Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation

The night before Thanksgiving, the parade crews inflate all the balloons on the streets either side of the American Museum of Natural History. We thought this would be a quick walk through, no one else would be there. WOW did we misunderstimate this crowd.

We got out at the 81st street station, and our first indication that stuff was mad was that the line to get out of the station was at a standstill. Once we got streetside, we were penned in, led up to 73rd. Here are the balloons we saw there.

Kung Fu Panda

Picachu and a Pokemon

Spiderman

Jennifer and Finn pose near Horton

Horton seems to emerge from the darkness.

Buzz Lightyear

The Energizer Bunny

A Smurf

Christmas decorations



Now at the corner of 73rd and Columbus Ave, we thought it was done. But the crowd was further funneled - not unlike cattle - to 79th, where we crossed Columbus, then crossed 79th, then crossed Columbus again!

We don't know why they did this. The crowd was even thicker at this point, and nearly at a standstill. It reminded me of Woodstock, 1994, when we would venture out to get food and get stuck in a crowd of people for hours.

The crowd then went from Columbus back to Central Park via 77th, where there were still more balloons.

I don't know who this dude is.


Hello Kitty

Spongebob

Kool-Aid guy

Kermit's ass...and it's a BIG one, let me tell you...

Turkey and pumpkin


We reached the end at this point and had little choice but to return to the same subway station on 81st and leave.


Happy Thanksgiving!