Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
add photos5 Reviews for Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
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"Free & Fabulous! "
What a great experience for the kids to see all the great, big balloons & floats right in front of them, we usually watch it on the T.V. every year but the one year we went was amazing! But honestly it was cold so make sure the kids have gloves & hats to bundle up in, of course the crowds are huge just like most events in the city but it really is worth it-even just once!
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"Better on TV, but See the Balloons the Night Before"
I've been to the parade a couple times and every time we end up going up to the hotel room so the kids can see better. It is super crowded so if you don't do well in crowds this is definitely not for you. They do a pre-show the night before where you can go see all the balloons get blown up and this is something the children totally love. Dress warm and be prepared to walk, but it is worth it.
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"It's a tradition!"
I think one of the reasons that New York is such a charming city is because we have seen images of it in so many movies. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is spectacle that we've seen in our living rooms across America. So, when we were planning to be in New York for Thanksgiving, we were determined to brave the crowds and go watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in person.
The day before the parade, we happened to be at the American Museum of Natural History and as we were leaving that evening, we were greeted with a sidewalk full of families marveling at giant balloons being inflated at Central Park West and Columbus Avenue on 77th and 81st Streets. The kids weren't too amused because the crowd was very tight. We ended up having to carry both the 4 and 7 year old on our shoulders so they could see. it was fun to see the process of balloons getting filled up, but I don't know if we would have made a special trip of it again in the future.
On Thanksgiving Day, we didn't feel like waking up at 6am to get a front row spot. Our kids are young and we just couldn't imagine having to wait around for 2-3 hours for the start of the parade. We decided to just risk it and we arrived at 48th and 7th Ave around 9:00am. The balloons and floats were just beginning to arrive when we got there. We were very far back from the font, but it was better to have some elbow room and less of a close up view in my opinion. However, when the doors to M&M opened up we realized quickly that we could get a really good view of the parade from the second floor windows of M&M world. So we rushed in and up the elevators. From there we could see it all.
For those with young kids, watching the parade from M&M world was perfect. When the kids got tired of watching the parade, they could walk around the store. We were warm and the bathrooms were right there. The staff at M&M World were so patient with the hordes of people who descending on the store.
The parade was wonderful. It was just cool to see with our own eyes what we've seen on TV so many times. Those huge balloons were delightful especially since there were so many that the kids recognized. I don't know that I would have enjoyed it as much if I was in the middle of the packed crowd at street level. The kids would certainly have been on my shoulders for 2 hours which would have made me quite miserable.
I couldn't help but amuse myself at the thought of how eager we all were to be sardined into a crowd to be subjected to a Supersize branding and advertising parade.
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"American Tradition"
This is a fun activity to do if you are in New York City for Thanksgiving. The parade starts at 9 but get there much earlier as the parade route gets very crowded. The parade starts by Central Park and ends at Macy's. A fun activity for the whole family. :)
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"Macy's Parade with a Toddler"
We made a road trip from Kansas to New York last year to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade up close and personal. We have a 2 year old son and so were a bit concerned about what to expect. Although the city was extra crowded during this time of year, the parade did not disappoint. We visited the balloon inflation the night before (would not recommend this over-crowded activity) and got some advice from locals. They suggested we stake out our spot on the curb by 6:30 Thanksgiving morning. We followed this advice and it was completely accurate. People swarmed in shortly after 6:30 and filled the sidewalks. We had a front row seat and the adults and children alike were completely in awe of the massive floats. We did bring chairs but everyone around us was standing. There are NO restrooms available so plan on holding it for a few hours. We had an absolute blast!!!
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