About two dozen protesters briefly disrupted the procession near 55th Street and were taken into custody, the police said.

The rain isn't stopping anything — the parade has only been canceled three times, from 1942 to 1944 during World War II.

A century after the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the annual holiday tradition kicks off Thursday in New York City with new Spider-Man and Minnie Mouse balloons, zoo and pasta-themed floats, performances from Jennifer Hudson and Idina Menzel,