A major piece of Jimmy Buffett’s personal mythology is being removed from its home in Orlando, Florida. Thankfully for Parrotheads, the departure is temporary. According to WDW News, Margaritaville in Orlando’s Universal City Walk is removing the singer’s iconic plane from the locale.
“The Hemisphere Dancer has been temporarily removed from Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville for refurbishment. She will return to CityWalk Orlando next year,” Margaritaville management said in a statement. The plane had been hinted at removal for a bit, with photographers capturing it being dismantled before the official statement.
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The Grumman HU-16 Albatross seaplane comes from 1955 as a U.S. Navy vehicle, later purchased by Buffett in 1995 and restored. The singer renamed the plane the Hemisphere Dancer, leading to several adventures for the singer and a scary close call with the Jamaican police in 1996. That’s when Buffett, his family, U2’s Bono, and Island Records founder Chris Blackwell were on board and shot at by the police for suspicion of smuggling drugs.
It is also featured in his memoir, A Pirate Looks at Fifty, where he described several of the adventures with his family flying around the Caribbean and the Americas on his 50th birthday.
Buffett sadly passed away in 2023 at the age of 76, leaving the plane behind at its new home in Orlando, where it has remained for years and should remain once it makes a triumphant return to the City Walk.
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