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View Full Version : Is the Matterhorn more Swiss when it looks like Swiss Cheese?



innerSpaceman
09-24-2002, 09:25 AM
Anybody seen the Matterhorn lately? It's ripped to shreds and has got so many gaping holes that it looks more Swiss than it ever has.

What does everyone think of this massive "safety" redesign of the majestic Matterhorn? Looks like they are removing any rockwork which was closer than 10 feet from a passing bobsled. Is this safety overkill? (After all, how many injuries and deaths have resulted from Matterhorn accidents since 1959? Anyone know?) Will the new rockwork match the old stuff seamlessly and without calling undue attention to the changes? Will the less craggy and detailed mountain look too slab-like?

And get a look at all that understructure the carving has revealed - - it looks to be in pretty poor shape to me. Are we looking at a Caroussel-like total meltdown in the near future? And, if so, would they rebuild the Matterhorn, or will be become like the rest of the world's "Disneylands," that is, (gasp) Matterhornless?

Uncle Dick
09-24-2002, 09:56 AM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman
A(After all, how many injuries and deaths have resulted from Matterhorn accidents since 1959? Anyone know?)
There have been two deaths (and probably countless minor injuries) on the Matterhorn. In both instances, guests removed their seat belts and were thrown from the bobsled.

Matterhorn Fan
09-24-2002, 10:03 AM
innerSpaceman, you paint a grisly picture of my favorite attraction. I'm glad I'm not there to see that in person. I only hope they can get it looking pretty again by the time I'm back in town.

If the Matterhorn ends up looking like one of those aluminum Christmas trees in the Charlie Brown Christmas special, I will be very upset.

The poor Matterhorn. :crying:

Not Afraid
09-24-2002, 01:04 PM
Originally posted by Uncle Dick
There have been two deaths (and probably countless minor injuries) on the Matterhorn. In both instances, guests removed their seat belts and were thrown from the bobsled.

Sorry about the death there kiddos, but.....DUH!

You just can't protect people from their own stupidity no matter how much you do.

(was that too insensitive?)

In our case, the Matterhorn has only been dangerous to Cemeinke's cell phone. It (the phone) has a stupid habit of getting up and walking around during the ride, totally distracting Chris away from the ride itself. Bad, bad cell phone.

Laffite
09-24-2002, 01:56 PM
Originally posted by Not Afraid


You just can't protect people from their own stupidity no matter how much you do.

(was that too insensitive?)



No. It wasn't insensitive. It's just true.

hbquikcomjamesl
09-24-2002, 02:15 PM
Hmm Rockwork within 10 feet. Ok, fine. How many guests have 10-foot arms?:rolleyes:

As to the twits who thankfully removed themselves from the gene pool by removing their seatbelts ("YOU ARE the WEAKEST LINK; good-bye."), it shouldn't be impossible to fit the cars with locking seatbelts of the sort used on Soarin' and on simulator rides. They could even be mechanically actuated, by a cam built into the track, much like the safety bars on Space Mountain.

Still, if they were really intent on doing themselves in, a Leatherman or a large Swiss Army Knife ought to have a blade that's able to make short work of a seatbelt. Nothing is ever completely foolproof, as we in the software business know all too well, because fools are so ingenious.

On a more practical note, what about foam rubber rockwork?


Sarge: Zero, do we have any rubber cement?
Zero: Hmm. I don't know. Haven't seen any. We didn't have any back home. Sure would make walking more fun.
(Yes, I'm a Beetle Bailey fan; I have been for at least 37 years; I remember my dad reading me the strip out of the Herald-Examiner every night back when I was only 3.)

RStar
09-24-2002, 02:34 PM
Originally posted by innerSpaceman
Will the new rockwork match the old stuff seamlessly and without calling undue attention to the changes? Will the less craggy and detailed mountain look too slab-like?


If they are ripping it apart that much, they may paint most if not all of it. These painting guys are pretty good. If they can make a metal trash can look like wood, or make a metal pole look like a piece of bamboo, then I think they should be able to match the current paint job. I just hope they have been able to keep good talent around.

And when they fix they jutting rockwork, I think they will try not to make it look too flat. There was one really annoying rock that stuck out on the south side in the queue that people hit their heads on all the time. I saw no reason to have that there.

