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A Balloon Adventure By California Dreamin
Category: Hotels & Travel Tours Tours [Edit]
33133 Vista Del MonteTemecula, CA 92591
(800) 373-3359
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- Hours:
Mon-Sun 6 am - 6 pm
22 reviews for A Balloon Adventure By California Dreamin
22 reviews in English
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Review from Jean L.
8/15/2011
Simply, a once-in-a-lifetime-experience.
This is worth getting up at 3:30AM, driving ~1.5 hrs, and tolerating a bit of cold for. My boyfriend and I were a little late for the 5:15AM deadline, but the lady with whom we kept in contact with during our ride was kind enough to wait for us and shuttle us along to the empty lot where we met up with the rest of our group. Our pilot was hilarious and did a great job keeping us entertained, informed, and overall, safe (which is important, because I'm a tad afraid of heights!) I do suggest bringing a sweater for the morning, and you can always take it off when the sun starts to rise.
We didn't have to participate in setting up the balloon, but it was cool to watch the team be so efficient at it! In no time the balloon was upright and we set off on our balloon ride. We drifted low over the neighboring orange trees, close enough to almost touch the leaves; that takes some serious maneuvering! Then we rose high, deep into the clouds and early morning mist. As the sun began to rise, we floated lazily over beautiful vineyards bearing bundles of grapes, and enjoyed spotting the many jackrabbits running over the terrain.
Breakfast afterwards was set on the beautiful patio of La Vindemia. Though a bit light, the brie and fruits are great companions to generous pours of mimosas and therefore all you need to be at the state of relaxation. We even got to try one of La Vindemia's wines during our meal. It was also my boyfriend's birthday, as well as a few other members of our group, and they brought out a chocolate cake for the celebration (which went very well with the wine).
Beautiful!Listed in: Above and Beyond Dates
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Review from Lila S.
Walnut, CA
9/29/2011
SHADY....if I could, I would give this place 0 stars. The old lady that owns this business only cares about booking excursions and making money but does NOT care about customer service. Let me tell you, a business will NEVER survive with that mentality AND because of the rude way I was treated, 8 of my friends who were going to book with this company, now are not going to after what happened to me!
My husband bought me a balloon ride adventure a few months ago for my birthday. When I called to get more information, the old lady that picked up the phone assumed that I was a new customer who wanted to buy tickets for a balloon ride. She was very nice and informative at first. Then I asked her if they had balloon ride adventures for the next Saturday. She told me she did. She asked me for my credit card so that she could book me the ballon ride for that Saturday and the MINUTE I told her I all ready had tickets, she changed her story, turned rude, and stated that she did not have availability for the date that I wanted, and that I'd have to wait until December ( a full 2 months from the date that I wanted) !!!! Who the heck would want to take a sunrise balloon ride in the dead of winter? And are you kidding me? Are you trying to tell me that from now until December there was no open slots for 2 people to take a ballon ride?
i wondered why she would tell me the date I wanted was available, and then when she found out that she wasn't going to make a sale, and that I all ready had tickets, did her story change. I was shocked. It dawned on my why she would do this. She KNEW that December was not a month that people normally take balloon rides on, and so rather than honor the tickets that I all ready had for a popular Saturday coming up, she KNEW that she could probably sell those 2 slots to someone else for that Saturday and so she would be able to make more money so that's what she chose to do! She didn't need to be nice to me...after all, she had all ready made her money off of me and my husband ...and since they have an ABSOLUTELY NO REFUND policy she knew i was stuck!
She explained to me that everything was on a "first come, first serve basis" and that someone must have booked while we were talking on the phone. I hung up the phone sensing something was weird, called back a few seconds later, and this time, a different employee picked up. I asked her if the date I wanted was available, and she stated "yes, we actually have lots of spots available for the date that you want..."...so i made my reservation, even though I didn't want to deal with this dishonest company, yet I was forced to because they have a "No refund" policy and under no circumstances will they refund you your money..Strange huh? Where the heck is customer service these days. .
Let me tell you one thing, businesses like this, that only care about selling tickets and not having great customer service skills are despicable.
