I will be in New York over Thanksgiving. I have been told shopping is a big event that day (equivalent to Canadian Boxing Day). Any suggestions for the best place to watch the parade.

The day after Thanksgiving is considered to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year. Stores will be packed. However, on Thanksgiving Day itself, stores will be closed.

The best place to watch the parade is Central Park West. (The area immediatelty adjacent to Macy's is way too crowded to see much of anything - what isn;t take up by invited guests and the media stands.) If you're in town the night before go and see the balloons blown up - it's a hoot - at the park next to the museum of Natr'l Hist.

I've been there and seen the parade live. The best place to watch is from the comfort of your hotel room or home on TV with a nice drink. You'll never see the main entertainment which is all by Macy's and strictly staged for TV.

nytraveler,
Watching the balloons being blown up sounds fun...what time should we get there on the night before? I'm assuming this is staged at the start (77th at CPW).
Thanks,
Ken

Found a neat website with great info to answer your question -

Best time to watch the balloons being blown up? later...closer to 10pm
http://www.theinsider.com/nyc/hidden/012thanks.htm

Best places to watch the parade?
http://www.theinsider.com/nyc/fun/3thanks.htm

Although, I do agree with Patrick. A quick trip down to the street is enough for me...and finish watching it on TV, nice and warm with a drink in hand!

Thanks...we're in NYC now so I think we might try the night before balloon blowing up activities. My wife isn't that keen on crowds so this might be a better alternative to fighting the crowds on Thanksgiving.

Ken

Ken recent accounts suggest the balloon thing the night before is also very crowded. I'd go if I were you, but just a warning that it could also be a mob scene. Evidently in front of the Museum of Natural History is the place to be.

Our family was there two years ago. The night before Baloon blow up is not too crowded if you get their early. Do not miss this.

My hubby and I sawthe parade from the Novotell Hotel. We bought a delicious 6:00am to 3:00pm Buffet Brunch and Cocktails Package. We could see all of the parade from the restaurant rooftop by going outside or by staying inside near the windows. We could see the baloons that is. For the bands etc. we stayed rooftop, went outside and looked over.

It was great and freezing outside but we could see all that we wanted and had no crowds to fight. We had clean restrooms, heat, alcohol, great foods and they had tv screens so we missed nothing while we ate and socialized with others.

Many hotels had these packages. They are quite pricey. I think we paid $300.00 per person...maybe more. Worth every penny!

Hope this helps. Do not forget to see the Met's Christmas tree, go see the Knicks if you can...those ARE $300.00 per ticket for sure for the cheap seats.

See the trains at The Botanical Gardens and go ice skating when it opens...

Such GREAT memories...it was an excellent week!

Back from NYC...and Thanksgiving events. We went up to the ballon blowup. Yes...it was crowded but very well organized. As we got close to 78th street, NYPD directed everyone in a line to cross over to the next street west and then work our way back to see the balloons. Everything was roped off but we did get to see all of the balloons blown up and tied down. A word of caution...they closed it off at 10 PM EST so get there by around 9:00 PM.