I thought I would start a thread and chronicle my experiences on the first tour I have taken with Fantasy Tours thru FMCA.
Thursday, Oct 2. Parking and registration.
They were very efficient parking us. The lot is all dirt and a few pieces of gravel. It was sold as right on the Balloon Fest grounds overlooking the launch. I will post some pictures but that is a fail. It is facing the motorhome across from me. The registration was ok and a bit chaotic but it got done. You would think instead of 330 for snacks and questions, they would put out a few snacks and cold drinks when we are registering. I know that Foretravel does that and we did it at rallies we have run in the past.
THought I would add a picture to this initial post.
Thursday, Oct 2. Parking and registration.
They were very efficient parking us. The lot is all dirt and a few pieces of gravel. It was sold as right on the Balloon Fest grounds overlooking the launch. I will post some pictures but that is a fail. It is facing the motorhome across from me. The registration was ok and a bit chaotic but it got done. You would think instead of 330 for snacks and questions, they would put out a few snacks and cold drinks when we are registering. I know that Foretravel does that and we did it at rallies we have run in the past.
THought I would add a picture to this initial post.
Well, here is some more on my impressions of the Fantasy Tour.
I will come back to the Balloon Fest but not use this tour company. When we called the person on the phone lied and said we would have 50 amps and dog walkers and be on grass. Well, we were on reclaimed landfill west of the launch field where you could not put a grill on the ground and had to have it up 2 feet. They had guys with sniffers going around too.
I will say that the water pressure was good and the electric did not get a work out as it was not very hot but it was 110 -114 volts so if it was hot I would think that it would go down far enough that my Power management system would shut it down.
THey ran out of food one night and it was not very good that night either. The next night they had too much pizza and then the final farewell dinner was nip and tuck on if they had enough and they barely had enough. THey also serve it so it was all portion controlled.
They had tours during the BF and if you went on the tour then the next day the weather did not work out you missed two days of BF activities. One of the best days for seeing balloons they were at Sky City. They tell you that you will have 9 days there but they take you in two days before it starts. I understand that as the traffic was less but I would have expected it to last the entire time. THe people were attentive but you get tired of the same old jokes and the stupid way they do things like picking cards for when a table goes up. Usually that is not a big deal but when you are the last table and they run out of food it is a bigger deal. THen you have the tours. Nowhere do they put in the restrictions. That it goes too long without dog walkers or that it is a lot of walking on uneven ground. I was with friends and he has a cane and there was no way he could do that walking at 6-7k feet, Also we would have to check our cameras if they took video, what about my phone. I decided that it was 8 hours that I had no desire to see.
My next issue is they said they would have the busses running back and forth to old town and to the scandia tram and we would be able to leave when we wanted. Well they waited till 44 people were not he bus. That is not running them all day. So you waste an hour sitting and waiting.
I think that the tour was poorly organized and way overpriced for what you get. It was our first tour and probably our last. Adventure was there longer and went in one day after us. They were dry camping but had breakfast and dinner each night. That is kind of important as many nights the police restrict traffic and you can not get into the campground as the roads are closed to traffic to make everything one way the wrong way. Kind of like hurricane evacuation.
Now saying this, I will say that the Balloon Fest was wonderful inspire of the costs and the fact that everything costs a bunch. I would do it again. I will post a couple pictures here and then a link to my website that has three galleries of pictures.
And they fly and land right over the campground and in it too.
I will come back to the Balloon Fest but not use this tour company. When we called the person on the phone lied and said we would have 50 amps and dog walkers and be on grass. Well, we were on reclaimed landfill west of the launch field where you could not put a grill on the ground and had to have it up 2 feet. They had guys with sniffers going around too.
I will say that the water pressure was good and the electric did not get a work out as it was not very hot but it was 110 -114 volts so if it was hot I would think that it would go down far enough that my Power management system would shut it down.
THey ran out of food one night and it was not very good that night either. The next night they had too much pizza and then the final farewell dinner was nip and tuck on if they had enough and they barely had enough. THey also serve it so it was all portion controlled.
They had tours during the BF and if you went on the tour then the next day the weather did not work out you missed two days of BF activities. One of the best days for seeing balloons they were at Sky City. They tell you that you will have 9 days there but they take you in two days before it starts. I understand that as the traffic was less but I would have expected it to last the entire time. THe people were attentive but you get tired of the same old jokes and the stupid way they do things like picking cards for when a table goes up. Usually that is not a big deal but when you are the last table and they run out of food it is a bigger deal. THen you have the tours. Nowhere do they put in the restrictions. That it goes too long without dog walkers or that it is a lot of walking on uneven ground. I was with friends and he has a cane and there was no way he could do that walking at 6-7k feet, Also we would have to check our cameras if they took video, what about my phone. I decided that it was 8 hours that I had no desire to see.
My next issue is they said they would have the busses running back and forth to old town and to the scandia tram and we would be able to leave when we wanted. Well they waited till 44 people were not he bus. That is not running them all day. So you waste an hour sitting and waiting.
I think that the tour was poorly organized and way overpriced for what you get. It was our first tour and probably our last. Adventure was there longer and went in one day after us. They were dry camping but had breakfast and dinner each night. That is kind of important as many nights the police restrict traffic and you can not get into the campground as the roads are closed to traffic to make everything one way the wrong way. Kind of like hurricane evacuation.
Now saying this, I will say that the Balloon Fest was wonderful inspire of the costs and the fact that everything costs a bunch. I would do it again. I will post a couple pictures here and then a link to my website that has three galleries of pictures.
And they fly and land right over the campground and in it too.