I would not recommend booking with this company unless you want to be ripped off. The staff is nice, it's just the old lady that owns the business is money hungry. Yes, i understand, businesses all want to make money, but DO NOT lie to your customers when you find out that you have all ready made money off of them. and please, please, honor customer service skills if you expect to succeed. It was her horrible skills and lies that lead my 8 friends to not end up booking with her company. Good job lady! -
Review from Felisha E.
Cerritos, CA
7/18/2011 6 photos
One of the best experiences ever!!
My parents took me here for my birthday, so our balloon had a special Happy Birthday banner :) We met up at South Coast Winery where they provided pre-flight coffee and snacks, and they drove us about 10 minutes away. I've heard that some hot air balloon companies expect their guest to participate in rolling out the balloon (which I was honestly dreading), but this company didn't. Our "pilot" was extremely friendly and we had an amazing view of the Temecula wine country. Afterwards, they served a delicious champagne brunch with fruits, brie, crackers, etc. They even had a birthday cake for anybody that was celebrating a birthday! To top the day off they gave us free wine-tasting tickets for South Coast Winery :)
Even if you're scared of heights, the balloon ascends so slowly that you'll be totally fine. My uncle came with us and he held on to a sidebar for dear life for about the first 5 minutes but ended up loving it! (I'd post pictures, but he'd kill me.) So if he can handle it, YOU CAN TOO :D
My main suggestion would be to fly when it's not too hot/summer time. My parents did another hot air balloon ride during Valentines, and because the weather was cooler they got to go a couple 1000 ft. higher than we did :( Nonetheless, loved it! -
Review from Chris C.
2/15/2011 5 photos
My girlfriend took me on a hot air balloon ride as our 1 year anniversary gift, and it was an incredible experience. The hot air ballon pilots and the other crew members were all clearly very experienced and knew exactly what they were doing. They tested the wind conditions at one site for about 20 minutes then told us that we had to go somewhere else because it wasn't the right spot, and sure enough once we were up in the air at another location we saw that the balloons from another company that tried to take off from the location we'd moved away from were unable to fly their balloons. We ended up taking off right next to a large grove of grapefruit trees, it felt like Soarin' Over California at California Adventure except everything was real. You get a beautiful view of the snow-capped mountains out near Palm Springs in the distance while you're up in the air.
The entire flight was very smooth, you don't even feel like you're moving at all while you're in the air. Our pilot's name was Farrell, he was a nice guy and certainly knew what he was doing. He told us that he had flown hot air balloons in Africa prior to joining this company in Temecula. The landing wasn't bad at all, I thought it would be a bit bumpy but it was just sort of a small jerk when we hit the ground and nothing more.
The breakfast really added a nice touch to the experience, it was held on the beautiful grounds of the South Coast Winery. The tables were all nicely shaded, and it was just a perfect way to spend the morning. They served mimosas, fruit, cheese & crackers, and some really yummy raisin bread. They also give out either champagne or cider to people who are celebrating anniversaries, and had a birthday cake for a group that was celebrating someone's birthday. Overall I feel like this company does an excellent job at orchestrating the whole experience. I highly recommend them! -
Review from sandy v.
8/11/2011 1 photo
I gave this an extra star because of the conditions we flew in were very unusual. Came here a few years ago in April with my BF to celebrate his birthday and our 4 year anny. Hes a guy that likes to keep his feet on the ground so this was a bit of an adventure for him.
The day we went it was very foggy and there was very little wind, we had to drive to 2 locations before the pilots (?) settled on a spot suitable for us to take off from. At the first location we all got in to the balloon but were unable to take off and in the process lost a bottle of champagne :( Finally we took off and had a fresh bottle of bubbly with us. IT WAS AMAZING due to the weather conditions. First we flew high over the fog and it was like a scene from a movie the orchards peaking through the dense layer of fog with the scent of the morning dew and the different fruits in the air. Our guide was able to tell us the different types of orchards we were flying through which helped put a scente to a name. Then we flew in the fog itself really really neat to see everything covered very beautiful, quiet, and peaceful. Then we flew low under the fog, so low we even touched a few branches.
