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NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Temperatures may be dropping, but excitement for the 92nd annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is heating up in New York City.
This year's crowds will have to contend with frigid conditions and powerful winds, and everyone is hoping the weather cooperates so the iconic balloons can take flight on Thursday.
For the Cruz family, Wednesday's balloon inflation event is a must-see every year.
"We just saw the helium down there, so we're really excited to see all the floats," Taylor Cruz told CBS2.
Taylor, Olivia and grandmother Sharon Cruz plan to watch from Sharon's apartment on Central Park West.
"I just like seeing the same floats every year and as years go on, it's just really nice, it's like a family tradition," Olivia said.
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Thursday is expected to be one of the coldest Thanksgivings on record in the 92-year history of the parade.
That's not stopping Jen Taylor from bundling up and braving the elements to attend.
"Maybe it'll thin out some of the crowds, perhaps," she said. "It's a pretty hearty group. So we'll see."
Frank Schrimp will be working the parade route.
"Rather than sitting in my living room and watching in warmth," he said.
Conditions will be so cold, Dr. Robert Glatter, of Lenox Hill Hospital, says parents may want to think twice about bringing their young kids.
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"In this type of water- sub-20s, sub-zero - you've got to really say 15-20 minutes and then it's time to go in," he said. "I think I would keep the kids indoors and really kind of stay away if it were me."
NYPD officials said they're keeping a close eye on the wind conditions.
"We do have seven fixed anemometers throughout the parade route, or wind speed instruments," Chief of Patrols Rodney Harrison said Tuesday. "But if we have to call an audible on the day of and make an adjustment, we'll do as such."
More than three million spectators are expected along the parade route. Most repeat-visitors will tell you it's an experience unlike any other.
"It's an experience I would recommend trying to do once in your lifetime, at least," said Katie Kreutter, of Rochester.