Less people in bad weather, GO to the parade, even in rain
Disadvantages:
CROWDS, and hardly any view if you arrive after NINE AM
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Here's a review of an attempt to see the Thanksgiving day parade in New York City, (year 2006) .
Okay, so here's advice on how to get a better view of the parade for NEXT YEAR:
1. Arrive MORE THAN EARLY. We were told that some of the high school bands arrived there at around three or four AM that morning. And, we asked them about how many people were there at that time. They said there were hundreds and hundreds of people. So, arrive at three AM if possible or four am if you want the BEST look at the parade.
2. Bring your own snacks and drinks because once you are in your SPACE at the parade, you won't get to leave there until the parade is over. You are literally LOCKED into your space because people are shoulder to shoulder behind the blue police lines (blue wooden barracades).
3. Try not to let the little children drink too much while you are in your space because there is no where to go to the bathroom once you are in your viewing position. I'd say the BEST place for children to view the parade , really , is on television. The children we saw on the side streets were not exactly happy.
4. If possible, bring a small tri-corner camping stool for the children, IF there is room , if you get there at three am, you can set that up and have them sit a bit. Some sat on the curbs but they were asked to move -by police.
5. If it rains, the parade goes on and still there will be thousands watching the parade, so don't cancel due to weather.
6. If you have an 'in' , by knowing someone in the surrounding buildings, you can view from their windows, these people seem to have the BEST live view of the parade, though they didn't get the sound because most NYC windows are permanently sealed for safety.
7. BEST VIEWS EVER, if you have a press pass, these are the people who have the best view of the parade. So, dig your press pass out and get on down to the parade.
8. BE CAREFUL, there are pickpockets in those crowds. NYC is known as the capital of pickpockets. If you have a wallet or purse or money, you most likely are a target for pickpockets, so if you feel someone pushing in a crowd, beware! Watch your pockets, bags, and purses. Our suggestion is carry your money INSIDE your coat, very concealed, and carry a decoy wallet that has your 'lunch' money , soda money , separate from your whole trip money.
9. RAIN: Umbrellas are no good at this parade, bring rain ponchos, and rain coats and hats before you opt for umbrellas. Most of them we saw were in the garbage cans and others were poking people here and there.
10. TIMING: IF you think that you can arrive at nine, ten or eleven and see anything of the parade, you are most likely mistaken.
BEST HINT FOR PARADE VIEWING:
For those of you who arrived too late to get a good spot, go to the END of the parade at the end, or before it ends, and you will be able to see them de-flating the balloons. You'll catch close up views of some of the parade participants -that are still in costume. You'll be able to see some of the participants stopping for lunch, in costume...and some boarding their large busses to go back to their home states.
So, go for the END Of the parade, not the beginning. and you most likely will still come up with a few good pictures that make it look like you actually saw the parade.
SECOND BEST HINT FOR PARADE VIEWING:
Seriously no joke, arrive at three or four am to get the first in line spots at the parade. You'll see people setting up, doing their routines, and you'll love the 'less' crowds .
THIRD BEST HINT FOR VIEWING THE PARADE:
and this really is the best view that you'll get unless you are actually in the parade.
WATCH THIS PARADE ON TELEVISION!
lol...seriously, you'll see most of the floats and balloons and get to hear all the singing and the bands also.
All kidding aside, yes, it's nice to see the parade live --in person, once or twice in your life but this i s not something that you would want to do every single year.
It is a GREAT event; the colors and costumes are totally awesome.
WE are very glad that we did go this first time and will go one more time or twice again, in the next coming years.
HERE'S What happened at this year's parade when we went to see it : AN INSIDER's LOOK at the PARADE:
First, it rained. So this means the crowd was probably half the usual crowd for this parade. (This was a good thing).
Arriving at nine AM (before the parade begins) gave us no advantage at all. We wound up on the side street , where there were no floats and no balloons. Stretching our necks and heads to look down the main street was a task, view blocked by some 'official' cars and vans that were in the way.
We walked blocks and blocks and blocks and all the corners were blocked off to people and traffic. So , to get to one particular block, we had to walk about ten to fifteen blocks out of the way, and then when we arrived there, we wound up stuck in the middle of hundreds of people and still no vision of the parade or floats.
(Remember , we arrived at NINE AM).
Macy's "thought' of this problem because occassionally some clowns would come down the side streets and dance around , walk around and pose for a picture here and there, but this too was rare.
Most of what we saw was the side of the top of a balloon.
We did hear the noise and did hear the music.
I can't imagine people coming from all over the USA and the world to see this parade and then being stuck with seeing practically nothing.
SORRY this is a TRUE review of what actually happened.
Still, there was a good part to the day .
Thinking things out, and really trying to figure out where the best place to be was and how to get there, we finally found a way to see some of the balloons that were being de-flated.
So , we did get a few good pictures here and there but not the look of the parade that we expected.
