Vista Balloon Adventures

Vista Balloon Adventures

Vista Balloon Adventures
5
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
About
Hot Air Balloon Scenic flights from Newberg, Oregon. Morning flights from Friday through Monday from April through September, weather permitting. This hands on experience lasts approximately 2 hours!
Newberg, Oregon

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Travelers talk about

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

5.0
5.0 of 5 bubbles284 reviews
Excellent
265
Very good
12
Average
2
Poor
2
Terrible
3

JodyGC
Scottsdale, AZ164 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2022
One of the best anniversary celebrations we have ever had! We celebrated our 36th anniversary with a balloon adventure. Our pilot Kelly was outstanding! There were 9 of us, 11 with the pilot. The basket is quite large, plenty of room for all of us. The ride was smooth, comfortable, and FUN! My husband and I have never flown in a hot air balloon. It will be hard to top this one. Everything about our trip with Vista was excellent. They communicate with you several times in the days before your flight to make sure you know the location and time to meet. We loved helping the crew "blow up" the balloon. At the end we also helped pack up the balloon. What an exciting, amazing experience. We HIGHLY recommend scheduling a flight with Vista Balloon Adventures when you are in the Newburg, Oregon area. It was a short drive from our B & B in Dundee. A fantastic addition to wine tasting. Thank you Kelly and the entire Vista Balloon Adventures team.
Written August 22, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Heather S
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Sep 2023 • Couples
I anticipated having a wonderful time floating around and enjoying the views below. I didn't plan on our pilot to be so funny and engaging, nor did I think we would get to participate in the process of blowing up and taking down the balloon. Also, I had no idea the balloon would go up and down several times and even land/float on the water! Lastly, the view of all the other beautiful balloons around us in the sky was breathtaking. What a fantastic time! Each and every person I spoke with at Vista was so friendly. I've been telling everyone I know to give it a try!
Written September 19, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Heidi S
6 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Family
Fantastic experience with a knowledgeable and highly experienced pilot! We took a family trip to check a balloon flight off my bucket list. Our entire family felt confident and calm throughout the flight. Even though our pilot, Kelly, has almost 30 years of experience as a balloon pilot, I got the impression she’s still excited by each flight.

One person on board was initially nervous, but seemed almost immediately at ease once we were under way. The setup and takedown of the balloon were almost as much fun as the ride itself.

Our flight was so peaceful and beautiful— Oregon Wine Country is the perfect destination for ballooning. If I lived in the area I would consider joining the chase crew.

This is the PERFECT gift! My husband gave me a certificate for Christmas—- who needs more “stuff” in their life? This experience was everything I had hoped it would be.
Written July 18, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Tammy L
Minneapolis, MN2 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2023 • Couples
Loved landing on the Clackamas River for a moment before heading back to the skies. I was blown away by the amount of control the person in charge of the Ballon had to ascend and descend. It was a totally worth our time and $ and I would definitely do it again.
Written August 15, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KylieS
Downers Grove, IL158 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2022
Absolutely breathtaking. This was a bucket list tour on our family trip to Oregon. It was a lot of fun to watch the balloon be inflated. We were in a basket that held 8 people and were paired with another family of 4. Our captain, Rod, was very experienced and knowledgeable. He even took the balloon for a "dip and dash" on the river. Watching the sunrise over the mountains was spectacular. Loved seeing the Willamette Valley from above. The teens helped pack up the balloon at the end of the flight. Highly recommend this once-in-a-lifetime tour. Even our teens loved it.
Written August 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Jessica S
2 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
May 2022 • Business
We have been looking forward to our hot air balloon ride so much but it was canceled last minute - not weather related! We fully accept that rain or wind would impact our ability to fly but it is a bright clear day. The reason we were given was the fields were too muddy. It has barely rained all week. If this was the case, they would have known this well in advance and I could have booked elsewhere. To say we are disappointed would be an understatement and to cancel a private tour pretty last minute via text is really terrible service. Beware.
Written May 21, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello Jessica, we feel your disappointment. Ours was also significant because this was a sold out day. While it did not rain on May 21, we experienced record breaking rain prior to that day: April and May were the wettest on record in the area since 1940. With that much rain, the farmland we land on takes days of dry weather to drain and dry. We cannot drive on saturated fields or field roads to retrieve our balloons without causing damage or stranding our vehicles (and passengers). An inspection of the fields and roads led us to the decision to cancel and provide you with a full refund two days before your flight via text (and email), as you had requested at the time of your online booking. We have flown in the area for over 30 years, and pride ourselves on the decisions we make to ensure passenger, crew, and pilot safety as well as the protection of private land. Being stuck in ankle deep mud is not an experience you should pay for!
Written July 3, 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Esther F
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Friends
The most amazing views of the Willamette Valley like I’ve never seen and I’ve lived here almost 40 years! Pilot Rod was an amazing host and the crew provided safe and clear instructions. We enjoyed the privilege of a splash down in the river!
Written July 28, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

O_B_Aan
Seattle, WA2 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2011 • Friends
I made the mistake of booking a balloon ride with Vista Balloon adventures last week. I will try to provide as balanced a review as possible. Here we go...

