Upkeep to Shut Down Disneyland Rides

Speaking of aging Disneyland icons, the Matterhorn Bobsleds will be closed until Nov. 22 while the mountain receives a partial face-lift.

Park employees are reshaping and repainting some of the fake rocks and doing some touch-up work on the faux snow. The waterfall and the pond areas will get a good scrubbing as well.

Brocato says the Matterhorn, which opened in 1959, is about halfway through a 12-year plan that will see some major cosmetic or rehab work performed on the ride almost every year.

Next on the list: Pirates of the Caribbean. The swashbuckling attraction turns 30 in 1997 and it will start off the year with a major overhaul of its ride control system. Pirates will be closed Jan. 6 to March 7.

Brocato says most of the work will be behind the scenes with only a bit of “tweaking and changing” to the onstage audio-animatronics. But there is speculation that Disneyland may go politically correct and tone down the scenes of lecherous pirates chasing terrified village maidens. At Walt Disney World in Florida, for example, the pirates are portrayed as lusting after the heaping trays of food carried by the hapless womenfolk.