You would think I would be San Diego Comic-Con’ned out but here I am writing about this year’s SDCC one last time. That sounds super dramatic but it’s not suppose to sound like that. Anyways, even though we posted our highlights already which you can find here, I’d like to do a quick retrospective of my return to the show. And, if you haven’t read my experience of the multiple days I attended the con, you can check those posts here: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
And, away we go!
Updated at 9:50pm on July 11th:
What a long day, and I wasn’t at the convention center either! Today, my family decided to check out Legoland in Carlsbad. We borrowed my brother-in-law’s rental car and headed out around 9:30am. On the way, we got a crèpe breakfast and some coffee which helped wake me up a bit. Aiden had been fussy again this morning, so I wasn’t sure how Legoland was going to go.
Updated at 3:15am on July 10th:
Back at it in the wee hours of the morning. The other Shortboxed crew have been waiting in the Hall H line since yesterday morning. I applaud them because they essentially lost all day Thursday of panel offerings, exclusive and autograph hunting, and shopping possibilities.
Updated at 4:30am on July 9th:
The timestamp is correct, you didn’t read that wrong. I’m updated at 4:30am in the “Everything” line which to me doesn’t look bad, but at this time of the morning, I’m going with the flow.
Updated at 9:05am on July 8th:
It’s begun! I’m off to San Deigo for Comic-Con 2015! I’m a tad tired from dinner with my coworkers last night but got Jamba Juice to fuel my nerd core! Boarding my flight very soon!
As a new editor to Shortboxed, I always knew that San Diego Comic-Con would be a big topic for us to write about, thus the SDCC Guides were born. But even though it is an exciting topic to write about in hopes our fearless readers would find value in them, this year’s SDCC is special because I’ll be returning to San Diego after not attending last year. And my return will be the inaugural visit of my 16-month year old son, Aiden Marcus. This won’t be his first comic book convention, but definitely his first time in San Diego and the awesomeness that is SDCC.
I’ve enjoyed attending the show in past years and hope that what I learned from those visits is applied to my future trips. The guides that I’ve posted are learnings from my SDCC trips so there were some heartache and stressful trips. But that’s the nature of the game and if there’s some tips and tricks to be taken out of my ramblings, then by all means, apply them to your own SDCC experience.
In Norse mythology (or simply just Thor continuity in many of our readers’ cases), Valhalla is where Asgardian warriors go to in the afterlife when they have died honorably in combat – it is their reward for a life well-lived. Hall H is Valhalla for San Diego Comic-Con geeks.
We battle all night, fighting off hoards of line cutters, the growl of hunger pains, the shiver of the pre-dawn sky and the sister of death herself, sleep. For those that survive the long, grueling night, they are gifted with entering the majestic Hall H.
Many have heard horror stories about camping out for Hall H – all the questions and confusion about when and where to line up, what time you can enter, who’s allowed in and out, something about wrist bands and an unofficial line, and so on. Once you do figure out when and where the line starts (we don’t even know ourselves, and we likely won’t find out until the actual con itself), the next important thing to do is figure out how to make your overnight campout pleasant enough so it doesn’t feel like you’re sieging a castle for six months.
San Diego Comic-Con is not only one of the most coveted conventions to attend but it also has spawned several worthy off-sites that an attendee can check out with or without a badge. One of them has been making waves for the past 4 years called Nerd HQ. This heavyweight off-site is organized by geek favorite and dare I day, heartthrob, Zachary Levi of NBC’s Chuck, Disney’s Tangled, and the upcoming television revival of Heroes called Heroes: Reborn. What makes this off-site a heavy hitter is that money raised at this event, specifically for the special guest panel tickets, are donated to a worthy cause, Operation Smile. And this year is estimated to be the largest it has ever been, so why not check it out when you’re at the Big Show?
Let’s go through the rundown before we chat about some tips and tricks that I can offer. This year’s 4-day event is being held during SDCC and located at a much bigger venue than in year’s past at The New Children’s Museum in downtown San Diego. And the event is entirely free to attend.
