I just wanted to take the pulse of the community here and see what people think about the Rose Parade - both this year's production specifically and the event in general.
As some of you might know, I live in Pasadena, California (three blocks from the parade route!), so the Rose Parade is a big part of my IRL community. But I haven't applied for press credentials to cover the parade since 2017. Even in years when Disneyland put up floats in the parade, I just didn't see a great deal of readership for my posts covering the parade. (You can fine my old posts through the site search.)
Nevertheless, I've promised myself that if a theme park should enter a float in the parade again, I will cover the float decorating and do a preview piece on it a few days before the parade. This year, Knott's sent its stagecoach and Snoopy to celebrate its 100th anniversary, but no float. And Disney had a "halftime show" with the cast from the Pantages Theater production of "Disney's Frozen" singing "For the First Time in Forever" on Orange Grove Boulevard, with four of the cast members (including those playing Anna and Else) riding seated in a carriage down the rest of the five-mile route.
Living the Pasadena bubble, it can be hard for me to gauge what people around the country and the world are thinking about the Tournament of Roses parade these days, so I would love to hear your thoughts - about the parade and our potential coverage of it. Thanks... and happy new year!
Update: This is interesting. Someone posted a time lapse of this year's parade, condensed to one minute and 40 seconds. It's shot farther down the route on Colorado Blvd. from what you see on TV.
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Honestly, I was surprised not to see a story about this year’s parade, Robert. Watching the Rose Bowl Parade is a special New Years Day tradition with my family. I even spoke to my wife earlier in 2019 about possibly making the trip to Pasadena specifically for the 2020 parade. The Tournament of Roses Parade is still a significant event and it most definitely falls in line with the theme park community. Please continue your coverage of the parade. Thank you, Robert, and Happy New Year!
I’ve ever only really cared about three parades - The Main Street Electrical Parade, The Macy‘s Thanksgiving Parade and the Granddaddy of them all - the Rose Bowl Parade. I have been to the Rose Bowl parade once and that was the coldest parade in history back in 2015. It was a great experience, but the weather was challenging.
I set the DVR to record the parade this year because I hate watching all the ads. After attending the parade a few years ago, I was astonished at how much longer it lasts than the networks permit us to see now. That’s my biggest disappointment with the broadcast. I want to see it all. I taped both NBC and Hallmark’s coverage and NBC comes in at 2 hours and Hallmark’s is 3. I’m not sure if we’ll see more on Hallmark, or if they are just including more ads.
I’m always excited to see what the Theme Park companies create for the parade, but the most memorable float from years ago was theme park related, but not built by a park. It was the working, looping ridden by a human roller coaster Honda presented back in what must have been the last 80s or very early 90s. It was fantastic.
BTW - after fast forwarding now through two commercial breaks here on Hallmark, I’m pretty sure they are showing more than average ads, so that third hour may be due to more commercials.
It really is a great American New Years tradition and I look forward to it every year.
Yeah, it's actually just under two hours now... though the run time on the street can drag beyond that as the line-up gets ragged farther down the route due to float breakdowns and traffic crossings.
When we lived in the US we watched it, it was fine although I wished big companies wouldn't use it as an advertising medium. But reading a review of it afterwards doesn't add anything. It's not that I can go back the next month and still see it (unlike a theme park parade).
We watched some of the Rose Parade live on Youtube. I've got an old Roku 3 attached to our main TV and the kids really enjoyed seeing it. They watched a solid 30 minutes of it then played while it was on for another 45 minutes or so.
I was pleasantly surprised by it all. My kids enjoying it, the wide range floats and performances, as well as simply catching it on Youtube.
Going to the Rose Parade was a tradition when I was a kid - Mom, Grandma, and I (Dad insisted on sleeping in and never went with us) would pile into Grandma's car and go to Pasadena and park down by Sierra Madre Blvd to watch the parade. At that time Pasadena businesses had not figured out that Jan. 1st would be a great day for them to be open, so we had a picnic lunch after watching the parade. WE were generally back home by 3:00 so Mom and Grandma could start cooking the New Year's day dinner.
Now a days my husband and I try to go down to the float viewing area either on the 1st or 2nd, depending on our work schedules. We always watch the parade, generally on the local KTLA 5 and this year for a change we watched it on RFDTV. If you have RFDTV available I would suggest trying that channel as they had very few interruptions and the evening re-broadcast also had limited commercials. I'm still a fan of the parade, with fond memories of being able to pull up a lawn chair along Sierra Madre at about 8:30 in the morning still get a view of the parade. sigh those days are long gone. . .
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I recognize the event’s charm and nostalgic appeal, but as a New Yorker and someone who is usually traveling at this time of year (Good morning, Vietnam!), I’m rarely able or inclined to pay much attention to the Tournament of Roses and its parade. And my football schools stink so they’ll never play in that bowl. I’m sure many others feel differently, though, on all 3 accounts of geography, football interest, and sitting at home. People do enjoy parades. Thanksgiving Day, St. Patrick’s, Pride Day, Dominican Day, etc. are big parade events at home in NYC.