Thirty years ago, there were only 250 hot-air balloons in existence. Today, there are more than 4,000 around the world, not all of which look like the traditional teardrop-shaped balloon that David Niven and Cantinflas took aloft in the 1956 film "Around the World in Eighty Days." The latest trend is specially shaped balloons and you require speciaaly designed air balloon pump to inflate them.

While a regular balloon can cost more than $15,000, custom-designed models can go as high as $50,000. Even at those whopping numbers, there are more than 50 special-design balloons, and two afternoons will be devoted to showing them off.

Balloonists are a fun-loving bunch, which is obvious looking at these whimsical creations. Among them are a massive dinosaur, Donald Duck, a giant burger, Carmen Miranda complete with fruit, a jetliner breaking through the clouds and a stork giving its newborn the ride of a lifetime. Even Santa makes an early appearance.

Yes, these oddities can really fly. Then again, at these prices, they'd better. For those eager to try hot-air ballooning but who have a fear of flying, there is good news. Many crew members have confided that they, too, will not fly in airplanes. But in this sport there is sensation of movement, because balloons travel at the same rate as the wind propelling them. It is akin to our Earth hurling through space at incredible speeds, with the velocity unfelt by us because we take our atmosphere with us.

Therefore, if you closed your eyes - which you'd be crazy to do because the view is incomparable - you would swear you were still on the ground. A mass ascension is like stepping inside a Technicolor dream. It begins before 6 a.m., when thousands of people gather at the dark, chilly launch site sipping coffee, eating breakfast burritos and watching liftoff preparations.

At this point, the balloons look like ordinary, albeit enormous, sheets of polyester or nylon spread over the ground. Gulping the cold air being pumped into them, they lay on their sides and slowly bulge above the milling crowd. Just walking among those lifeless yards of polyurethane and witnessing the transformation is worth the trip.

Hot air is lighter than cold air, and the real magic begins when cold air inside the balloon is heated by blasts of flame from the burners. Nudged upright by the hot air, the balloons rise slowly like sleepy children stretching themselves awake. Fully inflated, these behemoths can measure up to 80 feet tall and 55 feet wide.