Jonathan Montgomery
Daily Titan Staff Writer

The cost to ride the Great Park Balloon: FREE! Photo by Shruti Patel/Daily Titan Photo Editor

For anyone who has ever imagined the possibility of grabbing hold of a balloon and taking flight – wonder no more.

The Orange County Great Park in Irvine offers rides on its first major attraction, the Great Park Balloon. Best of all, it’s free.

“Very good, just like Disneyland,” Elizabeth Jay, 90, said with a smile. Jay shared her first balloon ride with her son, granddaughter and great-granddaughter.

“I’d come back,” Jay said. “This is dandy.”

The Great Park Balloon holds between 5-30 passengers, taking them 400 feet in the air. According to the Great Park’s Web site, the balloon is one of the largest tethered helium balloons and the first of its kind in the United States.

From the I-5, the balloon is visible in the distance, resembling a giant orange curiously rising and descending from the sky. Huge orange circles have been painted on the black asphalt of Perimeter Road, trailing drivers to the parking lot.

People who wish to ride the balloon must first check in and sign a waver. Then it’s a short walk to the balloon’s base.

Before departure, the orange balloon swayed gently in the wind. It was attached with metal wires to a platform that shook slightly as people walked around on it. Riders were asked to spread out for equal weight distribution before take-off.

The Great Park Balloon holds five to 30 passengers. Photo by Shruti Patel/Daily Titan Photo Editor

“Everybody hang on, please,” the balloon’s pilot said.

There was a quick jolt and the balloon slowly started to lift up, creating the unfamiliar feeling of weighing less than air.

It was kind of like being on a kite. They let you out, you float around and come back down,” Jon Stapp, 39, said.

He came with his young daughter who he recalls was too small to go on it the first time they visited the balloon two years ago.

“It goes really, really high. I was surprised, I thought my 3-year-old would be scared, but she loved it.”

From 400 feet in the air, the design and overall look of the park is unfinished but beautiful. Flowers, trees and lush green grass cover the ground. Tables covered with plastic yellow umbrellas look like flowers from the sky and the slick design of an arrow perpetually points north.

Jeff Williams, 22, flew the balloon that day. Williams said he averages about 20-25 flights a day and had to obtain certification to become a pilot, which consisted of two weeks of training and an additional test.

Williams said a setting sun always provides a great view when going on the balloon.

“Right before sunset, 7:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. at night, it’s totally different,” said Williams.

The Great Park Balloon site was built on top of the former El Toro Marine Base. At 400 feet up, the park’s walkable timeline that’s painted on the ground is fully visible, showing different points in United States and world history.

“(We) really want to preserve military history,” said Mustafa Allahrakha, 21, a University of California, San Diego student and employee of the Great Park Balloon.

Allahrakha said the free balloon ride is a way to draw the public in and inform them of future plans for the park.

Over time, the balloon will provide a great vantage point to watch the Great Park develop and grow in size, which is estimated to be twice the size of New York’s Central Park once completed.

Once the Great Park is finished, it will “really put Orange County on the map,” Allahrakha said.

According to the Great Park’s Web site, the balloon is environmentally safe, and non-polluting.

“The balloon is always tethered to the ground with a steel cable and is never in a state of free flight, making it both a safe and fun experience for everyone,” states the Web site.

For more information on flight times and other Great Park activities, visit http://www.ocgp.org/visit/balloon/.