Characters in Flight Closed?

T

timeman

Active Member
According to Attractions Magazine right now there is no timetable on when the balloon will reopen. Here is the quote from their article from the President of Aerophile.
UPDATE: July 3, 2012 – Jérôme Giacomoni, the president of Aerophile sent us this statement:
“After an incident with an Aerophile balloon at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, we have decided to suspend our operations of this type of balloons worldwide so we can conduct inspections on each of them.
“Nevertheless, the balloon of Orlando was scheduled to be replaced in November. Instead of re-inflating it after the inspection (which is a significant cost), we have decided to take it down for now and expedite the replacement work. We don’t know when it will reopen yet but we hope soon.”
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Here is a link to the article. http://attractionsmagazine.com/blog...n-for-inspection-after-incident-in-hong-kong/
 
nepalostparks

nepalostparks

Well-Known Member
Article from the Orlando Sentinel:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-...characters-in-flight-20120705,0,5992549.story

"The balloon of Orlando was scheduled to be replaced in November. Instead of re-inflating it after the inspection — which is a significant cost — we have decided to take it down for now and expedite the replacement work," Aerophile President Jerome Giacomoni said in an email. "We don't know when it will reopen yet, but we hope soon."​

So as of right now, it looks like it will be returning.
 
71jason

71jason

Well-Known Member
As of yesterday, no signage even acknowledging the ride is closed. The digital sign just reads "Welcome to Downtown Disney" along with the time and temperature. Since this is a 3rd party, they must be taking a bath, losing one of their busiest weeks of the year.
 
maryszhi

maryszhi

Well-Known Member
interesting. I've never done it but heard it was just ok. im glad that they are testing it after the incident. Thats why i love disney : they take our safety seriously!!! :)
 
Polydweller

Polydweller

Well-Known Member
Very little information available since the accident. There is an ongoing investigation and there has been a European Airworthiness Directive issued. It requires inspection and testing of the balloon's seams every 7 days. Being a French company Aerophile has to follow that. Sounds like that could be expensive.

Characters in Flight balloon will be replaced if it does return. That was Aerophile's announced plan in July but that wouldn't happen until the fall and who knows what the impact of the investigation will be. Given how quiet Aerophile has been we might not hear anything until its read to fly.
 
nepalostparks

nepalostparks

Well-Known Member
As of two weeks ago, there was no balloon, but the signs, ticket booth, etc were all still there and lit up at night. That doesn't necessarily mean it's returning, but they haven't thrown up and construction walls or anything around it.
 
Polydweller

Polydweller

Well-Known Member
Tigger1988 said:
The inspection will likely take some time, especially if they're testing the seams every week like mentioned above.
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The seams testing isn't part of the investigation. It's a directive to be followed when a balloon of this type is flying. The investigation is into the Ocean Park accident with the same balloon type as they had at DTD. Basically, it's the equivalent of an NTSB investigation and final reports can be as much as a year after the accident.

nepalostparks said:
As of two weeks ago, there was no balloon, but the signs, ticket booth, etc were all still there and lit up at night. That doesn't necessarily mean it's returning, but they haven't thrown up and construction walls or anything around it.
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Aerophile continues to pay the lease so that suggests they plan to come back.
 

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