Disclaimer:
All information is based upon the previous years’ experiences. Comic-Con may completely change their process whenever they like. I base my information based on policies and practices provided up to the previous year and current online OFFICIAL documentation provided by Comic-Con International. If I say that you should line up for Hall H under the white tents and they end up being blue this year, it’s out of my control, so don’t blame me. I can’t tell the future. The information is still valid. But if you do get confused, don’t be afraid to ask someone already in line about where to go. Most people at Comic-Con are a friendly lot and will help you in a pinch. There is no shame in being a newbie.
Let me get this out in the open right away… teaming up is a good thing, even if you’re on your own. Whether you’re with friends or you make them while you’re in line, your best chance at success and less stress is getting in line WITH someone. Sure, it is MUCH easier to snag a single seat than it is to grab seats for 2, 3, or 10 people. But it’s the time leading up to the moment of plopping your butt down in the seat that having a gang makes a difference. Some of you may be shy or just anti-social (which is a hard thing to be in a place crammed with 130,000 people). I feel your pain. I’m usually a loner on most of my panel lineups. And that’s fine for me because I’m not an overnight liner-upper. If you are on your own and you want to get in line overnight, it is essential to get to know the people around you if you want to make it through the night and get a good seat.
Here are my tips for lining up and snagging a seat in Hall H, Ballroom 20, or any other major panel or event that you might be lining up for next week:
- FINDING THE END OF THE LINE – Access to the Hall H line in the middle of the night is pretty obvious, but if you want get in the Ballroom 20 line without your badge, you might find it by going up the large set of outside stairs in the middle of the convention center that lead to the Sails Pavilion. Take that all the way to the back of the convention center and you should find the line for Ballroom 20. I’m not sure whether they allow non-badged folks inside or even in that area super-early in the morning, so proceed with caution and obey any security you may encounter. If someone does know where and when the earliest time is to line up for BR20, feel free to reply to this post.
- GROUPING IN MODERATION – Create a group, but not an impossibly large group when it comes to finding seats. If you have a horde of 10 or 20 people, you should be breaking them down into smaller chunks of 4 to 6 people at most. Sure, you can all line up together, but when it comes to finding seats, don’t expect to find a good spot that will accommodate two dozen of you, especially if you’re not near the front of the line.
- NO LAST MINUTE ADDITIONS – And when it comes to your large group lining up, don’t just have one guy line up all night near the front of the line and then the other 35 of you show up 20 minutes before they start letting us in. You are going to piss off the other 10,000 people in line behind you and many of them won’t stand for it, leading to a mini-riot that gets security involved and can either result in people getting booted or, at the very least, making everything start late while the argument is hashed out. If you have a semi-large group, all of you should show up at the start, letting those around you know who you are and how many of you there are. Basically you’re staking a claim. Later on, your people can leave in shifts, going back to the hotel to sleep, shower, use the bathroom, get badges, or unload the sleeping gear when morning comes. If you have 10 people, at least half of them should be there at all times. All of you should be there as much as possible, especially in the final hours (use sunrise as your guide).
- COMMUNICATION IS KEY – You should all make sure you have a way to keep in constant contact with each other should one of you get lost or delayed. Don’t just assume everyone has their phone, that it’s charged, and that the ringer is turned on. Make sure of it. If you’re on your own and you feel comfortable doing so, you might even want to swap cell phone numbers with someone you’ve befriended in line so that if anything moves while you’re going to the bathroom, you’ll be able to find your spot in line (the line can sometimes scrunch up at odd times, especially after sunrise as door time gets closer). If possible, bring something that you will be able to see from a distance, such as a flag or a sign that can act as a marker for where your friends are huddled.
- PREPARE FOR A COOL NIGHT – If you’re going to be camping out all night, make sure you’re properly attired. You’re less than 100 yards from the water and you could be lying on grass and/or cement, so expect it to get a little cool overnight. Dress warmly. Some people even bring blankets, pillows, sleeping bags, and small tents. Not all are necessary, but if you do want to get some sleep (you’ll need it), you’ll want to bring at least a few of those things unless you can fall asleep no matter where you are.
- SUN UP = CLEAN UP – I’m not just talking about tossing your candy bar wrappers and Red Bull cans (that’s what garbage cans are for, mister!). I’m talking about clearing out those sleeping bags, tents, coats, etc. It will be warm when the sun comes up and you don’t want to be dragging it around all day, so find a way to return all of your overnight gear to your hotel room or car. Sunrise is a good time to do that. If you don’t take care of it before the doors open, you’ll have to abandon all of it to be trampled by those in line behind you. And nobody wants to trip over your stinky sleeping bag. If possible, send one person to stash it quickly while the rest of you hold your place in line.
- STARTING AFTER SUNRISE – If you’re not camping out and you’re just getting in line after the sun has risen, #5 and #6 don’t apply, but it’s still a good idea to have all of you arrive at once and stick around for awhile before anyone heads off to the bathroom or elsewhere. The only exception is when you go to pick up your badges. (see next post)
NEXT: Getting Badges and Seats
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