Beautiful Balloons

One of the first sights to greet your eyes when you walk into any Disney Park is a friendly castmember who is selling balloons.  These balloons are beautiful; some are in the shape of Mickey heads, and some are adorned with princesses or Tinkerbell.  Regardless of the decoration, some sort of Mickey Mouse balloon has been present on Main Street since Disneyland opened.  You can see these balloon vendors on old videos of Disneyland from the 1950s.  Over the years, the quality of the balloons has definitely improved as technology improves.  Now, you can even buy balloons that come with a light-up component where the lights flash different colors, and you can turn off these lights to preserve battery power.   

          The presence of these balloons on Main Street is something that reminds me that I am in the most magical place on Earth.  On every trip, I have to take a picture of the balloons floating peacefully in front of Cinderella castle.  This photo-op always provides beautiful pictures.  Recently, I have seen the balloon vendors extending the strings on the balloons and allowing guests to hold onto these strings so it looks like the guest is floating away with the balloons.  This also presents a one of a kind photo that could only take place in a Disney Park. 

            One of the saddest sounds to echo through the parks is definitely that of a popped Disney balloon.  First, these balloons are not cheap, and second, the owner of the balloon has probably waited for this souvenir with eager anticipation only for it to be destroyed by a simple pop.  On one trip, I saw a sight that was even worse than the horrible popping noise.  While watching Wishes, my husband and I witnessed one of the light-up balloons floating away into the sky.  The worse part of this loss was that the sky was so black that you could see the balloon lighting up and changing colors as it floated away into oblivion. I am sure that the screams of the unlucky owner of this balloon could also be heard echoing throughout Main Street.

            Even though I love the balloons on Main Street, I have never been lucky enough to own one as a child or an adult.  I think they were just always too expensive and too much trouble to deal with while touring the parks.  On every trip, my husband tries to get me to by one of these coveted souvenirs, but I always decline for some reason or another.  Perhaps one day I will give in and purchase one of these truly magical souvenirs.  Until next time, have a magical day, and keep moving forward!