorn! First of its kind, but still one of a kind!
Originally Posted By Dabob2 The first proper coaster I ever went on. I was a little kid and a little scared to go on (I'd seen them from the skyway, and they looked crazy!), but as soon as I did I was hooked on coasters and still am. I insisted on riding with my Dad sitting right behind me so I'd feel safer. To this day, I can't ride it without thinking about him and I still get a warm feeling. I loved having a single bobsled, but they did load slower. Add to that the fact that before SM it was the only real thrill ride in the park, and waits of 2 hours were not uncommon in the summer. We waited anyway. I have a lot of great memories associated with this ride besides my Dad; many with my teenage friends and doing dumb teen things like yodeling as we ascended, and also a story involving 70's kid-star Mason Reese that's too involved to go into. As an adult, it's one of those rides where it's very easy to sneak a kiss in the dark as the ride begins. Still love this ride, and don't quite feel a multi-day trip is complete if I don't ride the four configurations (left-side-day, right-side-day, left-side-night, right-side-night) at least once each.
Originally Posted By Moon Waffle Matterhorn: my favorite roller coaster in the park, hands down. I have loved this ride since I can remember. Nothing else like it.
Originally Posted By SleepingBeauty82 Had a great ride on it about a week ago. Front seat, squeezed in with the fiance, felt like I was gonna fly out and ended the ride with the old school seat belt up under my boobs! LOL. Always a fun time.
Originally Posted By TheParsec The Matterhorn was My Very First Ride I ever went on, I was 6 years old! When I got off, I jumped Up and down saying How fun that was, so My Dad took me right back on it again!! 34 Years later, It's still one of my Favorite Rides!!!!! Happy 50th!!!
Originally Posted By Ghost Hostess I have been to the top, and yes, there is a basketball half-court! I believe it's on the 5th story. If you get off the elevator at the 3rd story, the first Yeti is right there.
Originally Posted By dresswhites even though i have visted the park a billion times, i still always get excited when i first spot the matterhorn when coming to the resort. even though now generally the first building i see is the tower of terror. the second though is the matterhorn. even when i was a cm, it was always exciting first seeing the matterhorn when arriving to work. It always signaled that i was working at a magical place. no matter how i felt, as soon as the top of the matterhorn peeking up over the horizon, my mood always changed for the better!
Originally Posted By ABBY As a kid, coming to DL from Northern California it was so great to finally see the Matterhorn from the freeway after the 7 hour drive!! That's the moment the fun began!!
Originally Posted By iamsally I did not realize how many memories of the Matterhorn affect my life until I read this thread. I remember when it was built but did not get to ride it until 1963. I was 10 and loved coasters already. So, I was quite disappointed at how *tame* it was. My father carefully explained to me what bobsleds were and why the ride was like it was. To this day it is one of my fondest memories of him. >>>>>>I insisted on riding with my Dad sitting right behind me so I'd feel safer. To this day, I can't ride it without thinking about him and I still get a warm feeling.<<<<<< Oh yes, one of my favorite warm fuzzies. When I met the DH he had never been on any coaster. I pretty much told him he would learn or the relationship would not continue. The Matterhorn was his first. We still ride it and we insist on sitting together in spite of the fact that it is harder to fit in the seat. (And he has never stopped taking advantage of the dark tunnel.) When my granddaughter was only two and a half my younger daughter and I had her at Disneyland; and she was tall enough. We took her on it and she loved it. A short time later I was there with my oldest DD. It had been raining all day. It was almost midnight and the rest of the family had left. There was no line. The die-hard and I rode it three times. The third time, right at midnight, we took of our hoods and hats and let the pouring rain soak us. Happy Birthday to the monument that I so fondly remember being the signal that we were almost there.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Loosen up and the Matterhorn is much more ridable. Those who are rigid may find it painful.
Originally Posted By NAPC I just got off the Matterhorn! I remember when I was a kid I use to call it "White Mountain". Mr. NAPC and I got our "We're 50 Today!" button yay! -NAPC
Originally Posted By Princessjenn5795 The first time I rode the Matterhorn was in 1988. I was seven and it was my first trip to Disneyland. It was also my first "big" rollercoaster. It was so amazing and the Yeti scared the crap out of me. As soon as the ride was over I made my Grandpa get back in line with me. That ride started my life long love affair with thrill rides. Thanks Metterhorn and Happy Birthday!
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL Instead of correcting a few in-accuracies from the preceding posts, I would just like to say Happy B-Day old boy and thanks for the great memories! From the thrill of my dad driving our family down the 5 and spying you well before the Ball Rd off ramp. To the fun of actually getting to run guests through your twisty, "chilly" caverns. You may have gotten a bit slow in your old age but you are still one of a kind.
Originally Posted By Ghost Hostess <<<don't forget it's ythe Monorail's birthday too>>> The Monorail's 50th anniversary is on July 3rd.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <As a kid, coming to DL from Northern California it was so great to finally see the Matterhorn from the freeway after the 7 hour drive!! That's the moment the fun began!!> Oh, yeah. We only had about an hour's drive (more before the 57 was built) - we had to go on Brea Canyon Road, and then hook up with Harbor and DRAG through Brea, Fullerton, and finally Anaheim. Those last 5 or 6 miles on Harbor were punctuated with lights, of course, and I always wanted them to be all green, but naturally you'd have to stop periodically and it was tortuous. It seemed like the slowest 5 miles on earth. Then you'd spot the Matterhorn (you used to be able to see it from much further away than you can today), and it was so exciting. You had a whole day of fun and nowhere-else-on-earth adventures awaiting at a time when Disneyland seemingly could do ANYTHING.
Originally Posted By jmuboy The Matterhorn to me is quintessential Disneyland. I love to see it rising above the castle at the end of Main St. The sounds, the smells - it all makes me feel like I'm really in DL. I'm so glad it has remained a DL original and I hope it's never cloned.
