David... you must be my long lost twin (just born 10 years before me!)

Last year I said "I WILL be there next year!" and it's happening!!! We also fly into New York on November 22nd (JFK). I will look for you and bring an extra hat if you need one! :)

I'm thinking Central Park West also - I will look for you - I'm sure we will be the only ones in that area! :)

But I'm also thinking about simbek suggestion of Carnegie Hall - steps would be good for me! My husband is 6'6" so he brings his own 'step' with him!

We also plan to do some part of the balloon inflation on Wednesday night (which is my husband's birthday)

For the balloon inflation get there early -there will be a million kids but it's better than standing there until midnight to see the final balloons blown up.

We went to the balloon inflation a couple years ago. It had been years for me (I was a resident at the time) and I hadn't remembered it being SO organized. We got off the subway, and were immediately on a line, which snaked around past all the balloons. It was almost downright civilized. Anyway, I had plenty of time to snap a pic of Dora and email it to my goddaughter. My husband had never been to the inflation nor the parade, and ended up being one of those who enjoyed the inflation more.

Me, I got spoiled in the late 80s. I was dating a guy who worked on Broadway, and his company opened up the office to employees and family/friends. We were eye level with the floats. Plus it was warm and dry, we had access to a bathroom, there were drinks, snacks, etc. Totally spoiled after that, and would never have watched from the street if my husband hadn't had that same dream a lot of you are talking about. Thank goodness he's over it! This year, we'll be on the LIRR, heading to a friend's for dinner while the parade is still Uptown. Whew. ;->

Enjoy all.

Hi, I am traveling all the way from Scotland to see the Parade, and I too am in my 50's but when it comes to Santa Claus I am a big kid.My daughter is at Graduate School at Miami University in Ohio and she will be coming to meet us in New York. The Miami University Marching Band will be right before Santa in the parade.

Our hotel is in the Upper Westside so we will be up early (our bodies will still be 5 hours ahead)and hope to get a good view on Central Park West.

I can't wait.

Hi Michelle,

You will love the experience seeing the parade. We were staying in midtown and took the subway up to Central Park West/Columbus Circle. I can't recall how early we started but I think it was around 7 or 8 am. After we got off the subway, we walked a few blocks up to 67th Central Park West and found great spots to see the parade. I'm 5'3" and I had a great view and took so many great pictures of the balloons that were floating over our heads. It was cold and there was some dark clouds overhead but then the sun came out later and it warmed up. I thought this was the best place to see the parade because you also had Central Park in the background.

After the parade was over, we went to grab something to eat at one of the restaurants nearby and then took the subway back to mid-town. Then when we came out of the subway we could see the parade still in motion and the giant balloons floating along the tall buildings was amazing. The nice advantage of seeing the parade at the start of the parade line is that you see it earlier.

You may want to consider having a drink at Asiate in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel the day before. Someone had told me that if you get lucky and get a seat near the windows you could see the balloons being inflated in Central Park. We didn't go up for this reason but we did have a nice lunch and cocktails there during our last visit. Hmm, this gives me a idea that we might try to see if this is true as we will be leaving for NYC this weekend.

You will have so much fun! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks portobelloB

We leave one week from today and I simply can't wait!!!!

Thanks for all the great information. We also are heading there this year!!!! I had heard that if you stand in one place the actual parade does not take that long to go by you (the 9-12 is TV time with all the starts and stops for commercials etc.). Is it true that once the parade starts to go by you it is only about an hour for the whole thing to pass?

I think it might be more like two hours. The time goes by pretty fast.

The parade takes about an hour to pass a specific location. It seems longer on TV because during the first hour they show the parade starting uptown followed by brief glimpses along the route, but mostly performances by Broadway shows and the Rockettes in front of Macy's that have nothing to do with the actual parade. Finally, after an hour of performances the parade itself arrives at Macy's, so there begins the hour of actual parade coverage.

(My sister works for Macy's and every year she and her daughter march in the parade, usually as balloon wranglers. This year they will be wrangling Diary of a Wimpy Kid.)

So are you about ready, Michelle? My wife and I are. Long range weather forecast for Thanksgiving day looks not so bad. Rain the day before, however, but we can handle that. I wish you a very good time in NYC and at the parade. And everyone else who plans to attend. We'll have our umbrellas with us, if needed. Even found knit stocking caps ($2.00 each!) at WalMart, in case they are necessary. Have a good time, and be sure to post after your trip with you observations/etc. I'll do the same. David.