Originally Posted By CuriousConstance Wonder if your legs would get ripped off if you draped them over both sides of the sled?
Originally Posted By TP2000 Anyone so unlucky in life to have never visited Disneyland USA when they were a child won't be a fan of the Matterhorn as an adult. An adult walking into Disneyland for the first time in their life will ride the Matterhorn and think "That's it? That was kind of lame." It's the exact same sentiment an adult visiting WDW for the first time feels about WDW's Space Mountain or Pirates of the Caribbean. But an adult who had the privelege and luxury of growing up on the West Coast and visiting Disneyland at least a few times before they were 12 can still go on the Matterhorn and instantly be filled with nostalgia and warm fuzzies of childhood visits long ago. The Matterhorn is a Disneyland classic, and a major stepping stone along the memorable path of any middle class child growing up with access to Disneyland. You kind of feel sorry for the kids in Ohio or New Hampshire or Alabama who have no point of reference and no reverence for the mighty Matterhorn; Walt Disney's first thrill ride.
Originally Posted By berol I rode it for the first time as an adult and thought it was overly rough from banging into a sidewall at every turn. I leaned into the turns the 2nd time and have liked it ever since.
Originally Posted By CuriousConstance I usually get a headache after riding the Matterhorn. I still like it though. Me and my daughter will always be able to look back and chuckle over our first time, and how we f'd up and accidentally both squeezed into the same seatbelt not knowing there was one for each of us. Somehow we both came through it alive. Good times, good times.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I take a ride on the bobsleds once per trip, hoping that they have magically changed between vacations. I had high hopes for the new sleds, assuming (wrongly) that the tracks had been smoothed out. Nope. Gosh those things hurt my back and bottom! I rode both sides though (just to be a good sport) and they are both just as jarring as always. The new seats didn't make any difference to me but I'm only 5'3" DH 6'2" and DD and grandson rode several times and had no complaints about the new seating. Oh, wait......DH did mention the leg room being too short but not uncomfortable. He also loves Goofys Sky Skool
Originally Posted By TinkerbellPatten "I take a ride on the bobsleds once per trip, hoping that they have magically changed between vacations." Me too, amazedncal2. And always come off the ride with a pounding migraine. I swear it feels like my brain bounces around inside my skull from the jarring. Takes me most of the day to recover. My kids never complain of it. I used to love it as a kid too.
Originally Posted By fkurucz I think that as long as there are long lines and the ride is safe that they will not replace the tracks on the Matterhorn as they did with Space Mountain.
Originally Posted By MoondoggieCA I can certainly see where the OP is coming from. As a former Matterhorn CM, I went on the attraction a couple of weeks ago with a friend I worked the attraction with back in the 80s and asked her impressions of it after we exited the attraction. She said she thought the seats were awful, and overall the ride experience wasn't as great. Clearly it's always been a bumpy ride (which was part of its charm), but she said she felt the new seats didn't help and almost made it uncomfortable. I had to concur. I also agree with TP though in that, seats aside, a lot of it does have to do with nostalgia. By the roller coaster standards of today, and considering what you see at other parks, Matterhorn might come off as underwhelming. But when one looks at its history, it is still a classic. I just wish it was more comfortable, seat-wise. That was not a change for the better IMO.
Originally Posted By Dreamerica I love the Matterhorn, especially at night! Also, I miss the Skyway buckets passing through. Either way though, its something MK in FL. doesn't have and it's a major element missing from that park.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Clearly it's always been a bumpy ride (which was part of its charm), but she said she felt the new seats didn't help and almost made it uncomfortable." There has to be a way to install cushioned seats or something. There seems to be a general agreement that the new seats are uncomfortable.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA I rode the Matterhorn as early as 1970 (did I ride the old, non-train cars? -- dunno). At any rate, it's always been a rough, bumpy and hard-on-the-butt ride.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I was at DL over the weekend and rode the Matterhorn. As far as I could tell, there was really no noticeable difference to me in comfort compared to the old sleds. I don't know if it was how I was sitting, or the sleds themselves, but my first trip seemed much faster than I remember the ride being; the second trip (on the other side of the mountain) seemed to be the speed I remembered. I'll kind of miss the fun sitting, but on a hot day I really appreciated the additional personal space.
Originally Posted By oc_dean I'd like to know if the Matterhorn has been receiving official complaints ... that is making heads at Disney re-think these bobsleds ... and start thinking of a new design. Stories I'm hearing from one sit to the next .. are not favorable. I'd like to think a remedy will eventually be put into place. If the 2012 bobsleds are over-all more uncomfortable to the 1978 bobsleds ... then I see version 4, not far off. Or at least a version 3.1 (new seat padding).
Originally Posted By Manfried The ride has a long line as usual. So I think the only ones complaining are the usual suspects. You know, frequent APers.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I agree with Ferret that the ride seemed the same to me, and I've been riding since 1977.
Originally Posted By danyoung >So I think the only ones complaining are the usual suspects. You know, frequent APers.< A lot of the time I'm on the side of those who pooh-pooh the AP'ers, and think they overreact quite a bit. This time I can say from personal experience that the new sleds are indeed much more uncomfortable than the last ones. You sit much lower (meaning less seat padding), you have quite a bit less legroom, and the roughness of the ride is exacerbated by the way you have to sit all crunched in there. Very very uncomfortable for me, and very very disappointing.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 <I rode the Matterhorn as early as 1970 (did I ride the old, non-train cars? -- dunno).> Yes, you did. The two-connected-bobsleds came in in 1978. I loved the individual bobsleds, but it did make for an awfully slow line.
