Which Disneyland attraction was the first steel roller coaster in the U.S.?

The Disneyland attraction that was the first steel roller coaster in the United States was Matterhorn Bobsleds.

Matterhorn Bobsleds opened on June 14, 1959, as part of a major Disneyland expansion that also introduced the Disneyland Monorail and Submarine Voyage. Designed by WED Enterprises and built with Arrow Development, it was the first permanently installed roller coaster to use tubular steel track. The technology allowed engineers to create tighter curves and more complex layouts than traditional wooden track designs.

The attraction runs through a 147-foot artificial mountain modeled after Switzerland’s Matterhorn. Walt Disney’s interest in the mountain was strengthened while he was visiting Switzerland during production of the film Third Man on the Mountain; he reportedly sent Imagineer Vic Greene a postcard with the instruction to build it. The mountain also concealed the central support structure for the Disneyland Skyway.

The wording is sometimes simplified to “the first steel coaster,” although the more precise distinction is the first tubular-steel roller coaster. It is located between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland and contains two intertwined tracks, commonly identified as the Fantasyland and Tomorrowland sides.