10 years ago, when you left the convention center, you were mainly accosted by people handing out postcards for their store sales and club parties. Sometimes there would be a promotional set-up on the grass but for the most part any events and attractions took place at a venue somewhere.
Not anymore; now there are tons of things to do all over the area, whether it's going through a funhouse in the Petco Park parking lot, boarding a pirate ship, having your face painted like a superhero or getting your picture taken as you sit in the Iron Throne. Last year was really good in this regard and I'm sorry I missed so many of the possibilities. Learn from my experience; while you calculate how much time it's worth to stand in line for a panel, remember everything else you're giving up. Instead of waiting 4 hours to see a 50 minute panel, you could be strolling around and crossing off 3 different things on your wish list.
At any rate, CCI has listed a few we can expect and they sound just as tantalizing as last year's:
- Homer's Dome outside the Hilton Bayfront
- Godzilla Display behind the convention center next to the 5th Ave pier & ferry landing (hopefully this will be as good as last summer's Godzilla experience, in which he stomped past your building)
- The Adventure Time Conquest Fulfillment Center across from Children's Museum
- Game of Thrones: Survive the Realm Experience at the Omni Gallery
- The NBC Experience at Gaslamp Square - okay, they could have picked a more enticing title for that
- The Assassin's Creed Experience next to the Hilton Gaslamp
- Sony's Pixels Arcade at the Hard Rock Hotel
Obviously the Game of Thrones one is going to have an insane line, so do it sooner rather than later; that's good advice in general when it comes to these things. Often word spreads throughout the Con, so that the lines get longer each day for them.
Thanks for all the great info on the outside events! Truly appreciate it! Quick question, do you have more details of the GoT Survive the Realm fan experience? Is it open to the public or do you need a badge? Is it available all 4 days? Is it free or is there a cost? Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!
ReplyDeleteI can't find any further details on GOT. I feel safe in saying it'll be worthwhile, because last year's with the Iron Throne was a great fan experience. You can tell when a media company is just handing out swag and when they're really trying to make their fans happy, and I think GOT/HBO is in the latter camp.
DeleteAs for whether it's open to the public - tough call. Most of these activities will take anyone (exception: the uMTV party in Petco Park Thursday night.) I'm guessing GOT will be open to unbadged people. It should be there all 4 days, and should be free.
I'll post more on this once I find out.
Last year, GoT was for pass holders only, and barely had a line. They did give away tshirts on a first come basis daily last year, so if you miss out on Thursday, head back on Friday!
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know about needing a badge. Didn't the shirts say "House of... ?" Something like that.
DeleteI remember when practically every big panel passed out t-shirts, and now they're all too rare.
LoL - I wish they had day passes just for the events being held outside of the convention center. I would totally be up for one of those.
ReplyDeleteI can't even imagine the demand there would be.
Delete