They were so pumped.
Thousands gathered on Manhattan’s Upper West Side Wednesday to watch their favorite characters take flight ahead of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
A massive line of people snaked around Columbus Avenue from 72nd to 76th streets near the American Museum of Natural History to watch the traditional Macy’s Balloon Inflation Celebration.
Brooklyn resident Martin Bell brought his two daughters Zora, 8, and Dahlia, 5 to see the characters come to life, speaking to The Post as a giant Baby Shark filled with air.
“It’s great. It’s just a wonderful, relaxed, very uniquely New York tradition that stays fresh just because the balloons are fresh, and the kids are into new and different things,” Bell said of the event.
Zora and Dahlia were most excited to see their favorite cartoon character, Bluey, their father said.
Bell recalled years ago when he marched in the parade with his own favorite balloon, Rover.
“I had a sore pair of arms but a very happy heart by the time it was over,” Bell said.
This 97th edition of the world’s largest parade, which typically draws some 3.5 million spectators to Manhattan, will feature 16 giant character balloons, 26 floats, 12 marching bands, 700 clowns and eight performance groups, Macy’s announced.
The parade kicks off at 8:30 a.m. beginning from 77th Street and Central Park West and proceeding two and a half miles south to finish in front of Macy’s at 34th Street-Herald Square.
Inside the float inflation area Wednesday, trucks of compressed helium were seen near partially inflated balloons, including Smokey Bear and Snoopy, which were under weighted-down nets.
Sheila Diaz, 37 of Brooklyn, waited in line for three and a half hours with her 3-year-old daughter to watch the balloon inflation.
Despite the long line, her daughter was comfortable sitting in her stroller next to her mother.
“She’s finally old enough to take it in a little bit more but I think it might be a one-time thing,” Diaz said, considering the wait.
“She’s just excited to see balloons. She thinks they’re going to be small so it will be surprising to her to see how big they are,” she said.
Richard Dinwiddie, 51, is the plant manager for Messer, the company that supplies the helium for the parade.
He said the larger balloons are typically inflated with 15,000-25,0000 cubic feet of helium, which can take about 90 minutes to two hours, depending on conditions.
Dinwiddie said working the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which he has done for the past 11 years, is the best part of his job all year.
“This is the best one. We love being a part of this because it’s such an iconic event for all of America,” he said.