The Characters in Flight tethered balloon ride at Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World, Orlando, Florida takes guests 300 feet (92m) in the air. The red and yellow balloon is 72 feet in diameter (22m) and is adorned with Disney characters who fly like Mary Poppins, Dumbo the flying elephant and Peter Pan. I took a ride this week and got these aerial photos of the surrounding area. Rides cost $18 for adults and $12 for kids ages 3-9.
View from Characters in Flight balloon of Downtown Disney and surrounding hotels. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/3.5, ISO 3200, EV +0.3, 28mm focal length.
Disney's Westside entertainment complex looking through the tether hole of the Characters in Flight balloon. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/3.5, ISO 3200, EV +0.3, 28mm focal length.
Saratoga Springs Walt Disney World Resort from the Characters in Flight tethered balloon. Nikon D700/28-300VR, 1/60s, f/3.5, ISO 3200, EV +0.3, 28mm focal length.
I waited until just after sunset for the ride to get a good balance of the lights and the sky.
Views Infinitum 
SOOO cool! (And so much cheaper than the $250 rides at the local balloon festival! 😉 )
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It is only a tethered balloon and the ride only lasts about 15 minutes. Still, you can see all the parks from that height and get a great view of the Downtown Disney shopping and resort area.
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Wonderful Scott. How exciting !
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Luckily, it wasn’t too exciting. 🙂
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These are great Scott! I got some daytime shots from the balloon but these night shots are gorgeous. Looks like the weather is perfect for your trip. (jealous…)
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Until the last night and day of the trip, the weather was perfect. We went up about 15 minutes past sunset. The western sky was very bright but the eastern views were much better.
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STILL can’t believe we haven’t done this yet! (Well, in our defense, the one time we did go, it was ‘closed for refurbishment’). You picked a lovely time of day to go!
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Keep trying as it is a cool view. Wish it was longer for the price but I got a few keepers.
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Very nice Scott! I’m impressed by how you are able to anticipate the timing on these things — I’m always such a spur of the moment guy. Rock on — Boris.
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Hi, Boris!
I do keep tabs on when the Sun and Moon set and rise. The golden and blue hours are wonderful times to photograph.
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What great photos – and sounds like great fun! I especially love the first shot. (don’t you just love how 10 year olds are considered adults at WDW? Got to be the only place in the world!)
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Yeah, you’d think they’d give families a break there. Probably why they stay profitable when other theme parks struggle.
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That looks like a lot of fun. What a great photo opportunity.
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Hard to pass up a nice aerial view, Preston.
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