Characters in Flight balloon grounded (historical pics)

An accident in Hong Kong (at the Ocean Park theme park) happened earlier this week with an Aerophile  balloon (executive summary: a 3-meter gash ripped open while it was airborne with people aboard, and there was a "rapid descent"), prompting the mother company to close all other balloon around the world for inspections (this included at Disneyland Paris, Orlando's Downtown Disney, and the Great Park in Irvine California).

No one knows if the balloon (Characters in Flight) will return to Downtown Disney. In the meantime, I offer these historical pictures, snapped in 2009.

EDIT July 5: Orlando Attractions Magazine is reporting that Aerophile has contacted them and said the Orlando balloon will be replaced with a new one (which they say was planned anyway), so it may be some time before it's back.


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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.