Wrong.
For the Wilson family, the recipe had all the ingredients for a disaster at yesterday’s Dunedin Santa Parade in George St.
Picture this: Laura, 3, and Eli, 5, Wilson are eating almost liquid ice creams in the hot sun, when suddenly they spot the man in the big red suit and start waving to him ... with both hands.
So to avoid having ice cream flung at them, and the inevitable tears, they were at the ready to grab the ice creams as soon as anything red came into view.
"They just get so excited that all common sense goes out the window," Mr Wilson said.
"They will actually wave with an ice cream in their hand."
They included popular children’s movie characters, music, marching bands, community groups like the Tai Chi Club, dance groups, emergency services vehicles, local businesses and the Highlanders rugby team.
Surprisingly, the most cheered float was not Santa’s — it was Cliff the Ambulance, the face of the campaign for the new Dunedin Hospital, that got the most applause from the crowd.
