Goodyear announced today that it is listing its gondola on Airbnb for overnight stays the week of the Notre Dame-Michigan game and will offer people the chance, for $150, to sleep inside the gondola that hangs under the iconic blimp (they now call it an airship). Three lucky couples — guess a couple of guys could squeeze in there somehow, flip for the foldout couch — will be able to book one of three nights from October 22-24 before the blimp commander takes off for Ann Arbor for the big game. You’ll spend the night in the Goodyear Wingfoot hangar outside Akron.
What you’ll get for $150 if you’re lucky enough to secure a night in the Blimp gondola:
- Access to the Goodyear hangar, which is the size of 2.6 football fields and home to the Blimp
- Football lounge where guests can relax and watch some of the all-time best rivalry games in college football history
- Lakefront spot with a grill, fire pit, cornhole, and other tailgate essentials, perfect for taking in views of the sunset and maybe even the resident bald eagles soaring by
- Prime tickets to the college football rivalry game in Ann Arbor, MI, on October 26, and official gear to show your pride
- Space for up to four friends to join in the revelry before the two guests retire to the cozy gondola of the Blimp
Here’s the Airbnb listing. Airbnb will start accepting reservations starting October 15. Good luck.
Goodyear is selling 3 one-night stays in a blimp gondola (I’ve sat on the toilet in this gondola, it’s nice) for $150/nt on Airbnb & it'll come with tickets to Notre Dame-Michigan https://t.co/n1KahBW1tT pic.twitter.com/pVTOPEZjRF
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) October 8, 2019
This is where I get to tell you how incredible this experience is for the general public. You won’t get to go up in the air on the blimp during your stay because the gondola will be staged with the furniture and won’t have the seats in place — it’s next to impossible for the general public to go up unless you win some sort of fundraiser or you run a site like BC. It’s next to impossible to even get into the gondola just to look at it.
I was lucky enough in 2018 to go up over Akron in this gondola during a press trip and it’s beyond fascinating to sit in this thing. You’re telling me I can sleep in it for a night in the Goodyear Blimp hangar? No joke, I’ll be trying to win a night’s stay. The hangar itself is incredible especially if you care at all about the history of aviation. It’s been a blimp building site going back to World War II and lighter-than-air craft all the way back to World War I.
Can’t wait to win one of the nights.