World Balloon Adventures

I want to make certain that this review gets on the accurate company… Mark will state that «Virginia Balloon Rides» is a different company. So just to make sure we are accurate I created this listing.
My wife purchased a groupon for a «SUNRISE» balloon ride for our anniversary. She called him like asked the night before at 830PM to find out what time we had to meet Mark. She called and was told that we needed to be in Surry at 0545 the next morning. We live in Norfolk, so we left our house at 0430 to make sure we were there at 0545. We arrive and Mark is in the parking lot. He asked us to park across the street, and as we were walking back across the road we here him cussing at his assistant while trying to get the burner on the basket. We thought that we were the only ones on the ride that morning, but after the sun was well up, the other couple that was scheduled on the ride showed up about 0630. SO MUCH FOR A «SUNRISE» ride.
During the 45 minutes we were waiting on the other couple to arrive, we had to listen to Mark do nothing but complain about the county of Surry for not granting him a permit to fly. He also proceeded to convince us of us complete disregard of the county ordinances etc etc. He also repeatedly told us he was going to have to stop at the store and get the CHAMPAGNE that he was supposed to have for the mimosas on the flight. (we didn’t really care about the champagne, just to further note his lack of preparedness)
So, the other couple shows up, of course telling us they hoped they didnt keep us waiting too long, to my thought of, «well you know what time you should have been here at 0545, so you know exactly how long you kept us waiting». However, to avoid an issue a thousand feet up, and the potential for ejecting someone out of the basket, I just saved it for my Unilocal review.
So we get in the van, and drive to a winery property close by for our deployment. We arrive, and Mark and assistant unload the balloon, and basket. Then, Mark asks me and the other male passenger to hold the balloon while he inflates it with cold air via a fan. So, as Mark is standing there admiring his balloon being blown up and smoking his cigarette, the other guy and I are holding this balloon.
So the balloon gets blown up and we all hop in the basket and lift off, and Mark’s assistant takes off in the van trying to follow us. The balloon ride was pretty amazing. It was my wife and my first ride, and was truly a unique experience. I guess about as close as you can get to just standing in thin air. However what goes up must come down.
We came down in a field in behind someone’s trailer. Mark asks me to hop out of the basket and pull the balloon to the road. (the «road» he was talking about, was about a half mile away). Once he realized that this was not going to work, he decided to just set the balloon down. Once touched down, Mark disconnects the lead on the top of the balloon, and asks me to pull the balloon to the ground. This is when we learn two things… 1.) he has no ability to track the balloon from the van, and 2.) he nor his assistant have cell phone reception, so we are somewhat stranded in the field hoping that his assistant will figure out where we are. After about 15 minutes Mark decided to walk up the road to see if he can see his assistant driving by. Mark and his assistant finally return with the van about 45 minutes later. Once Mark got the trailer in position, he got out the bag for the balloon and then proceeded to watch his assistant fold the the entire balloon. Once folded, he then asked myself and the other customer to help load the balloon in the bag. Of course after getting the balloon in the bag, we had to help him get the basket and balloon on the trailer. After all of this, he then asks if we want to get some breakfast with him in Wakefield, to which we replied that we needed to get back to our car so we could get home. We were only about 10 minutes from where our car was, however Mark managed to get lost and take another 40 minutes to get us back to our car. Once back at the car we were getting ready to exit the van and Mark was looking at me as if he was waiting for his tip. Although I had many tips for him, I just exited the van thanking him for the ride, and left.
This balloon ride was such a thoughtful gift from my wife, and I truly enjoyed the ride. I just wish that Mark had been more professional in every aspect of his business including personal Hygiene. Also, if you are going to sell a «balloon experience» where you participate as part of the launch and recovery crew, state so during the purchase. If you are expecting to just show up and have a nice leisurely ride, do not use Virginia Balloons.