I found out about this outfit through their website. I called in advance and made a reservation over the phone after giving my credit card details. I was told that the balloon rides were for an hour or more at $189 a pop - pretty pricey but I decided to go ahead anyway since I wanted to gift this experience to a friend of mine. They were good about sending me an email with the relevant information and a reminder phone call the day prior to departure. So far so good. I was truly looking forward to the trip.

It was a fairly clear morning with some partial cloud cover but good visibility and light wind. I was told that conditions were good for the ride. After registration, we were given name tags and shepherded to our gondola. Next, they asked for a couple of volunteers to help unload the balloon from its large storage bag (it weighs 500lbs or more). Next the volunteers had to help inflate the balloon. This process itself took about 10-15 min.

After lift-off, our pilot mentioned that the flight would be about an hour long but could be longer depending on wind conditions. The first 15-20 min were good fun as we ascended up to about 2700 feet. But soon after the pilot brought the gondola down until we were maybe about a 100 feet above the ground. And from that point on, he was more concerned about where he was going to land and how soon. We spent most of the rest of the time hovering close to the ground while he kept radio-ing his chase team to find the appropriate landing spots in some farm or another. So the ride effectively did not last more than 15 min, since we spent the rest of the time looking for landing spots.

Once we did land (a good landing by the way), the entire party of 10 paying customers were asked to pitch in to help deflate the balloon and to roll/fold it up. Next we were all heaving the heavy balloon into its storage bag. This went on for a good 15min. Considering how heavy the balloon material is, this was not light labor by any means.

So in effect, I paid about $190 for a 15-min ride and had to put in manual labor in the end. Yes, a decent brunch was served in the end, but that is not what truly interested me. I had paid for a balloon ride and felt gypped.

I feel ripped off. The whole experience is not worth more than $100. A fair price may be $60 (or $75 with the brunch thrown in). I would not go on this ride with these guys ever again.

My two cents...
Written July 16, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

sharbo
Los Angeles, CA5 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2011
First of all, the owners and their many volunteers are all lovely people. Secondly, it is definitely NOT an hour ride, maybe 30 minutes at the most. It helps to know that the experience is about setting up the balloon, taking off, the ride, and mostly about finding a landing spot and then packing up the balloon. The whole adventure does take three hours like they say, but there is no way that the ride is going to be one hour or even 45 minutes. The brunch was fun and tasty too. MOST OF ALL, I had no idea how loud the burners would be. Ear plugs would have helped tremendously. Also, I have nothing to compare this experience to but I think the ride was too short for the money. P.S. My kids really enjoyed it. :)
Written August 7, 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Stacy H
Ashland, OR1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2012 • Family
Me and my party of 3 had a very disappointing, unprofessional experience with Vista. I'll share our "drama" just to warn other people looking to share a fun adventure with their family: My family received tickets and a confirmation in the mail. Little did we know that company hadn't received payment yet. We assumed our payment had been processed after receiving the tickets and didn't double check that the payment went through. Vista and my company are part of ITEX, a barter network so the transaction was through barter. Our barter broker was responsible for posting the transaction, which we requested of him weeks before our ballooning trip. Like I said, after receiving tickets, we assumed Vista had been paid. We drove 5 hours from home to go ballooning. The owner Roger called us when we arrived in town and said they hadn't received payment, and furthermore, after several calls back and forth to approve the payment through our ITEX barter network, Vista (and its ITEX broker) refused to accept payment! They said it was "too late in the day"....it was 5:30pm. Our balloon was taking off the next morning. We tried to work with Vista through an issue that was really a misunderstanding. Rude is an understatement to how we were treated. It ended up as a HUGE disappointment for my family. I heartily do not recommend Vista. On the upside, my family is looking forward to seeing what other fun we can do in the Salem/Portland area and trying to make the most of the days we took off work.
Written August 7, 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.

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