San Diego Comic Con

Article by Demon Slayer

SDCC is the mother of all conventions, set in San Diego in or around July. Tickets are hard to get hold of unless you go yearly (estimate about 1 million people trying to get hold of 130 thousand tickets).

I can’t afford to go yearly, so I had to enter the mad rush in March. Tickets over the last few years sold out in 90 minutes, but this year was a new record of 59 minutes. I got in at the 59^th minutes, but was only able to get hold of a Sunday (not worth traveling over 6000 Miles, and forking out £2000 for a day). Luckily I was also in a group of fellow UK attendees, who was able to get me Thursday and a Sunday.

Wednesday – I landed late in the afternoon and went straight to Convention Centre to pick up my Thursday and Sunday tickets, A2 size Tote Bag (which held Souvenir Book, Events Guide, and SDCC quick guide). People had already started queuing up for Thursdays “Hall H” which was hosting four panels, one being “Doctor Who”. I just went to my hotel a mile away and crashed out.

Thursday – As I didn’t have a preview night ticket, today I spent going around the event hall picking up freebies, Taking pictures of cosplayers and any interesting displays I saw. Found out a few days later that Hall H had not been as busy as expected, and that I could have walked in and watched the last two panels that I would have liked to have seen (Doctor Who and Con Man)

Friday – Didn’t have a ticket for this day, so took pictures of cosplayers I could find outside the convention centre, and visited other events outside that did not need a badge to enter

Saturday – Didn’t have a ticket for this day, so took pictures of cosplayers I could find outside the convention centre, and visited other events outside that did not need a badge to enter. Finally after many near misses, I eventually caught up with my British and international friends (*See Con’s).

Sunday – I spent this day taking pictures of cosplayers, and picking up exclusives that I was not able to get to on Thursday. Met up with friends for a farewell meal, and to swap freebies we had got, that the other didn’t get hold off, or what you didn’t need.