Map of the Day: Thanksgiving Balloon Inflation!

Tomorrow is the day before Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which means it's the day to see the parade balloons get inflated! The parade blow-up action is along 77th Street and 81st Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue, around the American of Natural History, starting at around 3PM and ending at 10PM. The crowds can be very intense, so be patient.

New giant balloons this year are Horton, Smurf, and Buzz Lightyear; returning giant balloons are Abby Cadabby, Beethoven, Dora the Explorer, Flying Ace Snoopy, Kermit the Frog, Pikachu, Ronald McDonald, Shrek, SpongeBob SquarePants™and Supercute Hello Kitty. There are also "35 novelty/ornament balloons and balloonicles" (like Cloe the Holiday Clown( and a special giant balloon created from Keith Haring's Figure with Heart.

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By Jen Chung in Arts and Events on November 25, 2008 7:44 PM

Comments [rss]

blkiznewprez

if *i* had evil intentions, i'd sneak into the balloon warehouse and rig those puppies up with kaboom. then tomorrow, when charlie brown floats down the street and kids are ooh-ing and aah-ing over kermit...

but they totally guard those balloons, right? i've been watching too many of the "die hard" movies.

ides_of_march

#12 Exactly. Five years ago I was in the neighborhood that afternoon and it was relaxed and informal. Went again last year: it was crowded with cops moving people along like cattle.

zodak

a special dvd of toy story is being released & toy story 3 is in the works for 2010.

abby cadabby is a fairy on sesame street.

lol matty i would love to see the Union Scab Rat in the parade. i love that rat!!

i'll b there taking pics tomorrow.

drewo

There was a time... 20 or so years ago... when the night-before-Thanksgiving-balloon-inflating scene was a spontaneous street party, mostly involving only locals and the few New Yorkers in-the-know. You could walk right up to pretty much any tethered balloon and get a great pre-parade glimpse into the behind the scenes preparation.

Now it's organized, securitized and no doubt corporatized. And no longer fun.

ides_of_march

#7 The Obama balloon is next year. It won't even need helium. It inflates with its own ego.

PFCheungs

Meow!!

matty

Buzz light year reminds me too much of good economic times.

Can we have, like, an Eyor balloon? Or like, the Union Scab Rat?

EricGewiz

Hope doesn't float?! They should have had an Obama balloon....

Gregoire

No Obama balloon?

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

I wondered if Ronald McDonald paid Macys to include him in the lineup. It is wrong to have him. McDonald kills.

FelixtheCat & Christine Quinn'

why is Ronald McDonald included? he is killing many children with obesity, not to mention adults. Why did Jen C include him? McDonald is no friend of children