Let's ride the Matterhorn Bobsleds! We haven't been to Disneyland for a few years, so this will be a new experience for us. I hope I don't barf.
There's the picturesque load-area chalet, it looks very "at home" with an impressive Swiss Alp behind it. The glacial runoff has resulted in some splendid waterfalls! All those shields on the façade must be from local baseball teams or something. Sliding into second wearing lederhosen isn't easy, but that's what makes the game so great.
I love this photo of a mother and her two sons posing with the Matterhorn right behind them, Skyway visible in the distance. Mom is holding a shopping bag that looks like it could hold a souvenir wall map (the 1961 map is the one with the
pink border, in case you were wondering). That map shows the new Flying Saucers, the helicopter pad next to the Disneyland Hotel, and the Monorail track extending all the way to the Hotel. I'm ashamed to admit that I didn't notice if there is still pretty landscaping at the base of the attraction, I was too a-scared of the abdominal snowman.
11 comments:
My favorite Alpine baseball team is the Matterhorn Bobcats. They're known for their fierce competitiveness and agility on the snow-covered slopes of the Swiss Alps. A foul ball can roll for ten miles or more before it can be retrieved. Alpine baseball games can last for several days... or weeks.
Looks like we gots ourselves one Bobsled on the 'Horn today. I thought maybe the shields represented the various Swiss cantons, but after googling it, there are 26 cantons, so maybe not. As you noted, this scene looks very Swissy, or Alpy.
Looks like the Pirate Ship is about to set sail to Neverland. We can see three Bobsleds here, but I don't think they count. Like "Only Murders in the Building", only Bobsleds on the Mountain can be considered good luck.
Always great to see Matterhorn pics, Major. Thanks.
Switzerland only had 22 cantons in 1961 (1 was added in 1979, and 3 "half-cantons" were redesignated as cantons in the 1999 Swiss Constitution, giving us the present number of 26). While only 18 are shown here, I believe the others are displayed on the covered queue switchbacks.
From left to right, the canton shields are:
Top Row:
Grisons
Thurgau
Valais
Lucerne
Bern
Tucino
Glarus
St Gallen
Bottom Row:
Vaud
Zug
Fribourg
Geneva
Schlaffhausen
Zurich
Basel-Landschaft
Appenzell Innerrhoden
Nidwalden
Uri
The big one in the middle is the coat of arms of Switzerland.
JB, the Matterborn Bobcats are good, but I have always been a Zermatt Zebras guy myself. Goooo stripes! Now I do want to see a baseball game played on a steep slope, ha ha. There used to be 26 cantons, until the expansions added an additional 10. I don’t really count bobsleds when we are right up near the load area, but those are my rules, not necessarily your rules!
Chuck, you can’t have to many cantons, if you ask me. The more, the better. This is why the Swiss are always so happy. Look at you doing all that research! I hope there won’t be a quiz later, because I will fail it. Except that I will never forget the name “Zug”.
Argh, "Matterhorn", not "Matterborn". Let the puns begin?
The Horn That Matters!
I love the bobsleds. As soon as I was old enough or tall enough, I would dash down main street first thing to get in line. Back then there were 2 lines, each stretching around the mountain in different directions. I usually got in the Fantasyland side because it was closest. Then you waited and waited, listening to the “woo-hoo-hoo” scream of the Alice ride, then fascinated by how the sled track wove past the monorail pylons (PYLONS!), because I didn’t know these were all built at the same time.
The last time I rode, at the end of the long day, and I hurt so bad, and could barely get in or out of the sled. I guess I’m too old to do it anymore.
I always thought those shields were for chocolatiers, cheese makers, watch and cuckoo clock makers, and one of them for the group that drills the holes in the cheese, a separate subsidiary. Chuck, thank you for clarifying.
Yes, Major, those beautiful gardens are still there, nicely maintained by someone with a very light lawnmower (because it has to be lifted over the fence).
Thanks for these great pictures!
JG
Ahhh....my back is hurting just looking at the Matterhorn! I love the Matterhorn, but it is relentless! I think that is part of the fun. The Fantasyland side has always been "the better side" : for me anyway...and now it's exclusively the Lightening Lane side..I think. The landscaping is always quite lovely here, with a lot of attention to detail. Thank you to whoever hasn't Tre'd it yet. The queue vibe is also pretty much the same as well. For a ride that has been around this long, it's popularity certainly endures: even if it's been based on the popular IP: "Third Man on the Mountain" ..... or let's say "inspired by"....I don't mind rides that are inspired by....but IP for IP's sake: big bag of "no". I think I'm ready for a basketball game at the top of the Matterhorn: certainly worth a "Walk in Bu's footsteps" tour: $175.00 plus tax and tips. Thanks Major for todays trip to '61. Regarding yesterdays "arms crossed ice cream vendor"....arms crossed signals "don't bug me" and was in a training video...so: don't do it. Arms crossed and unbuttoned vest: well....don't even show up for work the next day.....
Lesson learned some years back: On the Matterhorn and Big Thunder, what you need to do is brace yourself for side-to-side motion. Then it's clear sailing.
JG, as far as I know there are still two lines, though it can sometimes be tough to tell where they start. I’ve happily not had to wait too terribly long the last two times I rode the bobsleds. There are those who can tell one track from the other, but I ride them too infrequently. I was disappointed that the yeti effect was not working, I still have not seen the “new” animatronic. No wonder Switzerland is peaceful, with all that chocolate, cheese, and other goodies. On a student tour of Europe, Switzerland was wonderful, we got fresh croissants, hot cocoa, and food that actually tasted good (not typical on a student tour). I’m glad the gardens are still there!
Bu, while I can’t claim that the bobsleds are comfortable, I never had any real pain from riding them. The track IS very jolty and really snaps you around, my friend Mr. X says that it didn’t do that in the past. I just don’t remember. Oh gosh, one of the queues is just for Lightning Lane? Yuck. I wonder if the original bobsled (as in actually sliding on snow/ice) would have been possible? Seems like a big ask in SoCal, particularly during a hot summer. I would never cross my arms if I was an ice cream vendor, but I might let out the occasional curse word.
DBenson, yes, if you use your legs to brace yourself, it helps a lot. Of course that doesn’t help with whiplash to the neck…
Major, Zermatt Zebras... pshhh! When was the last time those donkeys won the Inter-Alpine Series, I ask you! NEVER! That's when! Gooo Claws!
JG, Gooo Cheese Drillers!
Bu, $175.00 for the "Walk in Bu's footsteps" tour? No way! But throw in a bubble wand, and I'm there! Says, JB, with his arms crossed and his vest unbuttoned. (I don't even own a vest.)
Since cast members shouldn't keep their hands in their pockets and shouldn't be fixing foreign coins or underages with coins from their own pockets, were costumes made without real pockets?
The new 1978 Matterhorn sleds were the best by far. If you got the front seat and a kid didn't need to sit in front of you (mine excluded), it was a GREAT RIDE!
All that changed later, but what a time it was.
Thank you Major as always...
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