Behind The Scenes of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade with Good Housekeeping’s Parenting Editor Marisa LaScala
- November 24, 2025
- By Alice Knisley Matthias
Who is going to be there this year? Well, Spider-Man, Sesame Street friends, Snoopy and Buzz Lightyear are always on hand to entertain the crowds. This year new friends like Labubu will join the festivities and a group of tiny Goldfish with friendly smiles. There will also be an eight-and-a-half-foot-tall Demogorgon from Stranger Things floating in the air high above everyone’s heads. Where is all this fun happening?
At The 99th annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade when it heads down the parade route in New York City, for the largest celebration yet, on Thursday, November 27, 2025.
This year’s lineup will feature 28 floats, 31 balloons, 4 balloonicles, 33 clown crews, 4 specialty units, performers, marching bands and performance groups!
Kids Discover got a chance to talk to Marisa LaScala, Parenting and Relationships Editor at Good Housekeeping, and she shared her behind-the scenes observations about all the magic that happens before the festivities are seen by millions of viewers on Thanksgiving Day.
Marisa recently took a tour of the 80,000-square-foot warehouse in Moonachie, New Jersey, where it all begins and saw vintage pieces of floats from the parade’s history and what the preparation teams are getting ready for this year’s parade.
“Macy’s comes up with between two and five concepts for each float,” says Marisa. “Once a concept is selected, it’s tested out in a small model, especially if there are tricky parts to work out.”
The biggest float in the lineup this year is the new Holland America Line float with a movable sculpture and parts that look like Alaska’s waterways with realistic looking salmon jumping from the stream.
This year’s parade will have first-time appearances by six new floats and four new featured characters in addition to “The Land of Glaciers, Wildlife and Wonder” and a “Master Chocolatier Ballroom” with a spiral staircase and giant-sized chocolate treats.
How do these giant floats get from a warehouse in New Jersey to the start of the parade route in New York City?
Marisa learned how all the floats, including equipment for sound systems, are built so that they can be taken apart and packed up to be delivered through the Lincoln Tunnel that connects New Jersey and New York. Everything travels in containers that are about the size of a school bus so they can fit through the tunnel!
All the pieces are taken to the Upper West Side of New York City the night before to be assembled through the next morning to get ready for the parade.
“What struck me most about visiting the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade warehouse was the idea that everything in there had to be packed up and driven through the Lincoln Tunnel the night before the parade,” says Marisa.
“I never really thought about how the floats got to Central Park West, and it seems like an extra layer of logistics—especially because when the parade is rolling, you’re just lost in the magic and you don’t see the seams they use to break everything down.”
Keep an eye out for the LEGO Group and a new float called “Brick-tastic Winter Mountain,” with penguins by a miniature hockey rink and Yetis ice fishing. If you think you can recreate the float with your own LEGO pieces you will need about 2,475 bricks to build it to be the same size as the one in the parade!
The Thanksgiving Parade always finishes with an appearance from Santa Claus in his sleigh to officially kick off the holiday season!
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade takes place on November 27 at 8:30 am ET. Fans can tune in on NBC or on Peacock, or watch in Spanish on Telemundo.
