Matterhorn vs. WDW's Space Mountain

[DebbieB]

I only rode the Matterhorn once after the rehab, I found it very rough. I was given the front seat and had a hard time getting my leg over getting over and pulled my knee. You feel like you are sitting on the floor, there is not much padding. On my trip last year, I passed, my friend did single rider.

Space Mt at DL is awesome!

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I've been to both parks in the past couple months and IMHO SM at DL is by far the smoothest, the left side of Matterhorn and SM at WDW are a toss up, and the right side of Matterhorn is the roughest.

I love the mountains but California Screamin is my favorite Disney coaster.

 

[DebbieB]

I've been to both parks in the past couple months and IMHO SM at DL is by far the smoothest, the left side of Matterhorn and SM at WDW are a toss up, and the right side of Matterhorn is the roughest.

I love the mountains but California Screamin is my favorite Disney coaster.

California Screamin is my favorite Disney ride! Love it!

 

[brockash]

I think they're both pretty rough, but I personally think the Matterhorn is rougher. Having said that, my dd (5) who is kinda a ride chicken loves the Matterhorn and hates Space Mountain, although I think a good amount of that has to do with the ability to see.

 

[mom2rtk]

I've been to both parks in the past couple months and IMHO SM at DL is by far the smoothest, the left side of Matterhorn and SM at WDW are a toss up, and the right side of Matterhorn is the roughest.

I love the mountains but California Screamin is my favorite Disney coaster.

I agree! Rode it 6 times in a row on our last trip. I never could have done that with MH or SM. My neck would have begged for mercy by the second or third time through.

 

[Huff]

DL SM is now very smooth compared to almost 30 years ago. I also rode WDW SM almost 20 years ago and felt it was smoother than DL's SM during that time period.

I don't remember my experiences of DL SM 30 years ago. When I was young thumps and bumps didn't faze me. I wouldn't have noticed! Today my kids ride WDW SM or DL Matterhorn and think nothing of it. They're always saying what bumps? DL SM has always seemed very smooth at least in the last 10 years at least. What I don't understand is Matterhorn. They have completely torn out and replaced the track twice over the years with no improvement at all. Maybe the bumps are part of the design, nostalgia as its the worlds first tube steel roller coaster.

 

[Itinkso]

I don't remember my experiences of DL SM 30 years ago. When I was young thumps and bumps didn't faze me. I wouldn't have noticed! Today my kids ride WDW SM or DL Matterhorn and think nothing of it. They're always saying what bumps? DL SM has always seemed very smooth at least in the last 10 years at least. What I don't understand is Matterhorn. They have completely torn out and replaced the track twice over the years with no improvement at all. Maybe the bumps are part of the design, nostalgia as its the worlds first tube steel roller coaster.

The only reason why I can recall it was because my oldest DD was only 5 months old, I was sleep-deprived, and riding DL SM in almost total darkness made me nauseated for the rest of the day. I didn't ride it again until after the refurb and only after my younger DD assured me there were more lights and it was smoother.

I think Matterhorn it just that way to simulate a high speed bobsled bouncing along a course. Do you remember when the Skyway went through Matterhorn? When they closed the Skyway and filled in Matterhorn with the Abominable Snowman, that was such a big thing! I miss Skyway!!

 

[Dizzytime]

To me, it's a toss up, and feel like that makes them both (a lot) less enjoyable than they could be.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

I've read in the past where both the Matterhorn in Disneyland and Space Mountain in Florida are both rough, jarring rides. My question is for riders of both rides. Which of these two rides is the overall roughest?

When Matterhorn still had its padded, tandem-seat bobsleds, MK's Space Mountain was much worse. Ever since Disneyland switched Matterhorn over to bobsleds with cramped, hard plastic seats (they look like MK's Space Mountain rockets but are way less comfortable), IMHO they've been about even in their bumpiness, at least if you know the courses of both rides and know when to brace. For first-time riders, though, I think MK's Space would be worse, because at least you can see most of the Matterhorn course. I rode MK's Space as a first-time adult rider two months after riding the new Matterhorn bobsleds for the first time (I knew the old bobsleds quite well), and I found MK's Space to be bumpy on that first ride. Learning how to "ride" it, though, it got much easier.