We were in a balloon with only 4 other people so we had plenty of space. My BF is 6' tall so his head was pretty close to the turbo boosters. He and I would recommend wearing ear plugs next time. Those things are pretty loud. We then landed were served a champagne brunch at Southcoast Winery and were given a few tasting coins. I highly recommend the Gewürztraminer.
My BF had a memorable moment even though he was apprehensive at the time. Im glad we got to have a experience that not many other ballooners get. Due to the fog the company was kind enough to give us a returning trip at buy one get the second 1/2 off.Listed in: My rare 5 star locations, Adventures
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Review from Shauna G.
Whittier, CA
8/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Had a great time. We were picked up from our villa and brought to the check in site. Staff was very friendly. Our pilot during the ballon ride was very entertaining and knowledgeable of the wineries. Checked in on yelp and got a free bottle of wine (2005 Sryah). Wine was delicious! Such a wonderful experience!
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Review from Michelle F.
Los Angeles, CA
3/15/2010 1 photo
The Best Valentines Gift :D
Last weekend I had an amazing time hot air ballooning with California Dreamin! It was a Valentine's gift from my boyfriend so I do not know how the pricing is but I have heard that this company does have some online deals sometimes (ie Groupon and/or other companies). It was slightly belated Valentines celebration because the weather decided to rain for the past three weeks, but it was worth the wait.
We drove from West LA to Temecula so in order to make our 6:15am check in time we had to leave aroound 4am. *warning* do not follow your GPS unless you want an off roading adventure. They let you know that in their confirmation e-mail but of course we missed that memo. Not too worry if you get lost like us, just call them and they'll lead you back to the right path. They will even come out to the road with flash lights to flag you down in case you drive by the entrance a couple times like we did :) The staff was super nice and understanding. In addition to coming out with flash lights, they also let my boyfriend mail in the coupon that he forgot to the location so he could get the special deal.
Our hot air balloon carried 3 other couples and one pilot. We were in the air for about an hour and if any of your have ever been on the ride Soarin' over California at Disneyland, it is a lot like that but so much better! Our pilot pointed gave a mini history of hot air ballooning and pointed out many of the vineyards that we were flying over with many suggestions and tips for wine taste after our flight.
After we landed the crew took us back to where we checked in and waiting for us was a delicious breakfast with mimosas, coffee, and juice. For those couples celebrating anniversaries they were given a bottle of wine and for birthdays they were sung happy birthday and everyone was given a slice of chocolate bundt cake. After breakfast we were also given a complimentary wine tasting at the location as well as a few two for one coupons for other vineyards.
I would definitely recommend this to anyone who is looking for a cute and fun date. Just be ready to wake up really early if you are driving in from LA.Listed in: My Mini Travels
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Review from John K.
Rosamond, CA
7/8/2011
Boy it was tough to get up so early to make this morning balloon flight, but it was totally worth it. A great experience all the way around from seeing the crews prep and launch, to landing who knows where. The ride had tremendous views from way high up of Temecula wine country and low skimming the citrus trees. I thought I might get woozy or uneasy about the heights, but the basket is solid and moves smoothly. Our basket had 12 people in it, but we never felt crowded or like we were competing for views. Breakfast afterwards was modest, but very good.
One note, you'll finish way too early to start wine tasting after this is over. We went back to our hotel for a much needed nap prior to visiting the wineries. -
Review from Merrill H.
Redondo Beach, CA
7/13/2009 4 photos
You know what's scarier than skydiving?
Riding in a hot air balloon!! (Or so says three of the people in the group when we went hot air ballooning). Yes, it is scary, and if you are afraid of heights, this is a good way to confront those fears.
California Dreamin' is based in Temecula, but they offer sunset air balloon rides over Del Mar. I prepaid for the flight at their website and on the day of the flight met at the designated spot (Vons parking lot). We waited for everyone to arrive, and then we loaded up in minivans and drove to the launch site. The launch site was a huge, little used parking lot right next to a busy street. There were 2 other companies that were also there, preparing their balloons. California Dreamin' doesn't launch if the wind conditions aren't right, and it was a bit breezy, so we waited at least 45 minutes for the wind to calm down.
