I never had a chance to see the original balloon in person, so not sure. They did say that the new gondola is larger than the previous one. We will be back down there tomorrow and I will see if can get more info on the changes.
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The balloon is fully inflated... It is yellow and red stripped... Looks different than the previous one...
I just went on the webcam and it's definitely up but I don't know if it's doing rides yet. My 9 year old nephew wants to do it. We'll see what's going on with it next time we get to go there with him.
We talked about this in our meeting yesterday, as it was up and being tested. the mgrs didn't give a date for opening though.
the balloon does look different - I think it's the pattern on the bottom side that is different. Since I am at DTD twice a week, I have seen it up quite frequently but never ridden on it. I did try to get on the one at DLP, but the one every time I went over it was grounded.
Image released by Disney:
I have some more photos I will try and get up by this weekend. I know 2 of the other characters on the bottom ring are dumbo and buzz lightyear.