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Hot Air Balloon ride - anyone?

Luanne

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Did it once, that was enough. I'm not big on heights but I found if I looked out, not down, I was okay. The ride was fine, until the landing. We bounced a few times, and dragged. My mil got pretty bruised up. My sil, who arranged the ride had used this particular company in the past, was pleased with them and said she'd use them again. We did this in Steamboat Springs, CO.
 

DaveNV

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I’ll stay on the ground, thanks. As a child, I had nightmares about falling to my death from cliffs and such. Hanging below something, then falling, were recurring themes. I don’t mind flying in an airplane, but you’d have to really convince me to get into a helicopter or hot air balloon. Go figure. ;)

Dave
 

1Kflyerguy

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I did a hot air balloon ride as part of a Safari in Tanzania. We did not go very high, as the main goal was to see the wildlife below. Even though i don't like heights, it didn't not bother me as much as i expected.

In the right circumstance, i would do another balloon ride.
 

klpca

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My husband took me for a hot air balloon ride about 10 years ago, here in San Diego. I'm not afraid of heights but I am afraid of falling and I had no issues with the hot air balloon. The one thing that surprised me was that since you're moving with the wind it doesn't feel windy while you're on the ride. Probably obvious, but I hadn't expected that. Just as Luanne experienced, we had a bumpy landing, although nobody was hurt. We live near an area that has hot air balloon tours, and a fair number wind up landing in a different place than they planned on. I suspect that's the reason for the bumps. If I did it again, I would probably go up to Temecula since they have sunrise balloon flights unlike San Diego which does the flights in the late afternoon early evening. We get a lot of marine layer and we couldn't see the ocean at all during our flight. I'm glad that I did it, but it's honestly a one-time thing for me.
 

VacationForever

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I’ll stay on the ground, thanks. As a child, I had nightmares about falling to my death from cliffs and such. Hanging below something, then falling, were recurring themes. I don’t mind flying in an airplane, but you’d have to really convince me to get into a helicopter or hot air balloon. Go figure. ;)

Dave
We must have grown up together. Falling off the cliff was a recurring dream. Another recurring dream when I became an adult was riding in a car going around a bend on a raised multi lane freeway and the car was spinning out of the freeway and going down... down below... I am terribly afraid of heights.
 

wackymother

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I did a hot air balloon ride as part of a Safari in Tanzania. We did not go very high, as the main goal was to see the wildlife below. Even though i don't like heights, it didn't not bother me as much as i expected.

In the right circumstance, i would do another balloon ride.

A friend of mine just went on safari in Kenya and said the hot-air balloon ride was magical!
 

JohnPaul

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We did a balloon ride in Napa.

The biggest downside for us is that they start at a god awful hour of the morning. Oh - and the price - we got some kind of a deal that brought it down.

The ballon flight itself was great fun and then ended things with a champagne brunch at a local restaurant.
 

Luanne

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We did a balloon ride in Napa.

The biggest downside for us is that they start at a god awful hour of the morning. Oh - and the price - we got some kind of a deal that brought it down.

The ballon flight itself was great fun and then ended things with a champagne brunch at a local restaurant.
At the end of our ride we had champagne, and there may have been food as well, but it was out in the middle of nowhere. I remember dh's aunt, who didn't go on the balloon ride, was incensed that she couldn't be included in the champagne breakfast. She kept saying she'd pay for it, they had to keep telling her it was only for those who went up in the balloon.
 

Sandy VDH

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Did sunrise in Sedona. It was spectacular. No real feeling of movement. I am not afraid of heights, just don't like ladders all that much.
 

Tank

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We did this last spring in Scottsdale. Early morning was fantastic!
Held 12 people, champagne breakfast afterwards.
Went a mile up , dimistrated up and down maneuvers by throwing a parachute man off the plank in a little bit we passed it up going down and you couldn't tell you were going down.
People thought it was raising up.

We blew bubbles and it was like you were standing on the ground.

I'm not very agile and it was ok, but I don't need a walker.

I would do it again.

Dave
 

b2bailey

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Thanks for all responses. They have an annual event nearby (Cathedral City, CA). Last year I attended an evening event, with food and music, but the balloons were tethered. This year I learned I can book a ride with one of the 20+ balloons that will launch at 6 am Friday. Made a reservation but was starting to get cold feet. Your replies helped me. The most surprising thing was to hear they can hold 12 people. I thought it was more like 4. "Up, up and away!"
 

dioxide45

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I went up years ago as a child, but it was a tethered ride. We chased the balloon until it landed and they offered tethered rides. Basically they tie the balloon off to a couple of their Jeeps and you go up and you go back down. I don't remember much about it not though. We used to have balloons land on my grand parents farm and other areas near by when growing up.
 

WinniWoman

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No way. I don't do heights- especially something like that.

It is a popular thing here where I am living temporarily and I can watch them while standing on the front deck.
 

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Thanks for all responses. They have an annual event nearby (Cathedral City, CA). Last year I attended an evening event, with food and music, but the balloons were tethered. This year I learned I can book a ride with one of the 20+ balloons that will launch at 6 am Friday. Made a reservation but was starting to get cold feet. Your replies helped me. The most surprising thing was to hear they can hold 12 people. I thought it was more like 4. "Up, up and away!"
There are different sizes of balloons and different sizes of baskets/gondolas. I did one in Napa/Sonoma 30 years ago and last year went up in Albuquerque during the International Balloon Fiesta with hundreds of balloons in the air at once. Lots of fun, it is eerily quiet when the burner, that heats the air and makes the balloon ascend, is off as there is no wind/breeze as you are moving with it. Landing can be a little rough depending on the winds at ground level because they are pushing the balloon which is still inflated when you touch down.
 

pedro47

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A hot air ride in a balloon is not in the cards right now for me. I feel the best thing about hot air balloons are to take pictures of them from on ground level. LOL:D
 
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Passepartout

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I could see the potential for difficulty with a 'free' flight. However, a tethered ride should alleviate any problem with being bounced along on landing. I haven't done it, and find 'unusual attitudes' (tight turns, loops, etc.) in small airplanes flat-out fun!
 

Tacoma

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Did one years ago and two major aggravations. First it was rebooked probably 4-5 times due to unfavorable wind conditions. Since my kids were young at the time it was very annoying having to arrange babysitting and then cancel at the last minute. Then we finally got to go, the heighths didn't really bother me and it was definitely a cool experience. The whooshing sound from them using the gas to get the balloon to climb was very loud and NOT romantic at all. Flight and landing were both good. Would I do it again? Only if it was somewhere that the scenery would be fabulous and only if it didn't go within one or two days I would get a refund and not have to continuously rebook.
 

Steve Fatula

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This has been a Bucket List item of mine. Has anyone done this? Comments appreciated.

It was great actually. If it is scary, that would only be before takeoff, and maybe slightly after. Really, as you go up, you lose a sense of height, it starts to look like you are looking at a portrait on the wall.
 

Patri

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What Steve said. We took a ride in the very early hours in AZ and really enjoyed it.
 

b2bailey

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IMG_20191122_070830.jpg I did it -- and loved it!
If anyone ever offers to treat me to another ride, I will say YES!!!
The cost is the only part that was a bit painful.
 

silentg

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My daughter took a hot air balloon ride in New Mexico, she liked it but the bumpy landing would put me off. She also did zip line, which I thought would be fun, but I canceled because I felt too nervous.
Silentg
 

JudyH

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We also did one at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. Not much wind, we didn’t go far or high. Landing was bumpy and he had to avoid cactus.
I was nervous but the whole thing was kind of underwhelming. It was very expensive. Would not do it again.
 
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