The Experience: Building the world’s first steel roller coaster

The Trick: steel tracks and a watery brake system

Image: Disney

Once Disney was ready to build a mountain, the engineers had to lay tracks to crisscross it. Arrow Development had watched with interest as other companies built steel railing for carnival attractions. They correctly deduced that if they lined up the tracks correctly, they could relay the sensation of sliding down a mountain. More important, the rails would control the path of each rider, thereby guaranteeing their safety.

The tubular track was legitimately decades ahead of its time. It’s one of the most stunning breakthroughs in the history of Disney theme parks. By positioning the track through natural slopes and bends throughout the artificial mountain, Arrow and Disney learned that they could control the maximum velocity of riders. They even had the epiphany that two tracks standing side by side, the ones we now know as the Fantasyland and Tomorrowland tracks, could “race.” This led to even cleverer track placement wherein the two paths intersected at multiple points. It’s become one of the iconic aspects of the Matterhorn Bobsleds.

Perhaps the most inventive aspect of the Matterhorn Bobsleds occurs at the end. In the late 1950s, ride engineers didn’t have a strong idea of how to handle braking on steel roller coasters since, you know, there weren’t any. Arrow and Disney worked together to come up with a ride sequence that would not only provide a thrill to guests but also utility as well.

The famous splash guests receive as they approach the end of their bobsled adventure isn’t just for show. One of the little known secrets about the Matterhorn Bobsleds is how little automation there is in the ride. That’s because such technology didn’t exist in 1958. The engineers had to build it to have the ride ready by the release of the movie the following year.

Their idea was to build a lift system for the first hill followed by a pair of parallel tubular rails that keep each cart on the designated path. Since the carts only hit these rails at three points during the ride, slowing down the bobsled is a question of physics. The people involved with Matterhorn Bobsleds deduced that adding a splash of water would be a natural way of lowering the cart’s velocity. It negates most of the speed riders enjoy during the downhill mountain sledding phase of the ride. It’s a brilliant way to solve a problem without impinging on the enjoyment of the guest. In fact, the Matterhorn Bobsleds splashdown greatly enhances the overall experience.

The Experience: The mountain’s permanent resident scolds unwelcome visitors

The Trick: Harold

Image: Disney

By the 1970s, audiences were used to much more exciting enhancements at their favorite amusement parks. Disneyland in particular had invented the field of audio-animatronics as a way of making many of their attractions feel more lifelike. As a way to inject some life into the aging Matterhorn Bobsleds, they chose to add a splash of personality to the ride. By this point, Disney had filled most of the holes in the mountain, making the ride seem more generic. It wasn’t even the tallest point in Disneyland any longer, much less the greater Los Angeles area.

Matterhorn Bobsleds was falling victim to father time. In order to restore its glory, Imagineers chose to add some local color. To reinforce the mountain theme, they added…a yeti. Disney fanatics know him as Harold, and he proved so popular over time that Expedition Everest pays tribute with a much larger, scarier yeti. While imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, most Disneyland fans favor Harold, the original. He exists in three places on the mountain. One is early in the ride when everyone notices him. You can see the two remaining Harolds on the same ride. Each is only viewable on one side of the track, meaning that riders only see Harold twice per bobsled ride. 

The primary purpose of Harold the yeti is to “scare” people as their bobsleds slalom through his mountainous home. In practice, he’s a hilarious enhancement to an already fun ride. The Matterhorn Bobsleds already stood out as a great as well as a historic attraction. The later inclusion of a killer yeti only made it better.