Tournament of Roses Parade: Where to Sit?
 

My sisters and I want to buy tournament of roses parade tickets for our 80-year-old mother. She is not very mobile. Do you have any advice for where on the route we should buy tickets? Also are there any wheelchairs? Or how far would she have to walk?

Go to www.tournamentofroses.com There is a section on access for persons with disabilities that should help with some planning for next year.

The parade is along 5 miles of city streets. There are no wheelchair rentals like you see at an amusement park, but there are plenty of wheelchair rental companies where you could arrange to have one for a week or so while in town. If you are flying in, you might want to look into rentals in your own hometown. You would have the wheelchair for use in the airport, and it would be ready for you when the plane lands in Southern California as well.

There are parking lots throughout the parade route as well as street parking a few blocks away. If you buy tickets for grandstand seating, they will also have parking spaces for sale. Parking close by is at a premium and very expensive,so the wheelchair is definitely a smart way to go. I am not sure where you would store the wheelchair while in a grandstand seat, but I am sure the people handling the seat rentals are used to this question.

FYI, the majority of the attendees use curbside seating rather than sit in a grandstand.

Several years ago my husband gave me a trip to the Rose Parade as a Christmas gift. It was wonderful! He used Al Brooks Rose Bowl Tours and I must say they did an outstanding job. We had tours to watch the floats being decorated the day before the actual parade. On the morning of the parade we were transported via very comfortable bus to Pasedena. <u>I would have hated to try to negotiate that traffic, parking and crowds on my own.</u> The bus took us within a couple of blocks of our seats. We had excellent Grandstand seating right at the beginning of the route where all the TV cameras are set up so the bands, floats, and horses really perform at that spot. After the parade, we had wonderful box lunches awaiting us on the bus for the return trip to our hotel. I would highly recommend this company.

www.albrooksrosebowltours.com

If your mom has mobility issues, you definitely want reserved grandstand seats.

Al Brooks is a ticket agency that's been in business in L.A. for 90 years. For me, TC's review of their tour would seal the deal.

But if you choose to get grandstand seats on your own and not do the Al Brooks tour, make sure you also get reserved parking. If your mom has a disabled parking placard, bring it so that you can park in a handicapped space close to your seats. If she doesn't currently have a disabled parking placard, talk to her doctor about obtaining a temporary one.

In your nice, warm family room in front of your 60&quot; big screen.

That big screen TV better have smell-o-vision, because you can smell the flowers as the floats go by.

FYI to anyone interested, you can view the floats up close for a couple of days after the parade. It's very interesting to see how they use the plant material (some of it very exotic) and flowers to cover every inch.

http://www.tournamentofroses.com/events/showcase.asp

I grew up watching the Rose Parade every NYD which is why I wanted so much to see it in person. Now that I have, I can hardly watch it on TV. There's just no comparison to being there. Watching on TV just makes me long to go back. Television absolutely does NOT do justice to the beauty and workmanship that goes into the amazing floats -- not to mention the perfume of the flowers.

Jean - my oldest and her puppy are visiting. That puppy provides plenty of &quot;smell-o-vision&quot; for me. b(