Anyone get Comic-Con badges?

[I Crave Pizza No More]

I managed to get a Thursday and Sunday badge, but am still pretty disappointed. I've been planning on this for months, following updates, and I clicked on their link the moment badges went on sale. It didn't work, and I had to try different things before finally getting in after about ten minutes. Unfortunately, I was 27,000th in line and just barely got these passes before they all sold out.

Anyone fare any better?

[Roseangelo]

I'm going, but my friend who tried to get a badge today got shut out. They really know how to kill the fun of going to this convention.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

I'm going, but my friend who tried to get a badge today got shut out. They really know how to kill the fun of going to this convention.

I'll say. I know I was pretty diligent about doing everything correctly, and yet I don't feel like I was rewarded in any way for my attention to the details. I mean, I feel like I could have created a member ID at the last moment and strolled directly onto Comic-Con's website this morning and been just as good or better off than I was otherwise.

[Mayhem]

Yeah, I will paying attention to feedback on this, to see how things go for buying passes for next year. Hopefully I will be back then. But there were less passes online for this year than there will be for next year because a proportion of them were sold at last year's show. There will be NO at-show pass selling I believe in July, so there will be more available online.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

Yeah, I will paying attention to feedback on this, to see how things go for buying passes for next year. Hopefully I will be back then. But there were less passes online for this year than there will be for next year because a proportion of them were sold at last year's show. There will be NO at-show pass selling I believe in July, so there will be more available online.

On-site registration was a disaster last year, and they only sold a very small quantity that way. At most it would have made tickets available for 5 minutes longer than it took for them to sell out today.

[Mayhem]

I was under the impression it was around 5,000 per day, so 20,000 in total, in terms of the pre-sales for this year's show at last year's show. I could be wrong, just what I recall someone saying who was there in the lines. That's a good 20% in my books or so.

Having said that, you're probably right anyhow. Even with all the four day passes available, I suspect they would have been gone within 15 minutes or so.

[plastroncafe]

I was kind of impressed with how smoothly the whole process went, but then...I managed to score a 4 night badge with preview night.

From what I understand one of the main complaints was that people clicking the link in the actual email weren't being connected to the site proper. I copied the link into my browser and went from there.

Managed to get access to the waiting room two minutes in, with a number under 10k. Thirty minutes after that my purchase went through.

Now to see if I can find a place to actually sleep during the con. That'll be fun. I was way more screwed by the hotel lottery system last year, so here's hoping they fixed that up.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Mayhem

I was under the impression it was around 5,000 per day, so 20,000 in total, in terms of the pre-sales for this year's show at last year's show. I could be wrong, just what I recall someone saying who was there in the lines. That's a good 20% in my books or so.

Having said that, you're probably right anyhow. Even with all the four day passes available, I suspect they would have been gone within 15 minutes or so.

I found the details:

http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci_reg_2012.php

There was no specific number, but it was only 3 hours each day. It was ridiculous; people camped overnight to have the chance to register.

I do support con-goers having the first opportunity to by badges for the next year, but this ability is slowly being stripped away. (Previous years there were stations set up throughout the entire Con in the Sails Pavilion.)

Originally Posted by plastroncafe

I was kind of impressed with how smoothly the whole process went, but then...I managed to score a 4 night badge with preview night.

From what I understand one of the main complaints was that people clicking the link in the actual email weren't being connected to the site proper. I copied the link into my browser and went from there.

Managed to get access to the waiting room two minutes in, with a number under 10k. Thirty minutes after that my purchase went through.

Now to see if I can find a place to actually sleep during the con. That'll be fun. I was way more screwed by the hotel lottery system last year, so here's hoping they fixed that up.

That's the problem my friend had - the link wouldn't work. By the time she figured out the problem she was too far back in line. :/

I have a back-up hotel booked, but I hope to get into a regular Con hotel. If you need/want roommates and are willing to potentially have a 6-year-old roommate, PM me.

[Venom]

Originally Posted by Roseangelo

I have a back-up hotel booked, but I hope to get into a regular Con hotel. If you need/want roommates and are willing to potentially have a 6-year-old roommate, PM me.

Is that actual age, or how they act?

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Venom

Is that actual age, or how they they act?

Hah! No, that's actual age. Another friend who is still on the fence about going would be bringing her daughter if she did. They both went last year and except for a few grumpy moments, the girl did really well.

[Mayhem]

I have passes for this year (a friend bought them for me last year BY waiting in those lines!), but unless I find a job in the next month or so, I won't be able to afford to go. Still... if by some miracle I am able to get my ass over there, then the prospect of sharing a hotel room to save costs is definitely desirable. I suppose I'll update in here as I know...

[Luzmagica]

Any pic of those badges, please????

[Kendamu]

Fantastic. I only live a couple hours away from San Diego and I have a bad feeling about even trying to get a one-day pass.

[Samhain]

Originally Posted by Luzmagica

Any pic of those badges, please????

Um, Google.

[Roseangelo]

Originally Posted by Luzmagica

Any pic of those badges, please????

I'm not sure why you are asking about this. The physical badges for this year won't be issued until the Convention starts. There is nothing special about them; they just have your name and a bar code.

Originally Posted by Goongasnootch

Fantastic. I only live a couple hours away from San Diego and I have a bad feeling about even trying to get a one-day pass.

1-day passes also sold out on Saturday.

[Mayhem]

Yes, everything sold out Saturday within 90 minutes. The only possibilities now for people are blagging a press pass, or when the returns are made available, probably in June.

[I Crave Pizza No More]

So for those who are going, I'm trying to figure out what hotel to stay at. Comic-Con's Early bird hotels are all in Mission Valley, and there are like 6 on their list. Yet if you go to the full list of participating hotels, there are dozens. When do those hotels go on sale through comic-con? Or do they never go on sale through comic-con? Do they just list them and you have to book them on your own?

[Andrew NDB]

I'm banking on another pro pass this year. Where to stay, worse comes to worst it turns out my cousin lives like two blocks from the convention center now and she'll let me crash.

But I don't know if that would be ideal.

[Roseangelo]

The hotels will go on sale when Comic-Con decides to put them on sale. You'll have to be as quick with it as was required for the badges. I recommend getting as close to the convention center as you can afford.

[Mayhem]

One tip: try to get a hotel that's on a tram line that passes the convention centre if you're just a bit further than walking distance away. It's a lot quicker (although it costs a bit) than waiting for the shuttle route, especially in the mornings. The traffic can be killer in that area during rush hour.