As soon as the wind died down, they started preparing the balloons. While you're waiting, they serve champagne (sweet!). If you've never been in a balloon before, it is pretty scary when they launch. At the appropriate signal from the pilot, we (there were 8 of us) ran over to the basket, jumped in, and held on as the pilot blasted more hot air into the balloon. Then, you don't know when you're going to take off, so the basket scrapes along the cement until you launch. And then off you go!
The going up part is pretty quick but a very smooth ride. It doesn't feel like you're moving at all, except when someone in the basket moves a bit or adjusts their stance (you must stand the entire ride). When you're up in the air several thousand feet, it is so quiet and serene. Just don't lean out too far over the basket!
You never know where you're going to land, but there are some landing sites the crew have previously designated as landing sites. Which one you land at depends on the wind. We happened to land in an empty field near the freeway. One lady in our group used to work for RE/MAX and would go up in their balloons all the time. She said one time they landed in someone's backyard in some blackberry bushes. That would suck.
After landing, the pilot served chocolate cake and another round of champagne! A hot air balloon ride is a lot of fun and a great way to see California from a different perspective. Still doesn't make me less scared of going skydiving, but you never know!Listed in: Guide to the Great Outdoors
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Review from Mary P.
Anaheim, CA
11/9/2010 1 photo
My boyfriend and I did this for our anniversary and it was awesome!
I've always wanted to go hot air ballooning since I was a kid and this was an awesome experience.
We got there (south coast winery) and they had hot chocolates and coffee ready and advised us to go to the bathroom before we go on the ride and I must say the bathrooms were amazing.
We went to our launch site and had a happy anniversary banner, we were with two other couples who were celebrating their anniversary. We went high and then low and then high. It was just beautiful I didn't want it to end it lasted about an hour and a half.
We went back to south coast wine for the breakfast it was also excellent it was basically dessert for breakfast along with mimosas. They also give you a complimentary wine tasting and a free bottle of wine if you're over 21 which we were not :(
Overall I would do this again but stay over night at South Coast Winery it was so beautiful. -
Review from John P.
7/20/2008 11 photos
If you want to take flights on a hot air balloon to catch a morning glimpse of the Temecula valley wine country area, this is the thing to do. The experience was spectacular, and the ride is amazingly gentle and safe. Not only that, but they offer everyone a glass (or multiple glasses) of wine prior and during the entire ride....and i won't give away the story behind that for them.
they have group baskets and private flights (2 people), and the price varies. its about a 45 min ride, complete with breakfast after the ride. we took the private flight for a special occasion, and Jeff our pilot was a competition flyer and not only did he navigate smoothly, but was very respectful of our space and private moments. he even lowered us right about the vineyards & citrus groves and that was fun.
I had a very special request for my particular balloon flight, so my experience and memory here won't be the typical. Nonetheless, Gail and David there were very accommodating and professional. See the pictures i uploaded for a glimpse of the experience! -
Review from Joycie E.
Pomona, CA
9/2/2009 1 photo
I'm so scared of heights but I did this for my bf.
It was the most amazing experience ever!
When I was up in the air I felt like I was looking at a painting. It really did not look real.
At first I was sad we got the ugly REMAX balloon, but then got happy once I realized we could take pictures of the pretty rainbow balloon.
We had mimosas in the sky.
A couple in our basket got engaged too!
It was perfect.
I'd recommend doing the ride with more people. This way there are alot of questions asked and you don't feel weird with just the pilot.
We were up for about 1 hour and 20 minutes.
The staff was GREAT & super friendly!
It was my bf's birthday so they treated him to a birthday banner on the basket of the balloon and when we got back sang happy birthday to him and had a huge yummy chocolate cake waiting.
Their lovely breakfast was the perfect ending. YUM! -
Review from Bolt M.
Sebago, ME
5/1/2011
Fantastic voyage. Friendly staff. Balloon ride was smooth. The light breakfast after vineyard was a great finishing touch.
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Review from SanFran G.
