Listen to the announcers. They'll say, "x thousand cattleya orchids." And mispronounce CATTleya.

They use orchids because they're heavy, fleshy flowers that last a long time, even out of water. Plus, they come in many colors. However, they don't generally have much fragrance. So I don't imagine the parade is perfumed.

and were able to see floats before and after as well. Can't remember much smell at all. Kind of surprising to realize that.

strong depending on wind direction and where u are standing

And after seeing it in person once, wife and I have elected to never do it again....unless we got free tickets to one of the stands, then maybe.

We did the "camp out" on the sidewalk once, we were definitely unprepared. That wasn't too pleasant.

When you are at ground level, the floats and bands move by really fast and you can't see the entirety of the float. So you can't fully appreciate it, but I get it, these are often corporate sponsored and they are designed for maximum viewing potential on TV, not the spectator. It looks slower on TV because of the high angle they have. With a longer view, they can watch the float more and zoom in with the cameras.

So, now we sit at home in blankets, with left over champagne next to the fire and watch.

You can see the floats up close and personal after the parade and for a couple of days after. Did that once, I would recommend that.