![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767457991_534_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nIn the pantheon of parade float achievement, world-record titles are coveted.<\/p>\n
The longest parade float, a paper dragon in Gutian, China, spanned a half-mile in 2012. The heaviest, dubbed the \u201cGnarly Crankin\u2019 K9 Wave Maker,\u201d was an actual swimming pool on wheels that weighed in at nearly 150,000 pounds.<\/p>\n
Faced with some stiff competition, one savvy float-building team at this year\u2019s Rose Parade still managed to reel in a Guinness World Record title by setting its sights on something decidedly fishier.<\/p>\n
On New Year\u2019s Day, a towering 34-foot-tall mechanical seahorse \u2014 the centerpiece of the UPS Store float \u2014 came rolling down Colorado Boulevard, hooking the \u201cDirector Award\u201d for design and the title for the tallest float before Guinness adjudicators also determined it to be the world\u2019s largest animatronic fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the structure started to take shape, it became clear just how tall and ambitious it was,\u201d said Katie McCormick, a spokesperson for floatbuilders Artistic Entertainment Services.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just huge and impressive when you look at it on the parade route,\u201d McCormick said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The UPS Store float won the \u201cDirector Award\u201d for design, the title for the tallest float, and was determined to have been the world\u2019s largest animatronic fish.<\/p>\n
(Jason Armond\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
Like most Rose Parade floats, the platform was brought to life by hundreds of volunteers \u2014 many skipping sleep on New Year\u2019s Eve \u2014 who embellished it with corn husks, lentils, sesame seeds, orange slices and red carnations.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really hoping it doesn\u2019t rain for another 20 years, let me put it that way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Much of the float will be dismantled and reused as crews shift their focus to next parade season.<\/p>\n
For McCormick, the Guinness title marked a rare milestone.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my 18 years, this is the first world record we\u2019ve been part of,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to the mechanics and engineering that go into bringing a float like this down Colorado Boulevard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the pantheon of parade float achievement, world-record titles are coveted. The longest parade float, a paper dragon…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":489813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,96198,10713,118336,220921,2961,224,5337,220925,220923,172748,220919,220926,32495,220920,197,220924,220922,1628],"class_list":{"0":"post-489812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-engineer","11":"tag-foot","12":"tag-guinness-world-record","13":"tag-katie-mccormick","14":"tag-la","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-massive-seahorse","18":"tag-parade-float-achievement","19":"tag-parade-route","20":"tag-rose-parade-float","21":"tag-sesame-seed","22":"tag-structure","23":"tag-tall-float","24":"tag-title","25":"tag-ups-store-float","26":"tag-whole-thing","27":"tag-year"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115832134801490045","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}