27 Nov 2024 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon inflation, night cruise
27 Nov 2024 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon inflation, night cruise
Today is a BIG day! We get to see the inflation of some of the balloons to be used for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow.
Just to put this in to perspective as to how huge this day is, Lizzie has been dreaming of attending the Macy's parade for a VERY long time! The next best thing for her, is seeing the balloons before they make the trip down to Macy's in the big parade, and neither of us had any idea it was possible to witness the inflation. Luckily, our tour guide was all over it (like maggots on a shank) and teed up the group to visit the marshalling area on the Upper West Side so we could get a sneak peek at tomorrow's stars.
The gates didn't open until 10 am, but we started queuing at 7:30 am to ensure we got in! Believe it or not, we weren't the first in line. In fact, there were THOUSANDS of people in front of us, and the line extended a good three city blocks before we joined...and it just kept getting bigger!
Once the gates were opened, everyone was herded through a security check, which actually flowed pretty well considering the huge number of people. The NYPD were everywhere, and very efficiently guided us through the checkpoint.
Once through, everyone was forced in to a steel barrier maze that doubled back on itself several times before we finally got a glimpse of the lead float!
We then turned the corner and came across our first lot of balloons being prepared for the following day!
Seen enough yet? Well, there's more to come! This was just the first row of balloons. We then walked about 400 metres to the next block where we found another row!
There were another 4 or 5 balloons in this row but were yet to be inflated, so I don't have any photos for these. You'll see them in tomorrow's post!!!
I also caught a look at another float that was being prepared. It looked interesting, so it will be great to see how it comes together tomorrow.
This little journey took a couple of hours to this point, and both Lizzie and I were getting hungry so we decided to abandon the tour and return to our apartment for lunch and a rest. Along the way, we came across the first of the Christmas decorations in the neighbourhood.
The rest of the afternoon we had free time away from the tour, but the itinerary called for us to meet up with the group again in the evening for a night time boat cruise along the East River and to the Statue of Liberty. This was the very first time we needed to us the subway and I have to say it was quite intimidating until we got some expert tuition from one of our guides.
Arriving at the dock, we boarded our beautiful old boat and off we went. We were entertained by a small band on board who performed non-stop Christmas songs during the excursion. The night was bitterly cold, but Lizzie and ventured out on to the deck a couple of times to get an unobstructed view of the scenery. Lady Liberty was simply amazing!
So there you have it. That was our 27 November. We got home about 10 pm, which ordinarily wouldn't be a problem but tomorrow we have to be up at 4 am to get a decent view of the parade! And there's rain forecast!!! 
You'll have to wait for the next update to see how it all turns out!
Just to put this in to perspective as to how huge this day is, Lizzie has been dreaming of attending the Macy's parade for a VERY long time! The next best thing for her, is seeing the balloons before they make the trip down to Macy's in the big parade, and neither of us had any idea it was possible to witness the inflation. Luckily, our tour guide was all over it (like maggots on a shank) and teed up the group to visit the marshalling area on the Upper West Side so we could get a sneak peek at tomorrow's stars.
The gates didn't open until 10 am, but we started queuing at 7:30 am to ensure we got in! Believe it or not, we weren't the first in line. In fact, there were THOUSANDS of people in front of us, and the line extended a good three city blocks before we joined...and it just kept getting bigger!
Once the gates were opened, everyone was herded through a security check, which actually flowed pretty well considering the huge number of people. The NYPD were everywhere, and very efficiently guided us through the checkpoint.
- Balloon inflation crowd 1.jpg (4.69 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Lead float 1.jpg (3.9 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 1 Minnie Mouse 1.jpg (4.97 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 1 Minnie Mouse 2.jpg (4.65 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 2 Minion Ronald 1.jpg (4.53 MiB) Viewed 94 times
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- 3 Macys Star 1.jpg (3.64 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 4 Dinosaurs Diary Wimpy Kid 1.jpg (4.63 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 4 Dinosaurs 2.jpg (4.18 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 4 Diary Wimpy Kid 2.jpg (5.32 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 4 Diary Wimpy Kid 3.jpg (4.57 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 5 Paw Patrol 1.jpg (5.05 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 5 Paw Patrol 2.jpg (4.95 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 5 Paw Patrol selfie.jpg (3.07 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 6 Spiderman 1.jpg (4.23 MiB) Viewed 94 times
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- 7 Pikachu 1.jpg (4.68 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- 8 Elf on a shelf 1.jpg (4.91 MiB) Viewed 94 times
I also caught a look at another float that was being prepared. It looked interesting, so it will be great to see how it comes together tomorrow.
- 9 Wednesday 1.jpg (7.59 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- UWS xmas decorations 3.jpg (4.14 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- UWS xmas decorations 2.jpg (2.95 MiB) Viewed 94 times
Arriving at the dock, we boarded our beautiful old boat and off we went. We were entertained by a small band on board who performed non-stop Christmas songs during the excursion. The night was bitterly cold, but Lizzie and ventured out on to the deck a couple of times to get an unobstructed view of the scenery. Lady Liberty was simply amazing!
- Cruise boat 1.jpg (3.2 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise boat 2.jpg (3.66 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Brooklyn Bridge 1.jpg (3.21 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Manhattan 1.jpg (3.08 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Manhattan 2.jpg (3.26 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty 1.jpg (2.19 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty 2.jpg (1.8 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty 3.jpg (1.67 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty 4.jpg (2.65 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty 5.jpg (3.24 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty us 1.jpg (3.09 MiB) Viewed 94 times
- Cruise Liberty Us 3.jpg (3.24 MiB) Viewed 94 times
You'll have to wait for the next update to see how it all turns out!
Re: 27 Nov 2024 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon inflation, night cruise
Liz and Scott, another very informative and interesting g read. You’ve certainly been busy, and extremely patient, lining up in those long queues! Fortunately the result was worth it! The parade looked amazing, a big improvement on any Aussie parades! Continue to have a wonderful time, and make sure that toilet doesn’t block again, especially as the lamp doubles as a plunger!! Xx 
Re: 27 Nov 2024 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon inflation, night cruise
Great pic of you both out the front of liberty! 
the boys loved minions Spider-Man and Ronald McDonald at the parade 
the boys loved minions Spider-Man and Ronald McDonald at the parade 
Re: 27 Nov 2024 - Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloon inflation, night cruise
Thanks Netty. If you thought we were patient for this line, wait until the next update for the actual Macy's parade! Boy do I have a story to tell for that one!Netty wrote: ↑Sun Dec 08, 2024 7:23 am Liz and Scott, another very informative and interesting g read. You’ve certainly been busy, and extremely patient, lining up in those long queues! Fortunately the result was worth it! The parade looked amazing, a big improvement on any Aussie parades! Continue to have a wonderful time, and make sure that toilet doesn’t block again, especially as the lamp doubles as a plunger!! Xx
I'm hoping to post it in the next day or so... stay tuned.
Thanks Gab.
The Statue of Liberty was simply beautiful! I'm glad we got up so close, and got to see her at night.
I'll have some now photos soon from the actual parade day!
