 Let's be honest, there isn't much I can tell you about the Matterhorn bobsleds that you don't already know. There are so many awesome videos on YouTube about this Disneyland classic attraction, and there isn't a lot that I can add to the history of the ride that hasn't already been said better in another video. So today I want to focus on three key areas of ride history that the creation of the Matterhorn bobsleds changed forever. Tubular steel coasters, the rise of aero, and theming of coasters. Before we jump into that though, just to make sure everyone is caught up, let's do a quick recap of the Matterhorn story. I will also place some links in the description for some of my personal favorite videos on this Disneyland ride in case you want some more details or a different perspective on the ride's history. The Matterhorn bobsleds debuted four years after Disneyland's 1955 opening in 1959. Welcome. Disneyland is your land. The side of the ride was actually just a large pile of dirt at the time of Disneyland's opening, a result of the dirt that had been dug up to create the moat around Sleeping Beauty's castle. It was basically just a piece of theming in between Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, that is, until Walt Disney himself was inspired while in Switzerland filming the movie Third Man on the Mountain. Disney fell in love with the real Matterhorn Mountain and set his Imagineers on a mission to build a Matterhorn Mountain replica where Snow Hill was standing. The construction quickly began on the mountain structure, which was designed to be a one-one-hundredth replica of the real Matterhorn Mountain. Disneyland's Matterhorn would stand 147 feet tall, compared to the real Matterhorn's 14,700 feet. This construction took place as part of Disneyland's first major expansion since its opening, and on June 14, 1959, the Matterhorn bobsleds ride opened, along with two other major additions in this expansion. Disneyland, Monorail, and the submarine voyage. The vision of the ride was to mimic a bobsled ride down the Matterhorn Mountain, utilizing two separate tracks to get the most out of the attraction's footprint. Though the Matterhorn bobsleds coaster wasn't the first bobsled-inspired roller coaster in history, in fact, Flying Turns at Lakeside Park in Dayton, Ohio was actually the first bobsled design on a roller coaster in 1929. That said, the Matterhorn was still the first of its kind, combining both the bobsled theme and design of the ride cars with a more wild-mouse-style blueprint. This created a unique and original ride design and an experience that both children and adults alike could enjoy again and again. So, that's a quick overview of how the Matterhorn bobsleds came to be, but what makes it such an icon, such a game-changer for roller coaster history? Let me explain. You see, at the time when Disney commissioned the Matterhorn bobsleds to be built by Aero Development, which you might recognize by one of the company's later names, Aero Dynamics, Aero Huss, or SNS Aero, anyways, Aero was nowhere near being the ride-manufacturing legend that they are today. In fact, Aero had never even built a roller coaster before the Matterhorn. Right before Disney joined forces with Aero to partner up in designing and building many Disneyland classics, Aero was primarily known for building carousels and miniature trains, but all that changed in 1955 when Disney contracted numerous original rides from Aero, including Snow White's Scary Adventures, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, the Mad Tea Party, Dumbled the Flying Elephant, and more. Disney really encouraged Aero to push the envelope in the area of amusement ride development, and as a result, they not only created many classics, but they also spearheaded major changes and innovations in the amusement ride and roller coaster world. So let's start with the innovation that the Matterhorn bobsleds is by far most famous for. Yes, Aero's Matterhorn bobsleds was the first tubular steel roller coaster in history. Before Aero made this new breakthrough in roller coaster development, coasters were primarily wooden and were notoriously rough, clanky, bumpy, and wild. And while many people didn't have a problem with that, and many people still love wooden coasters to this day, the development of tubular steel track allowed for a smoother ride experience as the coaster cars could ride the track in a much more natural way. This smooth ride experience is what Disney was after, to mimic the feeling of gliding down an icy snowy bobsled track. And compared to other coasters at the time, one could argue that Aero achieved this objective by creating this new type of coaster track. However, the development of tubular track had a much greater impact on the future of roller coasters than by just making them smoother. This tubular track was not only highly resistant to corrosion, but it was also far more malleable than previous track designs. This new track could be molded, bent, and curved in many more ways and directions than was previously possible. Tighter twists and turns can now be incorporated to rides, and speed could be significantly increased thanks to the smoother ride operation and increased safety of this new design. Aero's tubular track truly opened up a huge range of new possible roller coaster elements in the near future as Aero continued to develop this new technology, which brings me to the second way that the Matterhorn Bobsleds affected roller coaster history. Though this was Aero's first roller coaster, it was just the beginning of their own history in the roller coaster industry. As of 2019, Aero has built 102 roller coasters worldwide. Aero made history multiple times, going on to create the first modern inverting coaster in the world with the corkscrew at Knott's Berry Farm, which also by the way was the first roller coaster ever to take riders upside down twice. The corkscrew went on to be cloned 10 times and has become an iconic ride design that inspired many other manufacturers to continue evolving the tubular steel technology and create even more unique ride elements and designs. Aero continued on in leading ride innovation for decades, creating the first coaster with interlocking loops, the world's first suspended coaster, and they even created the first hyper coaster in the world, a coaster that exceeds a top height of 200 feet. It's thanks to Disney's partnership with Aero to develop so many beloved rides that they were pushed to innovate and create new tubular steel technology for roller coasters, sealing Aero's fate as an in-demand industry leader and world-class roller coaster designer for so many years. Though they may not be the industry leader anymore, Aero earned over 20 world's first designations throughout their history of developing rides in coasters, and they're largely to thank for the many new technologies and innovations that we see in the industry today. Welcome. Disneyland is your land, with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world. Before Walt Disney entered the world of roller coaster design and development, the theming of roller coasters was, well, minimal at best. Rides were just rides to many amusement parks before Disney came along and created a magical, immersive new world called Disneyland. There were many parks that were beautiful in their own right, but they were just parks that happened to have amusement rides. In the 50s, though, Disney came along and decided that an amusement park could create its own world for visitors and that each ride could actually tell a story. Disney spared no expense when it came to theming and made no secret of his intentions of creating a truly immersive and magical experience. In fact, Disney's prioritization of the theming in his park can be seen as a prime example in the way that the Matterhorn came to be. Disney didn't try to model theming around a ride. He instead designed a ride to fit his inspiration and to fit his idea for theming. That is truly what set Disneyland apart from other amusement parks at the time. And to this day, Disney still sets a global standard when it comes to theme parks versus amusement parks. And though Disney's the global industry leader when it comes to amusement theming, the Matterhorn bobsleds really started a new trend in the area of roller coaster theming specifically. We have the theming innovations of the Matterhorn to thank for the many other parks and corporations joining in on creating a story for riders. It's because of Disney setting the bar for creative ride design that we now have world-class themed thrill rides like Wickerman, Revenge of the Mummy, and other immersive ride experiences. So there you have it. The story of the Matterhorn bobsleds, which once again I just wanted to reiterate that if you want to hear more details about the Matterhorn I have some recommended videos in the description. I seriously recommend you check them out if you're interested in hearing more details about the ride like the tribute to Frank Wells that was incorporated in the ride or changes it's seen over the years or details of the Yeti, they're worth watching. Anyways, more importantly than the story of the Matterhorn at Disneyland now you truly understand the impact it had on roller coasters and theme parks around the world. The Matterhorn is truly responsible for ushering in a renaissance, a new era of roller coaster design. So with that in mind, make sure to join us again next week as we dive into the innovations and new ride designs that this new era sparked for roller coaster history in the USA. Thanks for watching. We've got to go. I know, but I just want to say a word of thanks to all the artists and workers and everybody that helped make this dream come true. Let's go into Fantasyland and have some fun. Goodbye, folks.