This was our view this morning as we prepared to use our Christmas gift from Louise. Who knew sunrise is the only time to enjoy a hot air balloon ride in Orlando?! 
The FL sun heats up the air and produces unpredictable updrafts and downdrafts so the only time they fly is 0600! It's dew on the ground, not snow :)
The gigantic fan is used to fill the balloon. Jason got to help hold the balloon open.
Here's the basket on it's side. Cozy for 7 people huh!
Once the fan has filled the balloon with air, it's time for some fire and hot air.
Getting there...
The view above our heads. These dragon like flames were literally within 2 feet. The top of our heads were kept toasty warm.
Ready to go! My heart was beating a million miles a minute here.
The close proximity of the fire made me very nervous.
There are a few companies that fly and they all use the same weather info which dictates which field to fly from and to, so they end up all pretty much flying together. We were one of 11 balloons up there.
Once we were up, it was amazingly calm and serene, even as we traveled over busy I4.
Mickey Mouse's house. Click to see the Contemporary on the right, Space Mountain in the middle and Cinderella's castle on the left.
We flew for just about 45 minutes from Kissimmee to Fantasy of Flight.
Our reflection in a pond below.
Gooooooo Gators!
We could hear the cows mooing.
The pilot had us just about skimming this swamp.
Our sister balloon, ours looked just like this.
Someone had some time on their hands...not sure if this is just for the benefit of the overhead passerbyers, but impressive none the less!
Coming in for a landing. All 11 balloons landed in the same field and it was a group effort to get all balloons down safely. We had a fairly hard landing and the basket almost tipped which is apparently typical.
Celebratory Mimosa!
It was an overall wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it it to anyone interested. Thank you Louise for a memorable Christmas gift!
The FL sun heats up the air and produces unpredictable updrafts and downdrafts so the only time they fly is 0600! It's dew on the ground, not snow :)
The gigantic fan is used to fill the balloon. Jason got to help hold the balloon open.
Here's the basket on it's side. Cozy for 7 people huh!
Once the fan has filled the balloon with air, it's time for some fire and hot air.
Getting there...
The view above our heads. These dragon like flames were literally within 2 feet. The top of our heads were kept toasty warm.
Ready to go! My heart was beating a million miles a minute here. The close proximity of the fire made me very nervous.
There are a few companies that fly and they all use the same weather info which dictates which field to fly from and to, so they end up all pretty much flying together. We were one of 11 balloons up there.
Once we were up, it was amazingly calm and serene, even as we traveled over busy I4.
Mickey Mouse's house. Click to see the Contemporary on the right, Space Mountain in the middle and Cinderella's castle on the left.
We flew for just about 45 minutes from Kissimmee to Fantasy of Flight.
Our reflection in a pond below.
Gooooooo Gators!
We could hear the cows mooing.
The pilot had us just about skimming this swamp.
Our sister balloon, ours looked just like this.
Someone had some time on their hands...not sure if this is just for the benefit of the overhead passerbyers, but impressive none the less!
Coming in for a landing. All 11 balloons landed in the same field and it was a group effort to get all balloons down safely. We had a fairly hard landing and the basket almost tipped which is apparently typical.
Celebratory Mimosa!
It was an overall wonderful experience and I would highly recommend it it to anyone interested. Thank you Louise for a memorable Christmas gift!
2 comments:
that looks awsome... i would be scared out of my pants...great job jen and jason..jason you're use to heights..so that was probablly a breeze..i 'll bet things looked beautiful from up high!
micheler.
hey that looked beautiful from up there. ..great job jen jason you're probablly use to heights...i'd be scared out of my pants...but i would try it.. glad you did it together..
michele r.
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