Comic-Con Hotel Registration -- Bah!

[Zack]

I tried to get a hotel for Comic-Con today, as the rooms often sell out quickly.

Clicked on the site link the MINUTE it was supposed to go online...nothing. It was like it crashed!

And of course the phones were busy.

So I just called the hotel I wanted to stay at. I got to Reservations easily...and was told they couldn't reserve for those dates unless it was through the con travel planner.

Went back to the web site. It was 45 MINUTES before the page would load.

And of course almost everything was sold out.

When I DID find a hotel within a reasonable distance of the convention center (hey, I'll eat a mile or two if it's near the shuttle line)...I would click on "reserve room," only to find out all the rooms had sold out in the time it had taken me to click on the link.

At least two of my friends had the same problem. None of us was able to get a room.

I am getting pretty soured on Comic-Con. The lines last year were ridiculous, it was almost impossible to get into any panel, and the crowds were so bad that I couldn't even work my way across the con floor to get out for lunch! And this year I can't even get a room! This doesn't even feel like a vacation any more! Between the expense and the stress, it's hard to imagine even enjoying it!

....I'll probably go anyway.

[MacQuarrie]

It's not a vacation any more. It's an ordeal. A grueling, exhausting, stress-inducing exercise in frustration. Plus it's become damned expensive.

I'm done.

For what it's worth, I hear the pros much prefer WonderCon; it's been described to me as "the way comic-con was about 25 years ago." A lot more relaxed and pleasant.

[Chris Hansbrough]

comic-cons become a joke over the last few years. the first time I went I loved it. the second time I went....it was decent. third time.....tedius crap. I just ended up spending 99% of my time that year just hanging out with Stuart Sayger and Moose! in artist alley as at least then I had something to do. that year it pissed me off enough that I din't even try to go last year. this year I don't know if I will either. It all depends on whether someone pays for me to go or not

[Sarah Beach]

I may end up returning to my long time hotel choice - 12 miles out, and driving in to park at the convention center. But I'm going.

Two years ago, I thought it had gotten to be a mess. Last year, with their traffic flow patterns it worked much better. I could ENTIRELY avoid all the "Hollywood Hoopla", and just get to comics stuff (yeah, lines for those were a bother, but again, well organized).

And I also discovered the faster way from mid-hall (ie, like the DC booth) down to Artists Alley, without having to wade through all the gawkers in the games and toys sections. THAT made me very happy indeed. Cut the travel time to Artists Alley in half!

I still like Comic Con. But it's obviously become much less the cool & easy "let's hang out" con and more a go-go-go con.

[Charles RB]

Stephen Grant has an annoyed rant about this in Permanent Damage:

As San Diego grows more and more inaccessible for most people – I managed to score an "it'll do if it must" room in a hotel I'd rather not stay at, but most hotel rooms for this year were booked up before the last Comic-Con International ended, which is theoretically impossible – if everyone plays by the rules (hotel rooms are only supposed to book eleven months in advance) – regional cons, which are on the upswing again, are becoming increasingly attractive alternatives. This Wednesday morning (probably gone already as you read this) I'm performing a ritual I've managed to avoid for the last decade: trying to book a better room via Comic-Con's own overburdened and under-roomed hotel booking agency. I get the feeling that hotels, most of which virtually doubled their "normal" rates for Comic-Con this year, have been cutting back on the number of rooms they're willing to set aside for the Con's special discount if booked through the Con rates. What, no one remembers the many years when no one would have even be visiting San Diego and staying in your stinking hotels if the Con hadn't been there? How about a little local love back to the freaking new cultural icon that put San Diego back on the map, huh?

[Alex L]

<Expletive.>

I completely forgot the con hotels were opening up.

<Expletive.>

I still managed to get a room, somehow, eight miles away... sounds like it could be biking distance?

[Sarah Beach]

<Expletive.>

I completely forgot the con hotels were opening up.

<Expletive.>

I still managed to get a room, somehow, eight miles away... sounds like it could be biking distance?

Depends on the "eight miles away". The motel I'm considering is right off the freeway, so it's actually a very quick drive in and out. (Plus I drive in each morning VERY early to park at the convention center itself.)

[Brandon Hanvey]

For what it's worth, I hear the pros much prefer WonderCon; it's been described to me as "the way comic-con was about 25 years ago." A lot more relaxed and pleasant.

WonderCon is very Comic-Con lite. All the fun and less of the huge spectacle. While there is Hollywood and pop culture stuff at the con, comics are the main event. Plus it's in San Francisco so I don't have to travel to go.

[Zack]

It's actually gotten to the point where I enjoy meeting people and seeing the spectacle more than the actual con events.

My problems are as folllows:

-The panels are HUGELY overbooked, to the point that even members of the press can't get in (there were over 1,000 people registered as press last year, which fills most of the mid-level rooms)

-Also, if you're looking to get inside information on a TV show or movie...guess what? You won't get near any of the actual stars, and the "scoops" usually find their way onto the internet. Plus, most promoted TV pilots are usually on iTunes or as streaming video as promos anyway.

-Most booths for major companies are also crowded and impossible...though this isn't usually the companies' fault. I will say that at the DC booth last year, I met more pros who were just hanging out (Hi, Nicola!) then I did by standing in the quickly-capped lines.

-Oh yeah, and then there's the noise and it's impossible to get into most of the movie screenings and the crowd is so big that every year I keep wondering when someone's going to get trampled to death.

But, as I said -- it's at the point where if you wander around, you actually get to meet some pretty cool people. I usually come away each year having met some writers, artists and even actors who I wind up staying in touch with via e-mail. Also, this is the only time I get to see some friends. And it's always fun to watch creators you know get bigger and bigger every year...I remember when Brian K. Vaughan was there in 2002 and issue #1 of Y had come out. There was no line! And then in 2006, it was around the block.

There's a lot of good, cool, fun stuff there, but every year it gets harder and harder to get to it because of all the people who are just there for the hype. This year, I'm going to have to weigh whether it's worth the stress to get to the fun.