Macy’s gave some very lucky youngsters a sneak peek of the floats that will make their way through Manhattan during the 92nd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
In a Moonachie, New Jersey, warehouse, the magic of the holidays came to life for dozens of children. We talked with students from Saint Ignatius Loyola School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan
Emelia Dos Santos says, “I like how the turkey moves. The Kinder egg is just really funny.”
Third-grader Liam Jackson told News 4, “I really like the chocolate Kinder egg factory float. I really like that.
The Kinder float includes a “Choco Meter,” measuring degrees of “chocolaty, more chocolaty and very chocolaty.” The Fantasy Chocolate Factory by Kinder float will be one of five making its debut in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which is televised exclusively on NBC.
“Now, this has a Ferris wheel that has all of these gondolas made out of egg shells that are carrying the cocoa into the factory,” said John Piper, Vice President of the Macy’s Parade Studio.
Piper has been designing the parade floats for 38 years. One of the most extravagant is the splashing safari. It showcases the artistry of Africa. The elephant at the center of it measures 14 feet wide.
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“We’ll have puppeteers inside of it, making it move," Piper said. "The trunk goes up and down. The ears flap. It’s all part of the Macy’s magic.”
Tom the Turkey has been leading the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade since the 1970s. This year, designers gave Tom a makeover. He’s perched on top of a truck that’s not visible to parade-goers. Tom will be self-propelled in this year’s parade.
Calista Kilb, a third-grader, says, “I think it’s cool how the flaps of the turkey move and the head moves.”
Also debuting this year, the Elf on the Shelf pets. The St. Bernards and reindeer are on a mission to help Santa Claus raise the Christmas spirit. A favorite among the children getting a sneak peek of the floats: the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Nickelodeon. The crowd at the parade and television viewers will get a glimpse of the turtles’ secret life beneath the streets of New York.
“My favorite is probably the Ninja Turtles. It has an arcade,” said Drake Donaldson, a third-grade student.
Susan Tercero, executive producer of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade says, “when the kids come in and they say, ‘wow,’ or they’re in awe, or they recognize things, I think we know we did something right.”
The floats received rave reviews from the mesmerized children seeing them for the first time.
You can catch the parade on Thanksgiving morning, November 22, from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. on WNBC, channel 4.
More than 50 million people across the country are expected to watch the parade on Thanksgiving.
