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Experience the sensation of flight via the new Flightline at the San Diego Wild Animal Park

Flightline, the new zip line experience at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego

As a the child of an airline executive, I have enjoyed flying in all manners of aircraft. I even spent 8 years as a flight attendant, working my way up from 36 passenger turbo-prop planes that ran from San Diego to Los Angeles, to 12+ hour flights on jumbo 747s to the far reaches of the world.To this day, I am still in awe of the feeling of soaring above the earth whenever I travel by air.

Last week, I was able to take the experience of flight to a whole new level - via "Flightline", a 2/3 mile long zip line high above the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA. The ride has a 450 ft. drop at the top, and takes you over the several park exhibits below. The cost is $70 in addition to park admission (1/3 of that fee goes to Zoo Conservation programs) and is already mostly full on the weekends so plan ahead or try going for a weekday flight.

Upon arrival to the zip line area, you are weighed in (privately!) and then given a waiver to complete. After viewing a brief training video and being fitted with a harness, riders get their wings wet by taking a short "fledgling flight" at the bottom of the hill. After that, we boarded a caravan truck for a 20 minute behind-the-scenes tour that includes an up close and personal view of the California Condor breeding facility, which is normally not open to visitors. Plan on about an 1 1/2 for the full experience, including the preflight training and very informative tour.

The ride is designed to give the feeling of soaring like a condor over the San Pasqual valley below. Seated safely in a double-wired harness, you have a weightless feeling that when combined with sound and feel of the wind breezing all around you - it actually feels as if you are flying! Soaring over still curious animals like the rhinos and Przewalski's wild horses is truly an amazing experience.

I was lucky enough to be there on a day when Josh Stern, a videographer with the LA Times was filming for their online edition, so I was asked to make the zipline trip twice! No hesitation.

 

For more information on booking your own flightline experience, click here.