It's a holiday tradition here in the United States: black Friday! People wait in line for hours, sometimes days, to get that perfect gift for a great price.

It's a day filled with excitement and a lot of stress. We checked out a few "hot spots" last night and Friday morning and spoke with some hardcore shoppers.

“Yeah it's a lot of fun but the worst part is waiting in line,” said 10-year-old Emma.

This year, black Friday came on a Thursday.

“We come every Thanksgiving, we wait in this line every year,”

“It's very chaotic,” said shopper David.

“Gotta love it, gotta love it,” said one Toys-R-Us employee.

They're waiting for Toys-R-Us to open at 8 pm.

“Alright, here we go guys you ready?!” shouts the manager.

“Let's do this, it's game time!” said one excited shopper. “I got my running shoes on I'm ready to go,”

“Good atmosphere, good weather, can't beat it,”

People are hoping to get their holiday shopping done right!

“I don't wanna disappoint kids on Christmas, that would be sad!” said one 16-year-old shopper.

Over at Target, the doors opened an hour later at 9 pm.

“It's crazy out here, it's exciting,”

Some shoppers donned some festive headgear (fake antlers), but they also serve a purpose!

“It helps us find each other in the stores!”

The plan? To shop 'til they drop.

“I will be totally exhausted by 8 or 9 am tomorrow morning,”

People have been camping outside Best Buy all week. But at midnight, the wait was finally over!

West Towne mall didn't technically open until 5 am on Friday but many stores opened at midnight.

“I'm going crazy shopping! Going to get everything done in one day so I don't have to come to the mall again,”

Karen Jensen brought her dad and son along to help carry the load.

“Big screen TVs, iPads, iTouches, lots of lots of clothes and we're not done yet!” said Jensen.

It may be hectic.

“But the people are usually really nice!” added David.

For these shoppers, Thanksgiving has come and gone and it's time to focus on the most wonderful time of the year.

“Merry Christmas!”