LET'S ENJOY THE ICY SLOPES OF THE MAJESTIC, MATTERHORN!
Been away from the blog for a few days...in the absence of ideas, I'll add to Major's Matterhorn post...
Here's some sweet angles on the freshly opened, Matterhorn Mountain from July 1959. At least that's the date on these slides. So, I'd say these were taken within a week or two of the Matterhorn's opening. A couple of the shots give you a glimpse of the hollow interior section where the Skyway went through.
The Matterhorn is one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland in that it's so "Walt".
It came about from his trips to Switzerland for the filming of the "Third Man On The Mountain" feature film. I like the fact that the Matterhorn was created simply because Walt looked up from his morning coffee and pastries, saw the actual Matterhorn and said, "I want one o' those!"
No focus group tests, no board of creative executives, no one to tell him "I don't think so, buster".
The Disneyland Matterhorn exists solely for the indulgence of one man.
In the process, he added great atmosphere to his park, reinvented the rollercoaster industry and proved once again, anything is possible..
Within a year of that coffee and pastry indulgence, the majestic Matterhorn rose over Anaheim, California-
Altitude: 160ft above sea level! YES!!!!
Been away from the blog for a few days...in the absence of ideas, I'll add to Major's Matterhorn post...
Here's some sweet angles on the freshly opened, Matterhorn Mountain from July 1959. At least that's the date on these slides. So, I'd say these were taken within a week or two of the Matterhorn's opening. A couple of the shots give you a glimpse of the hollow interior section where the Skyway went through.
The Matterhorn is one of my favorite attractions at Disneyland in that it's so "Walt".
It came about from his trips to Switzerland for the filming of the "Third Man On The Mountain" feature film. I like the fact that the Matterhorn was created simply because Walt looked up from his morning coffee and pastries, saw the actual Matterhorn and said, "I want one o' those!"
No focus group tests, no board of creative executives, no one to tell him "I don't think so, buster".
The Disneyland Matterhorn exists solely for the indulgence of one man.
In the process, he added great atmosphere to his park, reinvented the rollercoaster industry and proved once again, anything is possible..
Within a year of that coffee and pastry indulgence, the majestic Matterhorn rose over Anaheim, California-
Altitude: 160ft above sea level! YES!!!!
posted by thepicklebarrel at 10:51 AM
10 Comments:
Jordan- you are absolutely right. Walt felt every one would love to slide down a mountain and then set his creative team on a mission on how to acheive it. Now it would be a focus group and still take three years to build the thing (look at Splash Mountain and even the new Expedition Everest.) The can do attitude from years ago has been missing for a long time.
I miss those single car Bobsleds.
three years?! try ten...if your lucky!
JFK, was not unlike Walt, when he declared that we would have a man on the moon in less than ten years. That same can do attitude could free us from hydrocarbons and foreign oil if we had leaders like both of them.
Beautiful shots Jordan! God - you guys have the best slides... There is actually a fairly decent Jason Surell article in that "Disney Yearbook" about the Matterhorn from his upcoming "Disney Mountains" book...
Great shots - the final picture is flipped, FYI, I had to consult with my friend for a few minutes as to the impossibility of this angle until we realized this.
pssst! foxxfur...yer makin' me look bad! ixnay on the wrong piktures! ;)
the correct angle is up! tnx!
Mea culpa!
What's remarkable to me is that, 47 years later, The Matterhorn is still one of the best, most exciting, and generally awe-inspiring attractions anywhere, one of the best reasons for me to try to get out to the Other Coast and into the park. I love the atmosphere at the base of the mountain... the crashing waterfalls, the cars gliding by, and the omniously echoing roar from that big cavern up top... And once you get into the switchbacks, polka music! It's one of the best "preshows" that isn't really a preshow ever... it's all done with just how wonderful that big faux rock is to be around.
Wow, those are some wonderful photos...I particularly love the golden glow of the first photo, and the final picture is an unusual angle with the Alice attraction in the background, I don't think I've ever seen a photo quite like it before.
Lovely slides, thanks for sharing!
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