A dream?

For most of the movie I assumed it was a fantasy in Carl's head:
-Balloons carry a house to South America
- house stays intact for a long time while floating
- no altitude sickness
- dogs speak human language
- childhood hero-turned-villain still alive in his aircraft

Leaving it to seem like it really happened seems more depressing to me because that could never happen in real life. What COULD happen in real life would be that an old guy and a kid bond over their shared love of adventure, and pretty much every other aspect of their friendship as depicted... But evidently that would not have been good enough?

My wife is giving me a hard time because I love Harry Potter and don't have a problem suspending judgment in that story... So I don't know why I have such a problem doing it here.

I want to hear what other people think...