We’ve been lifetime members of the Fulltime Families RV group since we launched in the summer of 2022. It’s opened up many doors and experiences for us that we normally wouldn’t be open to. One such experience was the Fulltime Families Balloon Fiesta Experience. This RV rally was centered around the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!
Fulltime Families, or FTF, have hosted Balloon Fiesta events for several years and have reserved a parking lot at a church’s graveyard for their exclusive use. This comes with several pros and cons.
Pros:
- The area is fenced in, allowing kids to run free when not at the balloon field
- “Walking distance” to the balloon field, with a shuttle stop right outside the reserved area
- Arrival was a week before the event for orientation, crew training, and programs
Cons:
- Overpopulated. The FTF organizers cram as many rigs as they can in the camping lot, with only shoulder width between rigs
- Dry camping. Not a difficulty for seasoned boondockers like us. Coupled with the tight quarters, though, we had to endure generator fumes nearly all day, as well as the daily trundle of the pumper truck
- The price
The exclusivity of being around families the whole 2 weeks we were there wasn’t quite enough, in Dad’s opinion, to offset the close quarters. For the price we paid in 2024, we could have gotten our own spot with full hookups on the other side of the park, with change.
Fulltime Families’ Balloon Fiesta: It’s Not All Bad
Mom here: It was worth it! Our kids made tons of friends! This is a main point of attending a rally. They had so much time to play with them! Would we attend Balloon Fiesta through FTF again? No. But for what it was and what we were looking for at that time (which was a rally around Balloon Fiesta), it was fantastic.
In addition to camping at Balloon Fiesta, the FTF event also included several activities. These activities were in the week before Balloon Fiesta actually started. They included arts and crafts for the kids, marketplace events, coffee talks, Moms’ and Dads’ nights out, crew training with a pilot, a field trip to the International Balloon Museum, and many more. Our kids also enjoyed more informal events (“organized” by the kids) trading Pokémon cards, building with Legos, and selling lemonade.
An Opportunity for Crew Training Before the Event
The pilot who provided our crew training through FTF exclusively uses FTF for their crew during the event. However, with so many families attending Balloon Fiesta, this means that you might only get to crew once for them. In addition, you don’t get any extra entrances to Balloon Fiesta; the weeklong passes to get in are passed around among the families crewing. Finally, most families crewing for this pilot were not able to get up in the balloon as the pilot had too many other obligations and there were so many crewing for them.
While the crew training was more general, it was helpful for us to get a feel for things before we started volunteering. The pilot and crew chief went over safety, general steps to inflating a balloon, and shared some important tips and things to watch out for. Finally, the kids (and adults, too!) all got to use the burner a time or two.
The FTF Balloon Fiesta Experience, while expensive, does add a great networking opportunity, as well as a “brain trust” of experienced RV parents to help navigate RV upgrades, equipment issues, lessons learned, and raising kids on the road. If you’re a member of FTF, it’s worth it for all that. But if you just want to see the pretty balloons, there are more comfortable ways. There was too much Balloon Fiesta for just one post, so be sure to check them all out!