Getting a balloon at a theme park can be an iconic experience for a child and some of the balloons at Disney are amazing. Balloons can be found for sale, on parade floats and even as part of attractions. Much of the Disney balloon magic can be traced back to one man, Treb Heining who elevated balloons to an an art form. Mr. Heining was part inventor, part artist and part salesman who helped make balloons an integral part of Disney.

Treb Heining started selling balloons as a “balloon boy” or “balloon guy” at Disneyland in 1969 at just age 15. He wasn’t an entrepreneur or anything at this point, he was quite literally a Disney employee selling balloons to guests. He held this job for several summers and fell in love with balloons, so much so that after graduation he started his own company,  BalloonArt by Treb, Inc. The company’s specialty were elaborate balloon displays for parties and events such as giant balloon archways which he is credited with inventing.

This work eventually brought him back to work with Disney where he made many iconic displays and conducted huge balloon launches for the park (when letting a million balloons go without knowing where they’d end up was a thing). Mr. Heining’s work also extended beyond Disney with his company doing balloon events for the Super Bowl and Olympics as well as the famous balloon drops at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. He was also famous for his speed, being able to blow up 1,000 balloons/hour or about 17 a minute!

One of the innovations of Treb Heining was the “glasshouse” balloon, a non-helium balloon featuring a small character balloon, such as a Mickey Mouse head, enclosed within a larger, clear latex balloon. The name came from guests calling the balloons “Mickey Mouse in a glass house”. These special balloons actually requires a unique inflation method being that it’s a balloon in a balloon. The carrying stick has a a built-in straw for self-inflation if the balloon starts to deflate or can deflate the balloon for travel home. Mr. Heining’s whole company was named for this invention, now known as Glasshouse Balloon Company, Inc. which employs more than 50,000 across several countries.

Be warned that if you do buy a balloon early in your day at a Disney park it may complicate your life. This is because there are not allowed on rides and attractions which includes theaters. This does make sense as they don’t want to be chasing lost balloons on ceilings or worse have them interfere with mechanics, lighting, sound or ventilation in any way that could impact guest safety or guest experience. They’re also completely forbidden by park rules in Animal Kingdom for animal safety or at water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports, Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.

We unfortunately made the mistake of buying a balloon at the start of a birthday trip once at Disney Studios and it did nothing but complicate our lives that day. We found ourselves surrendering them to employees at ride entrances who would put them places like janitor’s closest for safe keeping. We’d then have to always go back to the ride entrance to “claim” the balloon again which on some attractions is easier than others. The rest of the days the balloons stayed in the hotel room. It may be best to buy the balloon right before fireworks to just take home with you.

There are a couple of other unique “balloon” experiences around Walt Disney World in addition to the standard latex or Mylar variety. The first is the ultra-popular Spaceship Earth Mickey Balloon popcorn bucket. Popcorn buckets are big business at Disney and it shows the place of balloons in Disney’s ecosystem in that they made a bucket out of it. The second is the Aerophile balloon ride in Disney Springs. The Aerophile balloon takes riders up 400 feet where you can see 10 miles and take in most of Walt Disney World. The third is the balloon float found in the Disney daytime parade on which Mickey and Minnie ride, so balloons are indeed everywhere.

Balloons are part entertainment, part art, part technology and part emotional comfort. Balloons bring memories of happy times like parties or celebrations and fit seamlessly into theme parks. Treb Heining should be credited as an innovator, artist and entrepreneur. The next time you visit Disney and see balloons perhaps you’ll look at them a bit differently and better appreciate their place in the theme park experience.