In the pantheon of parade float achievement, world-record titles are coveted.
The longest parade float, a paper dragon in Gutian, China, spanned a half-mile in 2012. The heaviest, dubbed the “Gnarly Crankin’ K9 Wave Maker,” was an actual swimming pool on wheels that weighed in at nearly 150,000 pounds.
Faced with some stiff competition, one savvy float-building team at this year’s Rose Parade still managed to reel in a Guinness World Record title by setting its sights on something decidedly fishier.
On New Year’s Day, a towering 34-foot-tall mechanical seahorse — the centerpiece of the UPS Store float — came rolling down Colorado Boulevard, hooking the “Director Award” for design and the title for the tallest float before Guinness adjudicators also determined it to be the world’s largest animatronic fish.
“As the structure started to take shape, it became clear just how tall and ambitious it was,” said Katie McCormick, a spokesperson for floatbuilders Artistic Entertainment Services.
The whole thing was sort of a happy accident, she said. Over the summer, representatives for the UPS Store reached out to Guinness World Records after realizing it could qualify for a title.
Designed by Charles T. Meier and engineered by project manager Kyle Amerine, the massive seahorse nodded as it coached over a dozen fin-flapping baby sea creatures as they performed a synchronized swimming routine. Measuring roughly 55 feet long and 18 feet wide, the float featured a dense seascape of corals, fish and oversize sea stars, some spanning 4 feet in diameter.
“It’s just huge and impressive when you look at it on the parade route,” McCormick said.
Like most Rose Parade floats, the platform was brought to life by hundreds of volunteers — many skipping sleep on New Year’s Eve — who embellished it with corn husks, lentils, sesame seeds, orange slices and red carnations.
Rain on parade morning muddied things for engineers and decorators. Like in 2006, when stormy weather last hit the Rose Parade, some floats failed mid-route, McCormick said.
“We’re really hoping it doesn’t rain for another 20 years, let me put it that way,” she said.
But despite its water-sensitive glues and exposed hydraulics, the seahorse completed its route intact. Engineers took special care to protect the animatronic systems on a structure that rose nearly twice as high as many traditional floats.
Much of the float will be dismantled and reused as crews shift their focus to next parade season.
For McCormick, the Guinness title marked a rare milestone.
“In my 18 years, this is the first world record we’ve been part of,” she said. “It’s a testament to the mechanics and engineering that go into bringing a float like this down Colorado Boulevard.”
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