The Mighty Matterhorn

The Matterhorn is a one-of-a-kind piece of history that makes its home at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.  Disneyland's Matterhorn was the world's first tubular steel roller coaster, paving the way for many of the modern thrill rides in operation today!


Disneyland's Matterhorn Mountain stands at approximately 147 feet tall and the coaster reaches around 25 - 27 miles per hour in speed.  The ride officially opened on June 14, 1959 along with two other attractions on the same day: The Submarine Voyage and the Disneyland Monorail.  The Matterhorn actually has two separate coaster tracks inside it, making it double the fun!








I love days where I can get Matterhorn pictures like this!  When the sky is perfect and the waterfalls are running!  To set the atmosphere even more: just imagine the sound of a roaring Abominable Snowman coming from inside the mountain!


The Matterhorn has always been one of those classic attractions we ride every trip.  Even though it can be a little rough of a ride, it's sure to bring a smile to my face and make me laugh.  If we have the time, we even try to ride both tracks!








One of those sights I love to see at Disneyland is a bobsled flying down the Matterhorn!  I'm sure many of you can agree with that!  That plus the now seemingly rare occurrence that Mickey Mouse himself climbs the Matterhorn!  The last time I personally saw the Mouse on the mountain was back in Spring 2008.


This last picture is my attempt at an "artsy" shot of the Matterhorn taken on the Tomorrowland side of the mountain while waiting in line to ride it.  I really enjoyed the look of it with the waterfall and the pine tree and hope you do as well!  Next time you're at the park, stop by the Mighty Matterhorn and take a ride down it's icy slopes!

Fantasyland Friday!

Per the request of some followers of Pics from the Pixie, this Friday's post will feature Fantasyland Friday!  So please, do remain seated with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside and enjoy your ride! :)


We start today at the front of Fantasyland and the gateway to the rest of the land, Sleeping Beauty Castle! This particular photo I took this past November which is why it's decked out in it's Christmastime snow!  I love taking pictures of the castle from the side rather than straight on!  To me it changes the shot -just- enough to make it special! :)







Next was a picture I took next to Snow White's Wishing Well next to the castle.  I was there at that beautiful time of day where the sun is perfectly situated to light up the flags that are on the castle.  The light breeze that day added to my picture since it twisted the flag around nicely!







Our next stop on our tour of Fantasyland is back in Storybookland!  At the beginning of the Storybookland Canal Boats ride, you get "swallowed" by the mighty Monstro!  Just try not to bump into his teeth!







Also in Storybookland is the Casey Jr. Circus Train!  One of the views that is my favorite from this little train is where you have both the miniature Alps and the Matterhorn all in one look!  I think the big and little Matterhorns together are so cute!  I managed to get a picture of this the last time I was at Disneyland and you can see it here!  The day I took this picture it was extremely cloudy and rainy the whole day, hence the cloudy sky in the shot.







We move next to King Arthur's Carrousel in the middle of Fantasyland!  This lovely Carrousel has been at Disneyland since opening day and is a must-ride stop for me each time I go to Disneyland.  I took this picture of the pretty gold crown that sits atop the carrousel on a nice sunny day in the park and I hope you enjoy it!







Another fun Fantasyland ride is Snow White's Scary Adventures!  Ever since I was little I've had the attraction poster for this ride framed and hung up in my room.  The front of the ride to me is very striking and I love to take pictures of it!  The first picture is an interesting angle at the front of the building.  The second picture from this ride is of a gargoyle in the queue that I've always wanted to take a picture of and finally did!  Enjoy!












Our final stop on this Fantasyland Friday is back at it's a small world!  The picture I have today is one I purposely took because my Mom took this exact same picture back in about 1983 (or so).  I have the picture at home and loved how it looked, so I decided to take a "newer" version of the same picture!  It's neat to have the two side by side and they both look quite the same!







I hope you've enjoyed today's Fantasyland tour and I wish everyone a pleasant Spring weekend!  Please make sure you have all your belongings before you exit and step carefully out to your right! :)

Sleeping Beauty Castle in HDR

Today's post is short but hopefully quite sweet! :)


I've been playing around with editing my photos to make them have that HDR effect / feel to them and this is one of my first attempts at doing so.  I took this photo back in July 2011 and later applied the HDR edit to it to give it the look it has now!


I've always admired shots that have both the Castle and the Matterhorn in them so I finally took one myself!  I'm never sure why but somehow shots with the both of them together almost look miniature to me.  If you're someone who makes / takes HDR pictures your feedback with how to possibly improve this picture is greatly appreciated!  As always, I am working to improve my photography skills and would like to learn how to make my "HDR" shots better!  I don't do all my photos in HDR but I do like to have some of them with this effect.  Enjoy! :)