Don't worry, I bet you'll hardly notice the difference, and maybe we will get a new snow job while they are at it.:eek: (No pun intended ):D

zapppop
09-24-2002, 03:43 PM
You decide:

http://members.aol.com/bonoandme2/m1.jpg

http://members.aol.com/bonoandme2/m2.jpg

http://members.aol.com/bonoandme2/m3.jpg

http://members.aol.com/bonoandme2/m4.jpg

http://members.aol.com/bonoandme2/m5.jpg

Thoughts ?

[Moderator's Note: Edited to change inline images to URL tags. -- Bill]

Cadaverous Pallor
09-24-2002, 05:22 PM
Sigh. Speculate, speculate. Change is bad. Oh my God, you mean they have to tear things out in order to fix them???

</sarcasm>

Look, why don't we wait until it's done? Then we can gripe all we want about how horrible it looks. That is, if it looks horrible. Although I'm sure some people will never be happy with the Mattterhorn again, because it's different.

I'm willing to let things go, if it looks good. And we have no idea yet what it'll look like.


Hmm Rockwork within 10 feet. Ok, fine. How many guests have 10-foot arms?
In case you didn't notice, James, the 10 foot figure was a guess by iSm. Again, speculation suddenly becomes gospel.

Keep thine booties on.

Tigertail777
09-24-2002, 05:47 PM
If they are removing things to just dumb down the ride for even dumber guests, then I totally disagree with what they are doing. If however they putting in something new to add to the ride (perhaps putting back some of those areas where you go in and out of hte moauntain...hey I can wish) then I like the idea. In all the Matterhorn's history, to the best of my knowledge , only one guest has been killed due to company negligence (the seatbelt failed) that is a very very good record and if they are just doing this to appease the lawyers its freaking dumb...stop trying to fix things that are not broken and fix the ones that are...hello? sub lagoon? rocket rods? the carrousel? PICK ONE...I am hoping against hope they are doing something cool to the Matterhorn , but with eisner in charge...DEAR GOD IT MAY BECOME THE WORLDS LARGEST HOT DOG STAND!

cemeinke
09-24-2002, 05:58 PM
I'm okay to watch the progress right now. Kind of reminds me of when Splash was down and they were ripping out and reworking sections of rockwork on that attraction. I also notice that on at least one of Zapppop's photos it looks like they're putting up some cagework to hold the new rockwork, which is a good sign I think.

Of course I remember the days when the Matterhorn looked like a big empty, pointy warehouse inside. :D

zapppop
09-24-2002, 07:02 PM
Originally posted by cemeinke
I also notice that on at least one of Zapppop's photos it looks like they're putting up some cagework to hold the new rockwork, which is a good sign I think.
It's hard to tell now that the images have been removed.
Follow this link (http://hometown.aol.com/hydrotrippin/matterhorn.html) to see my pictures.

mousey_girl
09-24-2002, 07:47 PM
Thank you for the pics!!

MonorailMan
09-24-2002, 08:58 PM
Originally posted by zapppop

[Moderator's Note: Edited to change inline images to URL tags. -- Bill]


Question to Mods: (Not trying to be rude, but a little ticked offed)

Can't you take a friggen' hint!?
If you just let Zapppop's Picture lie, I don't have to see some AOL ad banners, and garbage. If you just leave him alone, he has to do less work!

:mad:

Uncle Dick
09-25-2002, 12:14 AM
Originally posted by MonorailMan

Question to Mods: (Not trying to be rude, but a little ticked offed)

Can't you take a friggen' hint!?
If you just let Zapppop's Picture lie, I don't have to see some AOL ad banners, and garbage. If you just leave him alone, he has to do less work!

:mad:
Not to get too terribly off topic, but I must begrudgingly agree with Bill's moderatorship here. My slow, unreliable dialup connection, which, God willing, will be but a distant memory in a week or two, chokes on threads with scads of inline images. This isn't too much of a problem the first time I see the images (because I really do appreciate them), but after reloading the thread over and over to see all the new posts, I grow tired of waiting for the images to reload (something which probably could be fixed if I tooled around in my user prefs and unchecked a few boxes, but I'm too lazy for that).

