Disney adding a 300ft tethered balloon to Downtown Disney

[Montyboy]

When at our hotel, I’ll be sure to point out the balloon to my daughter. It’s another whimsical thing you don’t see everyday. Kids will love it.

How many people gush about seeing Spaceship Earth as they approach Epcot? A balloon is not as iconic, but will also be one of those larger than life images with “visual mass”.

As for being tacky, that ship has sailed - The last thing I'm thinking when walking to the Herbie section of All Star Movies is architectural integrity and understatement.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

When at our hotel, I’ll be sure to point out the balloon to my daughter. It’s another whimsical thing you don’t see everyday. Kids will love it.

How many people gush about seeing Spaceship Earth as they approach Epcot? A balloon is not as iconic, but will also be one of those larger than life images with “visual mass”.

As for being tacky - The last thing I'm thinking when walking to the Herbie section of All Star Movies is architectural integrity and understatement.

Not now that the wand has gone......................


But Im glad its coming equipped with a priest and will hold religious services

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

I'm glad a few others are happy to see that this is going in.
DTD desperatly needs something else to do other than shop and eat (now that the clubs will be gone).
No one is mad that the T-Rex is going in, why the hate for the balloon? It's just an addition to DTD, not a replacement for anything. If it is anything like DLP's, it's going to be over the water (nothing else was previously there) and it's going to look awesome.

 

[DisneyDellsDude]

NVM People already posted this on the long PI thread.

 

[Surf Fish2285]

LOL :ROFLOL:Not specific enough I guess!

 

[TravisMT81]

I am THRILLED about the tethered balloon. We did it in DLP and it is a great thing to be able to see the resort from that height. Once its in, you'll love it- trust me. By the way, there is a pic or two of this on my blog: www.insightsandsounds.blogspot.com

I think the french countryside is probably nicer to look at then views of I-4 lol

 

[dandaman]

So... is everyone gonna crowd to the one side facing the resort and tip the basket?

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

So... is everyone gonna crowd to the one side facing the resort and tip the basket?

Yes.:fork:

I wonder who was the brilliant one who proposed this?:zipit:

 

[unkadug]

They should make it a looping ride.:lookaroun

 

[WDW Monorail]

So... is everyone gonna crowd to the one side facing the resort and tip the basket?

I am assuming that there would be tension cords so if the weight is distributed unevenly, the cords would extend/retract accordingly.

 

[brkgnews]

Since I know the info was kind of slap-dash when it came out (your typical drive-by Public Relations... drop a bomb right before the weekend and wait till Monday for the waves to die down), have we determined whether the 300-ft refers to...

A) Diameter of the balloon?
B) Height of the ascent?
C) Both?

I've seen the figure used interchangably for both height and diameter. Height would be plausible. Diameter? That balloon would be bigger than freakin' SSE. By 120 feet! That's 1+2/3 the size of it! Surely not. Martin or others in the know... how big is the balloon itself in Paris? Diameter-wise

 

[marni1971]

I`d say the Paris ballon is about 80ft across. Nowhere near the size of SSE, even close up!

Incidentally, it is at the moment the worlds largest tethered hot air balloon.

 

[maryszhi]

im sorry, but there is no way im ever going to ride it. it looks scary....:hurl:

 

[hemloc]

You can barely enjoy the view of the Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary as it is, lol... And Animal Kingdom is very 'grown over'.. So, you will get to see some trees, a castle, a big white cone shaped building, a big golf ball, some giant mouse ears and a big blue hat, wheeeee. What ARE they thinking?? Not to mention the headlines and lawsuits it's gonna generate when it has a 'catastrophic failure':fork:!!! OH THE HUMANITY!!!!

 

[mattfusf]

We have one of these close to home, at the Philadelphia Zoo. Goes about 400' up.

I'm not one for heights, so I've never gone up but seen some amazing pictures.

http://www2.philadelphiazoo.org/zoo/Rides-and-more/Channel-6-Zooballoon.htm

 

[uklad79]

Not to mention the headlines and lawsuits it's gonna generate when it has a 'catastrophic failure':fork:!!! OH THE HUMANITY!!!!

:shrug: I can only assume you are on some form of medication, get well soon.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

:shrug: I can only assume you are on some form of medication, get well soon.

not a history fan then?

 

[Figment571]

You can barely enjoy the view of the Magic Kingdom from the Contemporary as it is, lol... And Animal Kingdom is very 'grown over'.. So, you will get to see some trees, a castle, a big white cone shaped building, a big golf ball, some giant mouse ears and a big blue hat, wheeeee. What ARE they thinking?? Not to mention the headlines and lawsuits it's gonna generate when it has a 'catastrophic failure':fork:!!! OH THE HUMANITY!!!!

Hhehe!

 

[dandaman]

^ Close the thread, he wins.

 

[Space Mountain]

With DW as flat as it is, 300 ft. is a lot. I would think that if you were looking for it you would be able to spot it. The views from the balloon should be spectacular.

You will EASILY be able to see Universal and Sea World as well.