Is anyone going to be at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC?

November 20, 2006 1:19 PM

Is anyone going to be at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in NYC?

My fiancee and I, along with my father, two sisters, and two of my aunts will be escorting the Pillsbury "Holiday Lovin' Oven" float in the parade. We will be dressed as baked goods, apparently. I was hoping that if someone was going to be there and was going to be taking pictures, if they wouldn't mind posting them somewhere so I could see them? Or maybe even just capturing footage from the TV footage would be cool too.

I am hoping this is MetaTalk appropriate. Didn't want to waste space in AskMe. Anyway, if anyone can help out, I'd appreciate it.
posted by bDiddy to MetaFilter-Related at 1:19 PM (22 comments total)

Of all the half-baked callouts! This one is sure to get a rise out of somebody.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:27 PM on November 20, 2006

Please tell us you're going to be pancakes. It just doesn't work otherwise.

Who here likes biscuits? I love biscuits.
posted by yhbc at 1:39 PM on November 20, 2006

Honestly, I don't know. I saw pictures from last year's float and it looks like I'll be a cookie, a cinnamon bun, or a pie. Mmmm pie.
posted by bDiddy at 1:41 PM on November 20, 2006

Yes, bDdddy?
posted by MrMoonPie at 2:08 PM on November 20, 2006

OK, so spill the beans. How does a self described "computer fixer guy" end up on a "Holiday Lovin' Oven float?
posted by R. Mutt at 3:26 PM on November 20, 2006

'Cause he's PopnFresh - knowhaddImean?! Remember - Nothing says lovin' like crawlin’ up in her oven.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 3:29 PM on November 20, 2006

the Pillsbury "Holiday Lovin' Oven"

What. The. Hell.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:55 PM on November 20, 2006

Good questions! The secret is in the connections. A family member of mine works for Macy's. Apparently they allow employees and their families to volunteer to be in the parade. She offered, and my fiancee agreed. So of course then I had to agree.

Here's a picture from last year's float. It's exciting, right? I won't be on the float. That spot appears to be reserved for the doughboy and some celebrity. I get to walk alongside the float and scare kids. I mean, what kid wouldn't be scared of a giant cinnamon roll wearing oven mitts?
posted by bDiddy at 4:03 PM on November 20, 2006

Good Lord, thats a disturbing picture. Especially that rollin' pin.
Good luck.
posted by R. Mutt at 4:09 PM on November 20, 2006

My bro in law and family will be up by Tavern on the Green, the Grands walk a balloon every year. I'll call him and tell him to look out for your float and take a pic.

He's a jerk. He'll be wearing a hat.
posted by hal9k at 4:27 PM on November 20, 2006

If I had to dress up as baked goods I certainly wouldn't want pictures posted on the Internet.
posted by Pacheco at 5:20 PM on November 20, 2006

Oh, come now - pictures of Hot Cross Buns are what the Internet was invented for!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 5:37 PM on November 20, 2006

Awesome! Just think of all the pet names you and your sugarbun/cookie/sweetie-pie will have for each other! Pictures are definitely required.
posted by Quietgal at 8:11 PM on November 20, 2006

Pictures will be posted, as I plan on taking at least one. If I get others sent to me, then I'll post those as well.

For part of our wedding there is a slide show with pictures of us. I am definitely including a picture of us dressed as baked goods. My cupcake might disagree, but I'm ready to fight for it.
posted by bDiddy at 6:15 AM on November 21, 2006

I'll try to find your float on parade morning. I'll be in the parade too, and also helping to inflate all the balloons tomorrow, and will be there overnight. I don't suppose you have any idea where the float is going to be in the parade, do you? I only have the ordering for the balloons, not the floats.
posted by Godbert at 7:50 AM on November 21, 2006

Bro in law wants your names so he can do a shout-out when you pass as he takes the pics. Email me through the usual channels if you want such. Otherwise, I'll just tell him to yell "MeTa! MeTa!" and deal with the strange looks.
posted by hal9k at 4:08 PM on November 21, 2006

Weather report says rain all day! Yeah parade!

