To view balloons for parade, go early

Dress for the outdoors and wear comfortable shoes for the festivities.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
NEW YORK -- Visitors to the Big Apple who want a close-up preview of the giant helium-filled character balloons featured in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade should witness their inflation on Thanksgiving eve.
The public is invited to watch this free pre-parade event from 3 to 10 p.m. Nov. 23 along 77th Street and 81st Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.
"That's the closest they can get," to the balloons, said Orlando Veras, a Macy's spokesman. Marchers hold the balloons high above the crowds by ropes during the parade itself.
These wide streets are closed to vehicle traffic for this annual Thanksgiving eve ritual. Spectators will see helium-filled tanker trucks parked in the streets as crews inflate the balloons on the ground and rehearse their handling. Visitors are asked to enter the parade staging area at 79th Street and Columbus Avenue.
The 51 balloons will include Sponge Bob Square Pants, Chicken Little, Super Grover, Charlie Brown, Big Bird, Garfield, Ronald McDonald and Uncle Sam. Macy's says it is the world's second-largest helium user behind the U.S. government's.
New to lineup
Four giant character balloons will make their debut this year: Dora the Explorer, Healthy Mr. Potato Head, Jojo's Circus and Scooby Doo.
Because they'll have to do considerable outdoor walking, people planning to view the balloon-filling should dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes.
Watching the balloon inflation is a good way not only to see the balloon characters, but to avoid the crush of up to 3.5 million spectators lining the parade route on Thanksgiving morning.
The best seat for the parade itself is likely in front of a TV. Some 50 million people watch NBC's live parade telecast from 9 a.m. to noon every Thanksgiving Day. This year, for the first time, the parade will be broadcast in high definition.
Balloon inflation spectators might consider a visit earlier on the day before Thanksgiving to the American Museum of Natural History or the Hayden Planetarium, which are at the balloon filling site.
Those visitors should sit down and rest their legs in the museum cafeteria or in a planetarium sky show before doing more walking during the pre-parade festivities.
This year's 79th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is the kickoff of the 2005 Christmas shopping season. The parade starts on 77th Street and proceeds down Central Park West and Broadway to Macy's at Herald Square.
With the exception of the World War II years, the parade has been an annual Macy's event since 1924.