Tournament of Roses parade 2012, grandstand seats or not?
 

We made a spontaneous trip to the Tournament of Roses parade a few years ago, got there a few hours before, stopped next to a street which would eventually be closed off & were told by the police officer that we could sit there once the street was closed. As luck would have it, when the barrier was placed, a woman who had showed up later pushed me and my baby and called me an obscenity & tried to push me out of my place.

We are trying to decide whether to shell out for tickets for 2012 or chance a place again.
Thoughts? It appears that the grandstand seats are not assigned so I assume there will be the jockeying for position within the grandstands as well.

I went to the Rose Bowl Parade a few years ago and sat in the grandstand seats. This was part of a package tour and so all was arranged for us. I know that it was wonderful to sit and watch the parade. Our seats were numbered--I don't know if they all are. I'm not sure I'm adding much to the conversation because I've only had that one experience, but I would consider the hassle you go through to attend and think seriously about getting a grandstand seat. Even if they are not assigned and only on a first come, first served basis, they are seats and better than being pushed out of the way on the curb.

My experience mirrors happycampers. I cannot imagine not sitting thru that parade. When we were there it was windy and very cool, and it was nice to "hunker down" on the bleachers.

That's comforting to hear good grandstand experiences. Maybe I didn't get far enough in the checkout process to get numbered seats. Any recommendations on which grandstand address to pick? Thanks.

I'm pretty much a Rose Parade veteran. I have never sat in the grandstands and prefer not to, but many people do find them enjoyable and there is the benefit of knowing in advance where you will sit. Almost all the seating is handled through Sharp Seating and is reserved. Pricing depends on where on the route you are. The best (and most expensive) seats are at Orange Grove and Colorado on the south side, but really, the floats are magnificent anywhere along the route.

Pasadena Presbyterian Church is one of the few private vendors. For $65, you get a reserved grandstand seat, continental breakfast, and indoor restrooms.

Whether you want to sit or stand, remember that the 2012 parade is on Jan. 2 because Jan. 1 is a Sunday.

I write a column on the Tournament of Roses if you are interested in getting more information: http://exm.nr/pasadenaroses

I know this is a really old post but I'm hoping some of you are still on here! We just found out that our daughter's high school marching band was selected to march in the parade. We are beyond excited to say the least and my husband, son and myself plan on flying out to see them march. We've been to the LA area before 2 years ago but have not been to Pasadena. I am not concerned so much about where to stay, park, how to get there, etc.... we'll figure all that out. But I want the absolute best seats we can get for obvious reasons. Since we are flying we obviously can't bring chairs and probably can't camp out for long as we don't have anything like that with us. I'm also concerned about the prolonged standing since my husband had back surgery 2 years ago. He's ok on his feet as long as he's moving but over 4 hours of standing still on concrete will probably wreck havoc on him. So I'm thinking maybe we need to get some grandstand seats. Do you know of the best section where the view is great with no obstructions? Or do you have any other suggestions?

Thank you!

Thank you - I'll do that!

Welcome to Fodors - Unfortunately you won't be able to post again until tomorrow (new members are on a sort of 'probation' until they've posted a few times.). Too bad you posted that 'thank you' even though it was polite :) - but that used up your posting capability until tomorrow . . .

Topping this so the OP doesn't have to