Mounds of sleeping bags were piled onto every inch of couch and floor space in the single-family home. Boxes of pizza, pints of ice cream and plates of brownies were everywhere.

The girls -- 20 of them, all dancers from the Holly Springs School of Dance -- were gearing up to perform at the 83rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in front of 44 million viewers. The mondo sleepover followed 10 months of fundraisers, rehearsals and planning.

It was time for a little girl time before show time.

This past weekend, the group joined dancers from all over the country. They've been going through days of rehearsals leading up to one three-hour performance down the streets of Manhattan.

The parade, which started in 1924 with horse-drawn floats, has become a staple for American families on Thanksgiving morning. Giant balloons, intricate floats and miles upon miles of bystanders brave the New York winter just to get a glimpse of the action.

This year's parade performers will include the cast of Sesame Street, Gloria Gaynor, Jimmy Fallon and Ziggy Marley, along with top high school and college marching bands, singers and dancers from around the country.

And the girls from the Holly Springs school: Caitlin Seipel, Ashley Meyer, Carly Dressen, Bailey Cranwell, Erin Carter, Alex Hughes, Jessica Verian, Kristyn Tingelstad, Alex Polk, Samantha White, Elli Meyer, Lauren Pavone, Paige Hauser, Katie LeRoy, Katie Schiewe, Teresa Alexander, Sarah Bird, AJ Fuller and Kelly Stewart and Cecilia Yanez are among them.

Becoming part of the famous parade takes a little initiative and a lot of talent.

The school filled out an online application, learned a pre-choreographed routine, paid fees and readied themselves to prove parade-worthy at the week of rehearsals prior to the big day.

It's the dance school's second time performing at the parade. Luckily, its first set of dancers did well.

"If the dancers are wonderful, you can come back," said Marilyn Chappell, artistic director of the school. "If you're terrible, you can't come back."

Each dancer also had to pay $1,700, which includes meals, six nights in a hotel, a Broadway musical, ice skating at Rockefeller Center and a visit to the Empire State Building.

The girls had their first meeting in January, planning months of fundraisers to help defray some of the cost. They made tie-dyed T-shirts, were greeters at McDonald's, sold buttons, made a cookbook and held a car wash.

They raised about $10,000 -- also through accepting donations -- which gave each dancer $500 toward the trip. The monetary boost was vital, as the girls also had to pay for their own transportation.

"This is not just something that's handed to you," said Chappell, who plans to space out the trip every few years to give more students and their families a chance to plan for the expense.

It's a trip to New York, yes, but it's also a serious dance mission.

The week includes up to six hours of rehearsal a day: three hours in the morning and three at night.

"They know they have to work really hard," said Chappell. "It's not just a vacation."

Although the young dancers were feeling the pressure to nail their routine -- a fusion jazz number with a space-alien theme -- they were also absolutely giddy a couple weeks before leaving on Nov. 21. "Mostly I'm excited about just the fact of being in New York with other dancers," said Lauren Pavone, 14. She doesn't think she'll be a professional dancer when she grows up, but plans to minor in dance in college.

They all watched an orientation video made by Macy's that outlines rules for the trip, which the girls also have to take very seriously: no members of the opposite sex in your room, no late-night parties and no -- absolutely no -- caffeine the night before the parade.

They have to get up at 5 a.m. and take the subway to take their place at the start of the parade's route, on 77th Street.

Chappell and her chaperones have a plan to see the girls at the chaotic event, which is notoriously difficult from ground-level. "We'll see them on the street and then run back to the hotel to watch it on TV," she said.

To commemorate the event, Chappell bought each dancer a journal, with a special message on the back. She told them to write in it as much as possible, to remember their big adventure in New York.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade will broadcast live at 9 a.m. Thursday on NBC.