Of course, I don't blame my good buddy zapppop for it, nor do I blame the Administrators of Mousepad for enabling a feature which causes strife and dissention among the members of this delightful little community. Rather, I blame the "Digital Divide"; a construct designed by "The Man" for the sole purpose of subverting the masses by denying fast, affordable internet access to the people of the world.

I guess what I'm saying is, "Can't we all just get along?", or it makes no sense to "bicker and argue about who killed who" until we have vanquished our common foe… THE MAN.

So, um, how bout that Matterhorn, eh? Anyone know if they'll be adding air gates this time around?

Bill Catherall
09-25-2002, 08:28 AM
Listen up people.

Zapppop - I did not remove any photos. I changed the inline images to URLs because you can't seem to take a hint...even when you specifically asked about this type of thing and you were given a direct answer (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9735) from Alex Stroup, you continue to push the envelope.
Posted by Alex Stroup in answer to Zapppop's question:
I would say that if you are going to post more than three images you should probably just post links.

If the total size of your images is going to be larger than 50k or so, I would probably post links. There is no reason for you to go and remove the images from your website just because I changed them to links. What's up with that anyways? :rolleyes:

The ability to create inline images in posts is a priviledge, not a right. In fact, it has been discussed in the past whether or not the admins should actually keep such a feature. By your abusive actions, you are jeopardizing it. If you can't follow the guidelines outlined by Alex above, I (and all the other mods) will continue to edit you.

Although you aren't actually breaking any community policies, you are making threads less user friendly by posting so many pictures. It becomes an issue of usability. The images you posted above totalled over 252k. You were instructed to keep it under 50k. The largest image in the group was over 70k itself. What this does is make page loads really slow for people with dialups (as addressed above). Plus, it eats up even more of your bandwidth on your personal site. Every time this page loads your server has to serve up the images. So when people revisit this thread, even if they've already looked at the photos, the images have to be served again. Even if you are getting free access with "unlimited bandwidth" your provider will eventually do something about this to keep their costs down. It is costing them money.

Originally posted by MonorailMan:
Can't you take a friggen' hint!?
If you just let Zapppop's Picture lie, I don't have to see some AOL ad banners, and garbage. If you just leave him alone, he has to do less work!
Be careful there MonorailMan. You tread on thin ice by challenging a moderator's decision, and you've got a pretty harsh tone of voice there. Also, Zapppop brings it upon himself. He didn't have to do any more work. He could have just left things alone and all would be fine. Unfortunately he likes to make himself up to be a martyr. After I changed them to links I tested them and they still worked...with no AOL ad banners. You click on the image and you get a new page with just the image. In fact, one of the images wasn't even working until I made the change.

I've told you this before Zapppop, if you have a problem with any actions I take, take it up with me personally and privately. And as to your comment on your webpage saying * now bill catherall proof *. [extreme dry voice]Haha...very funny.[/extreme dry voice]

Don't get me wrong Zapppop. I do like you, and I really do appreciate the effort you take in providing us with pictures. You are very skilled and your pictures are very nice to see. Especially for those of us too far away to go to the parks as frequently as we would like. But I just ask that you work within the guidelines that we have set. If you don't abuse the priviledges then they'll probably stick around for a while. And...try not to push so many "buttons" with us mods. When you ignore our warnings and reminders, you just set yourself up for problems. Please stop testing our limits.

IndianaJenn
09-25-2002, 10:16 AM
Maybe by the time it's finshed it won't look like the Matterhorn at all ..... we'll have the GREAT PYRAMID RIDE! It will just be a huge triangle!:D

zapppop
09-25-2002, 10:27 AM
Originally posted by IndianaJenn
Maybe by the time it's finshed it won't look like the Matterhorn at all ..... we'll have the GREAT PYRAMID RIDE! It will just be a huge triangle!:D
I don't know about that; Pyramids have pointy corners :D

refurbmike
09-25-2002, 10:37 AM
If anyone's interested, there's more pics of the refurb (although a little out-dated) at http://www.disneyforever.com

IndianaJenn
09-25-2002, 10:40 AM
Originally posted by zapppop
I don't know about that; Pyramids have pointy corners :D


Ohhhh. That's right. That point on the top can be killer for those guests falling from the sky. Maybe someone won't be wearing their seatbelt when they get rear-ended too hard on the Autopia, will fly thru the air, and impale themselves on the top of the great pyramid. I guess at Disney you have to believe that anything can happen!:D