Glendale, CA
8/6/2010
I give it a 3 since I don't have something else I can compare it to. Also, judging from the negative review below- I wasn't sure if they had the best customer service. When I called to make the reservation- they were curteous yet very quick, short and to the point...no extra "hi's!" or "great! you're celebrating a birthday-it'll be great to have you!"...so maybe that's just a little "extra" that I would have appreciated from the person on the other end of the line (specially when you're dropping close to $300 on a service), but they were curteous, so that at least is the minimun expected.
Our ballooning was great. I recommend that even if you're not a man 6ft tall, that if you're a woman 5'6 and up, you should wear a baseball cap as well (they just recommend it for men 6ft tall)..I'm 5'8, and every time the guy had to light the fire midair to keep the balloon up, I could feel the top of my head get reall really hot (slightly unbearable)...so everytime he lit the fire, I would have to duck forward, even though I wasn't standing directly underneath the fire area, because the heat was just too much for me. Anyway. they did have a birthday banner, which was nice..but it would have been nicer if they would have made more of an announcement before the ride, like "and Happy birthday to all the birthday people celebrating today!".. There was nothing, and we didn't even notice that banner was even on the basket (it was on the other side) until AFTER we got out the basket.
All in all, the ride itself is unbelieveable, and if you are thinking of doing it- go for it, it is an experience. However, if I were to go again, would I book this group? Eh, maybe, maybe not. They didn't "wow" me enough to convince me to go back, but the ride itself was great, so I can't fault them for that either. -
Review from don c.
Los Angeles, CA
12/20/2009
i wish there was a negative star
wow talk about the worst attitude i have ever seen from the owner Gale, i can only descrive her as being greedy, awful person, and the worst business owner I have ever seen. My girlfriend now my fiance booked a hot air balloon ride to surprise me this weekend about two weeks ago. what my girlfriend didn't know was I had planned to propose to her on this saturday. i had asked her to keep the weekend free, but because she booked the trip a few weeks earlier and didnt know I had planned a special event for her this weekend.
so my girlfriend called to change the reservation on friday and Gale said no its too late because it wasnt within the 48 hours so we had to keep the reservation and Gale made it clear we could not change the reservation to a later date because we had already paid for the trip in advance. ok so my girlfriend told Gale on friday that we would be there at 6am on sunday. so to my knowledge and my gf ,Gale understood we would be there on sunday? no Gale decides to email my girfriend on Saturday to say that she has changed our departure to
615AM and to call back between 2 to 3pm. what Gale did not know was my gf's battery had died and we were out celebrating our new engagement. later that night on our way down to San Diego to spend the night so we could be close by Temucula to go in the morning for the Balloon ride my gf see's the email on her phone after charging in the car and emails Gale back to let her know, thank you for the update and that YES we will be there at 615am. I have the email on file Gale.
so we wake up at 4am and drive to Temucula, we get lost like 2 miles away from the place due to poor directions from the GPS. then we call Gale to see if we have come down the right street at around 6am. Gale picks up and asks us who we are. she then tells us make a right and to go back to the freeway. my gf asks her how to get back to the freeway and if we had got off the wrong exit. Gale then tells her to get back on the freeway and to go home. my gf is confused, wait we are not late yet, we are very close by can we still make it, Gale then tells her on the phone too bad, you didnt call yesterday so tough luck basically and Gale was getting upset at us!!