Hal9k: I'll send you an email. As much as I don't mind writing my name in a public forum, my fiancee might mind it. But really, you could tell my name from my email address. I thought it was funny you said your brother-in-law was a jerk, wearing a hat. Haha.
posted by bDiddy at 6:43 AM on November 22, 2006

Hey - I'll probably be near the end of the parade - like 34th and 7th, after you've turned the corner at Herald Square. I used to be a balloon pilot (when I was a buyer at Macy's), so I'm hoping to see some old friends and get brought inside the crowd lines. May happen, may not.

One caveat: I am helping serve lunch at a soup kitchen in Brooklyn from 10am-12pm, so I will have to leave before the parade ends. If you're near the front of it, this shouldn't be a problem.

Shoot me an email, if you want to trade cell #s so we can figure out where in the parade you are. It ends right there at 34th and 7th so even if I can't get past the lines, I can meet you guys while you're still with the float and can go crazy with the camera.

Its actually where I've gotten most of my best people-posing shots in the past, because it isn't the crazy frenetic parade pace like most of the rest of the route is, although I've gotten some great ones during pauses in Times Square - can't help you out much with that, seeing as I'm not in the parade this year, though.

BTW, here's pix from the last time I did it.
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:38 AM on November 22, 2006

Well????
posted by R. Mutt at 6:34 PM on November 23, 2006

Here's the pics I took yesterday morning. I never heard back from allkindsoftime, but I was at the end of the parade anyway so I'd have been there too late for him to take my picture. And I didn't hear anyone calling my name so either hal9k's brother-in-law didn't make it out in the rain or he was on the other side of the street from me.

If anyone was there and has pics, please send them! Or post them here.
posted by bDiddy at 8:09 AM on November 24, 2006

[reposted from MeCha]

So, impressions. It was exhausting. I had to wake up at 3:20am so I could be showered and drinking coffee early enough for the little lady to straighten her hair. We were on the Macy's provided bus to the city by 5:15am. On the bus we watched a video showing balloon handlers how to handle the balloon. I'm pretty sure no one on the bus was a balloon handler though, so this seemed strange to me.

We got to the New Yorker hotel to get our costumes. In the costuming rooms, we got ot pick our costumes from cinnamon roll, chocolate chip cookie, cherry pie, or cookie cutter. Cinnamon rolls didn't have to wear themed hats nor did they confine your arms to a weird place so dad and I picked those.

After we all suited up we walked down to the bus. Everyone was in some state of costume. Clowns, taxis, scuba divers, books, teddy bears. But everyone was staring at us! I guess it was funny to see us trying to squeeze our fat costumes through doorways and onto the bus.

We took the bus up to the start of the parade, and that was weird for me because taking the bus is such a normal part of my day it's odd to see people in costume on buses. Especially the teddy bears. They were so cute I wanted to cuddle with them!

Once we were at the start of the parade, we found that we were very close to the end so had a long time to wait. Luckily, a nearby hotel let us wait inside for the hour or so until we started moving. But after that we went outside to wait for the parade to start. By the time we actually got moving, we'd been out there for half an hour? All the while, my cinnamon roll is soaking up the rain. That thing got heavy fast.

The parade was fun. Everyone loved seeing us run by. And I mean run! A lot of the time - more than I expected - we were running! I guess I am exagerrating a bit. Most of the time we were walking and when we weren't walking because the float stopped, we had to dance around and act like fools. Bumping into each other, high-fiving kids. Laughing when someone made the same joke you'd heard just a few minutes ago.

So yeah. It was a lot of fun. I even saw myself on TV when I got home. It was pretty neat. I wish it hadn't rained, but what can you do?
posted by bDiddy at 8:28 AM on November 24, 2006

These pictures are adoreable! You looked like you had so much fun.
posted by piratebowling at 2:21 PM on November 26, 2006