Matterhorn seats question

[Ride Junkie]

My 4-year-old daughter is now tall enough to ride the Matterhorn, but since they changed the cars to only hold 1 person per seat, I'm hesitant to let her ride it in a seat by herself. I've ridden it since the refurb, but I don't remember how the seats are. The height requirement is 42", and DD is 43". Anybody here have experience letting their child ride in their own seat? I really wish they would have kept the old seats now that DD wants to ride it!

 

[sherilaine]

The seats are flat across the bottom with an area for your feet to go into the side of the seat ahead. The seat belt is pretty substantial so I think you'd be fine. My kids rode without any issue but they are much taller. The only issue I have with it is if you are in a back row I find it much bumpier than closer to the front.

 

[figment_jii]

Each car hold three people and two cars are coupled together to form a ride vehicle. I would probably just make sure you're in seats 1 and 2 or 5 and 6. Seats 3 and 4 end up split between the two cars, so you'd be further away form your child. The seats themselves (within one car) are close enough that you could see and (probably) touch your child's shoulder if they're in the car in front of you.

 

[starjazz]

My dd5 is 44". She rode and was fine. The seats sink really low down into the cars. Plus, I was easily able to put both my hands on her shoulders for security the whole time. Its not like it goes upside down. She'll be fine. They put the height restrictions where they do very conservatively.

 

[figment_jii]

It might also be useful to know that the Matterhorn has seat belts and not a safety bar. The belt is like the lap belts in a car. It pulls out from side of the car and clips into the buckle on the other side.

As others have said, there are no inversions, loops or even major drops on Matterhorn. Each side has one minor drop, but the drop is not large enough to really make anything go air borne. I usually have my purse on the seat between my knees and it doesn't move vertically at all.

If it helps, you can see the cars from outside the ride so you can get a sense of what it would be like before getting in line.

 

[Ride Junkie]

Thanks everyone for the info. Like I said, I've ridden it since the refurb, but since DD wasn't tall enough to ride it back then, I didn't really pay attention to the seats. I think she'll be fine with mom in front of her & dad behind. On the Fantasyland / less radical side.

 

[creampuff]

My daughter at a younger age didn't mind riding in a separate seat from me, but even then like others have mentioned, I kept a hand on her shoulders just for reassurance.

If anything give your daughter advance warning there is a fake snow monster; just so she won't be taken off guard and scared by it.

 

[figment_jii]

If anything give your daughter advance warning there is a fake snow monster; just so she won't be taken off guard and scared by it.

I know the OP said she's ridden the Matterhorn before, but I have to agree about pre-warning the little ones about the monster. And even more than that, I tend to forget about the glowing red eyes at the start of the ride (just after you finish going up the incline, in the dark tunnel, the eyes appear with a growling sound). An adult (middle aged) women was in the car with me and she screamed like the boogey man jumped out at her when the eyes appeared. More than the eyes, she scared me with her scream!

If I remember correctly, the tunnel on the left side of the mountain is darker when the eyes appear. The right side goes into the crystal cavern scene fairly quickly so there is more light.

 

[summerw]

Ask a cm to buckle her on. There is an extra little hook to keep the belt taut for the little ones. They usually check it anyway but they've always just done it for me if I ask. And u can definitely touch her shoulders if you aren't behind the car break on row 4. The monster can be a little scary for mine who loves hm and Snow White

 

[crystal1313]

My DS4 rode in December for the first time. He is well over the 42 inch mark. There was 4 of us so my DS5 sat in the front, DS4 in the middle and DH behind DS4. DH reached up and held onto DS4 shoulders just in case and to make DS4 feel better. I was in the front of the second car. I think I was more nervous about him riding alone than he was (DS5 rode when he was 2 in my lap in the old cars with the old height requirement of 36 in). The CM's there are wonderful. They always help the kids get buckled in and to unbuckle at the end. It's really nice.

We prepared DS4 for the Yetti and for the dark tunnel at the beginning but forgot about the red eyes (thank figment is talking about above). Oh man. those scared him more than anything. He is STILL talking about the red eyes. Overall he came off the ride with a smile and no tears. When asked to ride it again he says he doesn't think so. We will see next trip if he braves it.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Ask a cm to buckle her on. There is an extra little hook to keep the belt taut for the little ones. They usually check it anyway but they've always just done it for me if I ask. And u can definitely touch her shoulders if you aren't behind the car break on row 4. The monster can be a little scary for mine who loves hm and Snow White

This!!! And another vote for you to hold onto her shoulders!

 

[Ride Junkie]

Ask a cm to buckle her on. There is an extra little hook to keep the belt taut for the little ones. They usually check it anyway but they've always just done it for me if I ask. And u can definitely touch her shoulders if you aren't behind the car break on row 4. The monster can be a little scary for mine who loves hm and Snow White

Thanks for the info, this is good to know. Now I'm getting excited about her riding it. She loves watching youtube videos of the Matterhorn and Expedition Everest (still too short for that one), and she always asks to see the yeti. We'll see if it scares the bejeebers out of her once she rides it, LOL! But at least she sort of knows what to expect. She loves outdoor rides that go fast (Big Thunder, RSR, Test Track), so I think she will really dig the Matterhorn.