Matterhorn...Again

The Matterhorn Bobsleds ride started out a pile of dirt.  The dirt that they dug out from around the Sleeping Beauty Castle was piled up where the Matterhorn now sits.  Walt Disney covered the hill in snow and let people go sledding on the hill!  He also wanted to call it Snow Hill.  "Cooler" heads prevailed and the bobsled ride was conceived.  The ride opened June 14, 1959 and was the first tubular steel roller coaster to ever exist.  Some of the older readers might recall that the original mountain had holes in it to allow the Skyway ride to pass through.  In case you were wondering, the ride was part of Tomorrowland when it first opened, but then was officially declared a Fantasyland ride in 1972.


  • The mountain is 147 feet tall, making it exactly 100 times shorter than the real Matterhorn
  • The ride was the first thrill ride in Disneyland
  • The yeti's name is Harold
  • If you watch close you might see people climbing the mountain.  Even Mickey has been known to scale the hill
  • Matterhorn is unique to Disneyland in California-there's not another Matterhorn ride at any of the other Disney parks in the world

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