Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade guide

The night before

Go witness the final preparations, and you may decide you can skip the main event entirely:

Balloon inflation, 3–10pm
Watch Snoopy and his inflatable chums come to life on Thanksgiving Eve near the American Museum of Natural History

Float assembly, midnight–8am (Thursday morning)
Laugh in the face of the wee hours and wait for the floats to emerge from the Lincoln Tunnel in disassembled form. The convoy will advance up Amsterdam Avenue to Central Park West around 11:45pm. At midnight, the Macy’s team assembles the fragments on the streets. For the best views head to Central Park West at 81st Street.

Tip: Residents in this area tend to have their friends over to watch the balloons and floats take shape the night before. If you have any posh friends living on Central Park West, now’s the time to cash in on those connections for a great view of the action.

The route, and where to stand

After 82 years of the same ol' same, the parade is changing its route. The beginning is the same as ever: It will start at 77th Street and Central Park West and head south. But instead of continuing across Columbus Circle to Broadway, it will now take turn east on Central Park South before turning onto Seventh Avenue. At 42nd Street it will slide over to Sixth Avenue before meandering down to Macy’s at Herald Square. Though the first massive balloon doesn’t cross the starting line until 9am, parade officials recommend that you pick your viewing spot by 7am to avoid disappointment. A map of the route and suggested viewing locations are available at the Macy’s official parade site.

Tip: Book a trip to the Top of the Rock (30 Rockefeller Plaza at 49th St, 212-632-5100) for elevated views of the parade.

What you'll see

Broadway stars: Expect numbers from Billy Elliot, Bye Bye Birdie, Hair, Shrek and, of course, the Radio City Rockettes.

Musical guests: As always there will be plenty of musical guests entertaining the crowds along the parade route and in front of Macy's. This year's lineup includes Andrea Bocelli, Boys Like Girls, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots, Jane Krakowski, Cyndi Lauper, Ziggy Marley and Carly Simon.

Balloons: Bigger is always better at the Thanksgiving parade. This year, three classic balloons characters–the Pillsbury Doughboy, Ronald McDonald and Spider-Man–get supersized to never-before-seen proportions, and Sailor Mickey (four times the size of an actual cruise shipanchor) will make his parade debut.

Floats: Yo Gabba Gabba Live! will showcase its educational tunes and dance number from the brand new There's A Party in My City float. Also, Christmas comes early: Santa will be making his grand entrance on a newsleigh (the last time he graced a parade was 40 years ago).

Where to eat after

Near the parade route (reservations recommended)
1. Isabella’s—Columbus Ave at 77th St
2. Ocean Grill—78th St at Columbus Ave
3. Cesca—75th St at Amsterdam Ave
4. Aureole—42nd St between Sixth Ave and Broadway

Kid-friendly (parade proximity varies)
1. Alice’s Tea Cup—W 73rd St at Columbus Ave.
2. Good—Greenwich Ave at Bank St.
3. Kitchenette—156 Chambers St at Greenwich St.
4. Penelope (no reservation needed)—Lexington Ave at 30th St.

The useless facts you kinda wanna know

• Macy’s is the world’s second-largest consumer of helium. The first is the United States government. (Congressional whippits: going strong.)
• The parade is put together by a small team of Macy’s employees and around 4,000 volunteers who work year-round out of a studio in Hoboken. The studio doubles as a storage facility, which is the home of the floats and balloons for the other 363 days of the year.