Characters in Flight closing for redesign

[alissafalco]

@wdwmagic if you could only post news that @kermet cares about, that would be great.

 

[trampdog]

I don't see the purpose or need for this. Not an "attraction" and every zoo in the Country pretty much has one.

BRING BACK PLEASURE ISLAND!

 

[rethea]

I don't see the purpose or need for this. Not an "attraction" and every zoo in the Country pretty much has one.

My closest zoo doesn't have one (but it is Animal Kingdom).

 

[mm121]

do they have to replace the balloon to do this?

i'm guessing is like just wrapped like can be done to vehicles and lots of things but seem complicated to do a balloon and doesnt seem like they scheduled much time for this

especially if they have to deflate it which i'm sure they have to

hope they have a system to capture and recycle the helium since its a limited resource that once its gone on earth its gone forever

the ticket booth definitely could use a refresh as well

 

[danlb_2000]

do they have to replace the balloon to do this?

i'm guessing is like just wrapped like can be done to vehicles and lots of things but seem complicated to do a balloon and doesnt seem like they scheduled much time for this

especially if they have to deflate it which i'm sure they have to

hope they have a system to capture and recycle the helium since its a limited resource that once its gone on earth its gone forever

the ticket booth definitely could use a refresh as well

I don't think it's a wrap, I think it's the actual balloon fabric printed with the image. This would explain the short down time, just what is need to deflate and remove the old one, inflate the new one and do some test flights.

The tower on top was removed a while back. The booth itself could use a new paint job.

 

[Next Big Thing]

For reference, this is what Characters in Flight looked like when it opened in 2009:

Here it is after the redesign in 2013:

With a 2017 redesign coming, a trend of every 4 years is starting to show.

 

[Bacon]

@wdwmagic if you could only post news that @kermet cares about, that would be great.

I'll just unwatch this thread

 

[mm121]

I don't think it's a wrap, I think it's the actual balloon fabric printed with the image. This would explain the short down time, just what is need to deflate and remove the old one, inflate the new one and do some test flights.

The tower on top was removed a while back. The booth itself could use a new paint job.

View attachment 181941

not sure what its made out of but replacing does make sense

with a new balloon and a new net, they'd probably be able to connect the new balloon and the old together somehow to transfer the helium rather than replacing it, at least most of it anyways.

 

[mm121]

For reference, this is what Characters in Flight looked like when it opened in 2009:
View attachment 181957

Here it is after the redesign in 2013:

View attachment 181958

With a 2017 redesign coming, a trend of every 4 years is starting to show.

that would back up the replacing the balloon theory

 

[King Racoon 77]

seeing as it seems to be every 4 years i wonder if it is related to a saftey issue if the baloon is older than this ?

 

[WhatJaneSays]

One would assume that there is a manufacture's recommended use life for the balloon, and likely for something like this the vendor/Disney would err on the side of replacing it before the short end of that time is up.

 

[danlb_2000]

One would assume that there is a manufacture's recommended use life for the balloon, and likely for something like this the vendor/Disney would err on the side of replacing it before the short end of that time is up.

This manufacturer say a six year lifespan..

http://www.lindstrandtech.com/hiflyer/

 

[lazyboy97o]

Characters in Flight is an Aerophile AERO30NG. The design is printed onto the balloon itself, but they are capable of a number of methods of applying designs. There are two PDFs on the product page outlining the durability of the balloon.
http://aerophile.com/en/product/aero30ng/

 

[EthanMagicBands]

BRING BACK PLEASURE ISLAND!

Good luck with that.

 

[jt04]

All I want to see is them ditch the 49er color scheme.

 

[mm121]

Characters in Flight is an Aerophile AERO30NG. The design is printed onto the balloon itself, but they are capable of a number of methods of applying designs. There are two PDFs on the product page outlining the durability of the balloon.
http://aerophile.com/en/product/aero30ng/

according to this the lifespan is more like 8 to 10 years

so disney really is taking no chance replacing it at the half life

 

[Tom Morrow]

I'm glad they're doing this, the balloon is looking really faded.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

For once I wouldn't be averse to either character infusion or Pixarfication. Bring on Up!

 

[djkidkaz]

Wonder what color scheme they will choose?

 

[KCL]

This manufacturer say a six year lifespan..

http://www.lindstrandtech.com/hiflyer/

I'd certainly be glad not to test the end of that life span. That is, if I ever got the courage to go up in the thing, period. Sheesh.