so we decide to find the place on our own and get there around 620am, we see a lady coming down the hill really fast and right to our car, she asks us who we are and my gf tries to explain that we had gotten a little confused about the directions, what does Gale say, that it's not her fault she tried calling, well when my gf mentioned she has emailed Gale, Gale rudely says that we cant expect her to check her email all the time. we had to call her. wait didnt we tell you friday we would come, didnt we email you saturday to tell you we would come, didnt we pay 2 weeks ago for this trip, didnt we show up on time to go on our trip? oh wait there is something she's not saying. she gave our spots to someone else. wait but we paid already hwo is that fair, well we didnt call to say we would come at 615am when we already said we would come at 6am?!!!!! so she wanted us to confirm that we would come 15 minutes later?!! i dont get that logic. also she double booked our trip shouldnt she offer to give us a meal that we paid for at least or apologize for the misunderstanding, if she had seemed even the least bit apologetic i would have forgotten the whole issue, but then she says as I am complaining that if i dont get off her property she will call the police. for what complaining about poor service, my gf was about to cry you insensitive crazy lady. she was planning a special day for us on our anniversary and engagement with your stupid balloon company and all you could say is we wont get a refund get lost!!!! oh and she had also mentioned that she had cancelled saturdays flight, did you give our places to the people from saturday? at least have the decency to apologize for stiffing us. now i will make sure all my friends and people i know never i mean NEVER go to your place. also you will get sued by me so see you in small claims court and the credit card company is not going to honor your charge you RIP OFF!!! Gale I was so surprised at your attitude, I know business is tough but it's not smart business to make people upset and rip people off, you have no right to talk to my gf in a anger attitude when all she wanted was to take me on a balloon ride, we didnt cancel we didnt change our reservation. we called you we emailed you(btw if you email us we respond with email assuming you use email, why? because you emailed us!!!!), we paid you, but all we got was a hostile attitude and a determination to let other unaware potential customers know our opinion of you. thank you for ruining our day today, your an awful lady and even worse business owner. -
Review from Namiko G.
Solana Beach, CA
7/7/2011
I had to write a review as I was so impressed with the experience we had flying with California Dreamin. We have flown with other companies and I have never been able to say I could give a 5 Star but California Dreamin gave us the perfect experience. I did a lot of research before choosing them as I wanted to be with the safest company around. I had heard they had this reputation and decided to check them out. Not only did I see the difference with safety but the customer service from all the staff was excellent. From the moment we arrived we were greeted by the owners Gail and Dave Bradley and they welcomed our group with warm smiles. The flight was amazing and when we landed we all gathered in a beautiful courtyard with champagne and a nice breakfast. In the past other balloon companies had made us feel like when we landed we needed to leave but our group felt comfortable to spend time relaxing while we enjoyed their beautiful views. Another bonus is this company also has a winery called Vindemia on the same property. You can walk right over to their wine tasting area and enjoy this experience as well. The wines were excellent and my husband pointed out had won many awards. All in all it was a great experience and we will be back soon!
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Review from Alan T.
San Diego, CA
11/1/2010
I just did their Temecula sunrise flight yesterday, October 31, 2010. I picked this company because it was the cheapest, and I'm happy I did. It was a great birthday surprise for my wife. We met at South Coast Winery and Resort, a beautiful place I wished we could spend a night at. They had coffee and hot chocolate waiting for us at 6am at arrival. Shortly after, we loaded their van and took off to find a good lauch site.
We drove around for a while, about 30 minutes looking for the best launch site, but we didn't mind because we got a great free tour of the wine country and different wineries in the area. Once we did get our spot, it was worth the wait, because when we got in the air we saw other balloons who had launched faster, but they were flying in the fog. Our operator/driver took special care to find us the best launch point.
During the ride, we had one of the best rides out of any of the other 7 or 8 balloons out there. We went the highest for the most part, and we were in completelely clear weather, while other balloons were in the fog. They took the time to get it right, which I appreciate.
At landing, we soon loaded back up, and our chase vehicle drove us all back for our free breakfast, leaving the balloon crew there to pack the gear so we didn't have to wait on them. The whole staff was great about taking our cameras and snapping pictures for us.
The breakfast was really good, and champagne was served with orange juice by the Winery/Resort. The staff and especially our pilot were super friendly, and they all sang happy birthday to the birthday people there during the breakfast.
The only thing negative: I was under the impression the complimentary birthday banner and birthday cake included would be personalized, but instead there were 3 birthday women sharing the same banner and cake, with no name on them. That was really dissappointing, but understandable from a business perspective. They probably get birthdays anniversaries every day, so prolly not possible. No champagne on the flight either like I've heard other people talk about, only with breakfast at return.
Definetely reccommend California Dreamin' for your balloon flight: cheapest price, best service! -
Review from Jasmine L.
