Stephen Yang
These New Yorkers are pumped for the Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Hundreds of spectators gathered on the Upper West Side Wednesday to watch both classic characters and new additions take flight ahead of Macy’s 98th annual holiday event.
Crowds lined the entrance to the inflation at 72nd Street and Columbus Avenue in hopes of catching a glimpse of the 17 character helium balloons and 15 novelty inflatables that will join marching bands, floats and other participants Thursday morning.
“Dad, look, it’s Dora!” screamed Anna, 6, as she tried to scale the barricade to get a closer look.
Anna’s father, Ramon, told The Post they recently moved to the Upper West Side, and never imagined the floats – some as large as two firetrucks – were this big.
“I would watch it on TV all the time but never imagined it was this big in person,” Ramon said.
“Mind blowing doesn’t really describe it.”
Alongside fan favorites like Snoopy, Dora the Explorer and Pikachu, 2024’s six new additions to the parade include Minnie Mouse, Extraordinary Noorah & The Elf on the Shelf, Goku from Dragon Ball Z, Gabby from Gabby’s Dollhouse and Paw Patrol’s Marshall, as well as a revamped Spider-Man inflatable.
“We have six new giant character balloons starting the parade off with Minnie Mouse, which is just so exciting,” Kathleen Wright, director of production operations at Macy’s Parade Studio, told The Post.
“Spiderman has been in the parade before, but I think people are going to be really excited to see him back again,” she added. “Same with Goku. He’s been in the parade, but back again this year in a new iteration of that balloon.”
The freshman class of inflatables join more than a half-dozen floats slated to debut Thursday, including characters from “The Addams family” Netflix series “Wednesday,” Nickelodeon’s “Dara’s Fantastical Rainforest” and Mickey Mouse on a “Magic Meets the Seas” display from Disney Cruise Line.
“Every year we try to bring in the absolute best in entertainment,” Wright added. “What’s new, what’s fun? What’s relevant? What are people hoping to see on Thanksgiving? And I think that this year we really achieved that.”
Elisa Ramos lives six blocks from from the inflation site, and told The Post she looks forward to the inflation every year.
“I love that the streets are closed,” Ramos, 67, said. “I never go to the parade because it’s too crowded but because they park the balloons right down the block I come and see them up close.”
Rohan Hutch, who was visiting the Big Apple from Turkey with his wife and two children, said his New York-based family called the inflation event a “must do.”
“I would like to go to the parade as well,” Hutch, 40, said, “but I’m not sure with the weather.”
A Thanksgiving Day storm is expected to bring rain throughout the length of the parade with some heavy downpours, the FOX Forecast Center said – though winds won’t start to pick up until later Thursday afternoon.
While the iconic balloons won’t be able to fly if sustained winds reach a sustained 23 mph, the forecast center expects winds of about 10 to 20 mph with some higher gusts.
“We use a very special fabric for all of our balloons that is weatherproof and durable so that our balloons can fly in more than one parade,” Wright said. “So every year we’re building these balloons so that they can fly, rain or shine.”
The caution comes after Ronald McDonald partially deflated in 2019.
Parade organizers are working “very closely” with city agencies and the NYPD in securing the route this year, the director added. Last year there were anti-Israel protests along the route, though there was no indication they would be repeated this year.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade will step off Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EST and viewers at home can tune in on NBC and Peacock.