Christmas is coming! And there’s one big gift idea like none other. We are talking about the Goodyear Blimp! Well, you can’t buy the blimp, but you can have a chance to ride inside of it. It’s really cool! Deco’s goodest reporter, Alex Miranda, has more. Hey Alex!
At a toy drive next month, the blimp is helping make Christmas extra special. At its Pompano Beach base, you can see it up close, and talk with the pilots, and crew. But if you enter a sweepstakes and win, you could even take flight!
You don’t see this every day!
Alex Miranda: “Do we think it’s going to make it?”
Edwin Almanzar: “Is it?? We have great pilots though.”
A Goodyear Blimp, which we’re about to board at its base in Pompano Beach. No doubt, the biggest toy in Santa’s bag this Christmas.
Alex Miranda: “Take a look at this thing. It is massive. Two hundred and forty-six feet long!”
And you can win a ride in it! Just sign up for the raffle at this year’s Toys for Tots Santa Claus Express toy drive next month.
Edwin Almanzar: “We’re excited to take people up, whoever the winners are.”
It’s a 45-minute flight above South Florida.
Passenger: “I am scared of heights and this is amazing. It feels like a boat in the sky.”
So you’ll feel like Santa himself.
Passenger: “It was so quiet, it was so smooth. And just going out, and looking over the ocean, looking at the shoreline, it was absolutely amazing.”
And like Saint Nick, the Goodyear Blimp does good for the community.
Passenger: “We’re celebrating 20 years of Jessica June Children’s Cancer Foundation.”
Alex Miranda: “Was it scary? Be honest.”
Passenger: “Absolutely not. I was nervous getting on.”
Alex Miranda: “Alright, y’all. We’re about to go in the Goodyear Blimp.”
Airship pilot Edwin said you’ll love it!
Edwin Almanzar: “It’s amazing to see their faces.”
Alex Miranda: “Edwin, who’s flying the blimp?”
Edwin Almanzar: [Looks confused]
Alex Miranda: [Looks concerned]
Edwin Almanzar: [Looks paniced]
Phew! There’s another pilot.
Jeff Capek: “I hear people mentioning things like bucket lists and once-in-a-lifetime flights, and that’s good to hear. And it’s a good way to spend your day for us, you know, being a part of those people having fun.”
Alex Miranda: “Jeff, you wanna look forward every once in a while or what?”
Jeff Capek: [Laughs]
Speaking of which –.
Alex Miranda: “How fast are going? How high how are we? Give me the stats.”
Edwin Almanzar: “We’re not going very fast. We’re only doing about 40, 45 miles an hour. And right now we’re at about 800 feet above the ground.
And with no SoFlo traffic.
Alex Miranda: “That’s the Deerfield Beach pier.”
Turns out, you can get far, fast.
Alex Miranda: “Take a peek! This is Boca! We got up here so fast. But there’s the famous, gorgeous, Boca Raton Hotel.”
Alex Miranda: “Do you do loops in the air? Can we flip over or anything like that?”
Jeff Capek: “It is physically impossible to get upside down, so that’s actually a good thing for us.”
Alex Miranda: “We can try.”
Bring Toys for Tots Dec. 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The winner gets a blimp ride for 2 passengers total.
To get your free tickets to the Toys for Tots Santa Claus Express toy drive and enter the sweepstakes, click here.
They accept new, unwrapped gifts or cash. But donations are not required.
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