Los Angeles, CA
5/31/2009
if you want to have one of the most AMAZING experiences ever, then go on a hot air balloon ride - with your friends, family or significant other - it's an experience that you won't forget and will be back for.
after researching the many companies that operate hot air balloon rides near L.A., i decided that California Dreamin' was the company we'd fly with and i am happy we did.
our flight captain was Jeff - and from the moment the adventure began Jeff and the entire flight crew were nothing but professional, friendly and welcomed any and all questions we asked about the balloon, the wind tests and everything in between. they made you feel very comfortable.
the flight itself is incredible! we took the sunset flight over del mar, where we floated above houses and rolling hills - from 50 feet above the ground to more than 2,000 feet every view was spectacular. and the flight feels motionless and like your floating along the clouds.
this is one of the best experiences of my life and if you are looking for something unique, i definitely recommend this company and this adventure.
it really is just like the song "Up, Up and Away" check it out...
http://www.stlyrics.co... -
Review from Patrice N.
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA
9/8/2009
Could it get any better???? No, it could not. Yes, it is Woohoo! as good as it gets and then some.
Not only are the people who run this place FABULOUS, but the experience is one of those must do, "bucket-list" things you promise yourself you will accomplish before you leave the planet, and yet somehow never get around to do. Stop talking and start doing...
Do not miss this opportunity! These people are the best. Our pilot was incredibly knowledgeable, sooo friendly, and incredibly humble. My husband (a former commercial pilot and now weekend warrior Glider Pilot) could not stop talking about how cool this guy was/is. The ride is spectacular-and afterwards, they take you back for a wonderful, delicious meal; brie, fresh fruit, some amazing praline shell thingy with chocolate in the bottom and fruit and whipped cream on top. I could go on, but why spoil it for you? Check it out, and hey Monique, if you're reading this, you ROCK! Thank you for making our incredible experience just that more memorable. We will never forget it. -
Review from Jack B.
Monterey Park, CA
8/10/2009
This is a must do adventure. This is one of those things I kept on saying I wanted to do, but never got around to it. Finally, through the fun and adventurous nature of my sweetheart, he booked our one year anniversary surprise adventure. This company is first class. Every moment you are with them you feel totally taken care of. The experience cannot be conveyed, it must be felt first hand. The scenery is amazing. My favorite moments were gently drifting 10 feet above the tops of the grape vines looking down on them, seeing bunny rabbits and quail. The grace and calm of floating above it all.
California Dreamin then takes you back to their home base, a beautiful winery home in the hills for a beautiful light european breakfast, dining alfresco at their hillside getaway. It is unforgettable. -
Review from Jennifer G.
Hawthorne, CA
7/7/2009
My husband and I went on the Sunrise tour in April of 2008. It was our first hot air balloon ride and we chose Temecula because we had never been and we could combine it with wine tasting in one weekend. The service of California Dreamin was terrific. We felt super safe, had a very relaxed, yet knowledgeable pilot. The Mimosa toast was a nice touch at take off. Which by the way, is very smooth, slow, and quiet. After about an hour, we landed and were taken in a van to South Coast Winery for a light buffet breakfast. All in, it was an enjoyable trip and would highly recommend it.
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Review from Christine B.
Norfolk, VA
8/1/2010
This was my first hot air balloon ride, but definitely wasn't as scary as I had thought it would be. We had a fantastic pilot, Ferrule, who was as entertaining as he was knowledgable about his job. I was most impressed by the people who worked for this company. Every single employee we encountered was so nice and helpful! We did the sunrise/breakfast balloon ride which was fantastic (even though I had to wake up so early!) They even surprised some of their guests who were celebrating special occasions at the champagne breakfast! (Cake and candles for those celebrating a birthday and wine for a honeymooning couple!) Like I mentioned before, Ferrule MADE the morning as he was so interesting to listen to as he shared stories of the first documented ballooning adventure and as he pointed out things a pilot will look for when flying the balloon. At the brunch we sampled some of the owner's award winning wine and it was FABULOUS!!!! My husband forgot our camera in the van, but the owner was so sweet about mailing it back to us-across the country to Virginia! Hot air ballooning was an awesome experience, but it was the people associated with this particular company that made our experience the full 5 stars!
