Mar. 9, 2007: Inside the Old Matterhorn

[Werner Weiss]

On February 22, my update about the Old Matterhorn featured several exterior shots of this Disneyland landmark through the years.

Here at the Yesterland Forum at MiceChat, there was interest in seeing the inside of the Old Matterhorn. So, this week's new addition to Yesterland features interior shots from 1971.

Link to Inside the Old Matterhorn.

Please discuss it here.

[SpokkerJones]

Wow, this is probably the best update you've ever done.

[mrfantasmic]

So tantalizingly brief, but it's a fascinating look inside. Wow!
Thanks!

[dingku]

I have to agree with Werner. I always wished they hadn't closed the opening at the top of the incline. It was your last quiet look at Disneyland before you started the race down and you felt on top of the world.

[HBG2]

Great! I had despaired that anyone was ever going to come up with photos.

Yep, that's what it was like, kids.

[MinionLumbo]

ahhh, though i love today's interior, it is something like snuggling up and sipping a hot cocoa on a winter evening to see these nostalgic images.

i can recall on one well-timed summer evening, observing where the elevator met the base of the interior stairway to the top. there was one dimly lit lightbulb hanging from a wire. none other than Tinkerbelle was "ascending" up those wooden steps.

yet somehow, it did not diminish the Magic for me. I recall several minutes later, such excitment as she flew high above the Magic Kingdom to "light Fantasy In The Sky!"

[Geezer]

Werner,
I have a photo of the Lakers Vlade Divac playing basketball in the old Matterhorn break room. It also has Mark and Brian, of local radio.....

Anyway, I would post it here if I had hosting space.....but I'd be happy to email it to you if you'd like. Tried that but couldn't find your e-mail in your forum contacts.....

[Werner Weiss]

Originally Posted by Geezer

Werner,
I have a photo of the Lakers Vlade Divac playing basketball in the old Matterhorn break room. It also has Mark and Brian, of local radio.....

Anyway, I would post it here if I had hosting space.....but I'd be happy to email it to you if you'd like. Tried that but couldn't find your e-mail in your forum contacts.....

To send e-mail with file attachments to me, please see http://www.yesterland.com/write2yester.html

Who holds the copyrights to those pictures? Due to copyright considerations, I only post:

• Pictures that I have permission to use;
• Publicity pictures meant for republication (typically with just a copyright acknowledgment);
• Images that would reasonably be considered fair use by a journalist or scholar.

[Neverlandtink]

Great update Werner! Thanks for answering my "inside of the Matterhorn" question, haha.

I have ALWAYS wanted to know what that looked like inside, as I was so afraid of it when I was a kid.

I have a copy of "40 Pounds of Trouble" which has quite a bit of footage of Tony Curtis, Suzanne Pleshette and Claire Wilcox riding the Matterhorn Bobsleds. They mostly show close-ups of the characters when they're inside the mountain, (S0 you don't see the ugly parts of it). They only show the actual track when they come up to the "Swiss" holes and you get the ariel shots of Disneyland below.

[nnic]

Those Are Awesome!!! Thanks !

[almandot]

The only way I'd want the cave openings at the top of the lift reopened is if it was via removable panels that could be closed during the day and removed at night. You still get some pretty views of the lights in Disneyland just going around the matterhorn track as it is anyways though. Meanwhile the filled in skyway holes give us the cool snow effect during the lift now and I'd prefer that effect stayed, opening the holes up top would ruin it.

[MickeyMania]

Thank you Werner and this forum for getting those pictures.

To me, that still is the Matterhorn. Last year I rode for the first time since the re-do in 78. I knew from the Skyway that they had really filled in a lot of space, but I didn't realize it was completely throughout the attraction.

I didn't get much time to observe the ice tunnels, I was too shocked at how rocky the track had become in 30 years!

[travelmom]

Wow what a memory!!

I had not thought about the difference inside for a long time, and you are right, I never felt like it wasn't a real thrilling experience, it was great then, and great still, but not as smooth for sure. Sadly I have almost no pictures from those old days, but lots of fading films my Dad took. Little silent snips here and there.
Thanks so much!

[GrimmGreen]

firstly great pictures , i have also been wondering has the track layout changed at all , and if not what happened when you got to the big holes at the top of the lift hill?

[Werner Weiss]

Originally Posted by GrimmGreen

firstly great pictures , i have also been wondering has the track layout changed at all , and if not what happened when you got to the big holes at the top of the lift hill?

The overall layout of the two Matterhorn tracks has not changed. I recall reading that there were some adjustments to some of the dips when the tandem cars were introduced, but I can't recall where I read that.

Think of the "holes" as open windows in the skin of the mountain. Some of those holes were filled in during the Matterhorn's early years, and more were filled in for the 1978 redo. There were never any cases where the track exited through a hole, with the track then extending beyond the the edge of the mountain. The track was always inside the hollow mountain or recessed within the skin of the mountain. So there were not any cases where "closing" a hole would cut across the track.