Has the Macy's Thanksgiving parade always been this bad?

[vi5]

Why does every single float have to have some horrid "up and coming singing sensation" being pushed by some major label. Every single float. I remember as a kid they mostly had washed up old crooners doing hokey versions of Christmas or holiday songs. But why now does my daughter who just wants to see the Sesame Street or Disney float have to sit through GirlZ Zone or 2B4U singing their latest pre-fab pop crap that has nothing to do with the parade or the holiday let alone the float that they are on? Do I just not remember this stuff from when I was a kid or is this just the inevitable result of the big corporatization of everything? I never thought I'd say I'd long to just see Mel Torme singing Jingle Bells.

[gizmo1979]

1. I always liked the ballons.

Did they have them today or too windy?

[vi5]

2. They had them...

I liked the balloons too. It's just the entertainment portion that seems to have become one giant cross-promotion.

[gizmo1979]

3. I agree

totally.One big shill for product a to z.

[johnfunk]

4. It'$ all about commerce, and the $safety of the public be damned

Another goddamn balloon "accident", this time at 44th & Broadway: large balloon hit a light pole, the falling pole injured two kids who had come down from Albany with their parents to witness all the corporate family fun.

The balloon in question was an M&Ms balloon -- I know that candy isn't good for your health, but this is ridiculous.

[vi5]

5. I remember when them adding a new balloon was an event...

When something had to become somewhat iconic to get a balloon. Now they have balloons for movies which just came out a few weeks ago. Pathetic.

[Lady President]

6. Really bad this year

I stopped watching after Matt Lauer's description of the Scooby Doo balloon. To paraphrase, "The Scooby Doo balloon has been in the Macy's Parade for xx years and is xx feet long. This dog would need a Scooby snack as big as a door. Scooby Doo has the record for most episodes of a cartoon ever made, and you can buy them for Christmas on the newly released DVDs."

Yuck!

[Horse with no Name]

7. My daughter was fortunate enough

to have one of those "experiences of a lifetime" when she was a sophomore in High School. Her high school marched in the Macy's Parade.
Even greater was that it was in 2000 and she got some spectacular pics of the World Trade Center on her harbor cruise. A little more than a year later, they were gone.:(
Our holiday tradition is to watch the parade she marched in every year instead of the new one.
They march directly after the Baja Men did "Who let the Dogs Out?" and we laugh because she told us they were so loud they missed their cue.
Works well for us.

[vi5]

9. I can see that being a great experience...

I'm sure being there you tend to notice the bigger balloons and the more intimate stuff on the ground. And especially if you are looking for someone specific who is marching. But at this point what they show on tv is cross promotion after cross promotion.

[Horse with no Name]

10. Well her recollections are that they had to get up at 2 am

and rehearse.
Then waited on a bus until 5 am and then they lined up.
They played a show from Les Miserables--but it was very cold that year and they couldn't play their woodwinds in fear of them breaking in the extreme temps, so the sound was kind of hollow and not nearly representative of how they actually sounded. She said all the way down the parade route...all the parade goers wanted to hear was "Yellow Rose of Texas".
I totally agree with you on the balloons.
So many things that used to be special events have been wrapped into everyday for no other reason than because they can.
Very few things are special and sacred anymore. I, too, used to look forward to adding balloons.:(

[NashVegas]

8. Oh Hell Yes

Who else here remembers when they had the Clancy Brothers?

[Bombero1956]

11. too scripted

the only thing live is the bands. Everything else is prerecorded including the applause. Don't watch anymore. I do recall some years ago that Santa's pants fell down when entering Macy's.

[WI_DEM]

12. No

Just in the last 25 years or so. There used to be lots of floats, balloons, marching bands and of course Santa--but not all the celebrities singing and dancing--mostly has beens--YUCK. Maybe it's been this way since it started being televised. It sure looked fun in the movie "Miracle on 34th Street" with the soused up old Santa Claus.

[bettyellen]

13. we always used to go see the ballons and rehearsal the night before

back in the day, when the ballons had long and dangerous limbs and no products to sell, they have them under nets like giant gullivers and you could get within feet of them. then we'd go down to 34th street and watch the run through. all these kids getting off of busses in full uniform at 5 AM , going through their routines in front of a floodlit macy's with no one around. i miss doing that.