Walt Disney 2020
Day 6: Disney Springs: Balloon flying, boat cars, and terrible bowling skills kinda day with T-Rex.
Today was a "sleep in" type of day even though I'm so used to being up early that it wasn't much of a sleep in day for me. But, Sakari made the most of it...so much that I ended up having to wake her up for breakfast and to get her going for the day.
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We didn't have a theme park planned for the day (trying to spread out the parks every other day) but I did have plans to head back to Disney Springs to do some activities today and I promised Sakari "no shopping" for me. I ask Sakari if she wanted her coat and got the reply "My skin is my coat". Alrighty then. I was taking mine just in case (even though I didn't end up using it).
We loaded the address back in the GPS...I bet you can guess what happens next...it took us a different way there! It took us the way of going in town and not on the freeway. This time we came in from a different direction and was able to get right into the parking lot with no issues and no U-turns. Ohhhhh, ok, I see why it took me this way now. Much easier and no $1.00 tolls! Me likey.
We found our "I can't walk far" parking spot and headed to the elevator to go upstiars where we would, once again, have to walk all the way down to the other side of the parking lot, around the barriers, and back down to where we started at. They scanned our heads with this little brain monitor to see if there was any intelligence inside. She said "ok". What do you mean ok? I've had years and years of college education! I should be more than "ok". We were hurried along to the contraption that tells if there's any medal objects on you. Once again, we were "ok", even though I have plenty of medal in my foot now so I really don't understand these things.
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We got our approval to head into Disney Springs and down the escalator we went to our first attraction. We were riding the hot air balloon.
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History: Aerophile Balloon Flight: 8 minute tethered
ride in the world's largest hand-painted helium balloon.
This balloon was custom-built for Disney and filled
with 210,000 cubic feet of helium and ascends up to
400 feet in the air. The basket holds 29 people. Great
panoramic views up to 10 miles away on clear days.
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Tickets are: $20 per adult 10 and older & $15 for
children.
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Ok, so it wasn't really a "hot air" balloon, but a helium balloon. I wondered why I didn't see any flames during our first visit. I wonder how they fill this thing up and how often.
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We paid for our tickets and headed in line while we watched others on their ride. I couldn't wait to get pictures of Disney from here. Sakari had her Disney shirt on I bought here and thought she wouldn't wear.
Then it was our turn. Everyone got on and went around in the circle. The basket of the ride is round and the walkway goes around the edges. This is where you stand. The middle is completely open.
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Up, up, and away we went. Soaring high above Disney Springs. It was at that point that I noticed we really hadn't been everywhere here and missed a lot. But, it was ok. I promised Sakari no shopping today and only activities. I mean I can always window shop as we walked by right?
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We could see everything up there. However, we didn't know what anything was or what direction any of the theme parks were. It was weird that the "driver" of the balloon wasn't telling us anything. Usually they at least tell you what direction to look in and what is that way! I had to ask him "where is Disney?" He pointed in the direction on the other side of him. Well we couldn't see that way from where our spot was. I ask him if the balloon turns and he told me "no it's stationary". Well don't that bite! That was one of the main reasons I wanted to go up in it...to take a picture of Disney from there. Main reason, not only reason of course. I wanted the experience and to take pictures and of course to allow Sakari to experience it as well. But still...I was very disappointed in our positioning on the balloon.
We noticed a plane in the sky. It was going in weird directions. Then all of a sudden we noticed that it was spelling something. Now I know that the ride says 8 minutes long, but it really did feel like we were up there a very long time. This plane spelled out a very long sentence and we were up there long enough to see most of it. Here's the beginning of it.
It was time to come back down and the ride was neat, just not what I expected. I've been in hot air balloons before and today, I think I was expecting some heat! It was another somewhat chilly day but not too bad that it bothered me too much and I'm a cold natured person and don't tollerate the cold air too much.