Rose parade

Here is all you need to know:

Rose Parade Info

The airports I would fly into are as follows:

Burbank BUR, Ontario, Ca ONT, John Wayne SNA, Los Angeles, LAX

For the parade do buy reserved seating and reserved parking. As a first time attendee do not try to drive up and find a place to park and a place on the sidewalk to view the parade Last time we had out of town guests we found tickets were a little less along the last half of the route. It’s the same parade but a little less band music. Don’t bother trying to be where the TV cameras are located. Set your DVD and watch when you get home. Pay the money and enjoy the experience. As a SoCal local I keep praying for rain so Pasadena does not look like paradise to the rest of the snowbound country.

Also for two days after the parade the floats are on display near the end of the route. No music or movement but the aroma is something you don't get watching from the sidelines. Parking $10 and very busy.

Get your tickets the day they go on sale for 2019.I think Feb.1st.We went last year as it was on the DW bucket list.Best time we have had on any of our trips.As was said get the parking too.Too much fun.Go early and make the trip to the rose bowl the day before the parade.Most floats are on display there.There are two other areas.Fiesta Floats is one and can't remember the other.Do some searching and see if you can get tickets to get in their place.My wife was like the kid in the candy store.

Call the Rose parade office. They are very helpful and enthusiastic.

When we went, they supplied the tickets -- opposite the NortonSimon museum, just down from the turn.
We couldn't book a campground site for New Year's Eve, but the Rose people had arrangements with (I think) Parson's Parking Lot, so we dry camped in the company lot. This was the best arrangement for us as we were right in downtown Pasadena having arrived the previous afternoon. I wouldn't want to try to get there on the morning of the parade. I think they closed off one the freeways and made it parking.
The days before the parade you can tour the places where the floats are being assembled. Afterwards you can also see them.

There are places of architectural interest that you can tour.
The streetcar line runs to the Los Angeles railroad station and more places beyond that.

Good information from others. If you are really into adventure, people campout on the sidewalk starting the afternoon before and celebrate the new years there. We used to do this in our younger days. Sharp Tickets is the official seller of grandstand Tickets. You have to consider the side of the street you want to sit on too. Floats generally have a front and back. Front being the side the Cameras are on (or the south side of Colorado blvd). If you are near the beginning of the route there is more energy and less float breakdowns but more busy on the sidelines. We often would watch it on TV then go down to the end of the route and watch the whole parade live since it has not even made it there.

Consider going with a group. Not sure where you plan on staying but many small cities/communities offer group trips to the Rose Bowl.. I know my city of 20K people does through the Parks and Recreation Dept.

You travel to and from on a large bus (bathroom is important), have reserved seating in bleachers right on the parade route; which are excellent. I think our city charged $75/person a couple years ago.

Driving, finding parking, then individual seating wherever can be a nightmare.

There are also large groups (Good Sam, etc.) which you can join, but sometime the cost is pretty big.

Whatever you decide DO go. It is a fantastic experience.