A wee bit of Sunday news for you, folks.

One of the star attractions at Downtown Disney, Characters In Flight, has been removed for an undisclosed amount of time.

The tethered sight-seeing balloon, which floats 400 feet above Downtown Disney, was removed for investigation.  Aeorphile, the balloon’s manufacturer and operator, deemed the suspension necessary  following an incident at the Ocean Park in Honk Kong which left a 3 meters long gash in a gas-filled bag.   The  subsequent  rapid decent injured 5 people.  4 on-board and one on the ground.

Courtesy of the Standard, Honk Kong.

As of now, there have been no safety concerns with Characters In Flight.

With Disney’s focus on guest safety, it is possible that the Ocean Park accident may have condemned Characters In Flight to a place on the ‘extinct Disney attractions‘ list.  It’s interesting to note that Disney has removed the attraction from their Disney World, and Disneyland Paris websites.

For now, fans of the attraction will have to wait for the investigation and report.