Happy Thanksgiving, DFB Readers.
An annual tradition!
We’re still in the midst of enjoying the holiday season in Disney World, meaning we’re still eating all the holiday snacks and enjoying the holiday decorations. But on Thanksgiving, we also watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, and this year, we saw several Disney floats and balloons.
Believe it or not, Disney has a long history with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, going all the way back to 1934. In that parade, a gigantic Mickey Mouse floated through the streets of New York City. At the time, he was the biggest mouse ever created and stood at 40 feet tall! His details were hand-painted.
©Disney
So, let’s fast-forward to 2023. Of course, it’s not a Thanksgiving parade without a giant turkey, right?
The turkey
We also thought the Charlie Brown float was sweet.
Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang
There were actually several floats in this year’s parade that are Disney-related. First, the massive Grogu balloon has returned, and he’s as adorable as ever. He’s 41-feet high (taller than that first Mickey balloon), 29-feet long, and 37-feet wide. WHEW! This is the way.
Grogu
A NEW Disney Cruise Line float is making its way to the parade this year. It’s a float for the Disney Treasure, the newest ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet.
Disney Treasure float
Now, we’ve learned a LOT about the Treasure, including new details about its Haunted Mansion-inspired lounge. Captain Minnie was on hand at the parade to celebrate the new ship.
Captain Minnie and friends
We spotted a lot of familiar faces on the float, too. Look — there’s Mirabel (and look out for an Encanto-themed restaurant on the new ship)! Here’s a fun fact: this is the first float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade that is longer than the float bed — the bow of the ship juts out from the bed by eight feet.
Characters!
Although this isn’t TECHNICALLY a Disney balloon, we also saw a gigantic Bluey balloon during the parade. Of course, if you live in the U.S., you’ll know that Bluey is available on Disney+, so it is Disney-related.
Bluey!
We really enjoyed seeing Disney represented in the parade again this year. Be sure to stay tuned to DFB for more!
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What was your favorite float or balloon in the parade? Let us know in the comments!
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My kids loved the Disney Treasure float! We’re hoping to go on it in a few years, although it seems to be doing mostly 7 day cruises at 5he moment