I've been to San Diego Comic-Con a handful of times, and although Hall H is one of the coolest things to do at SDCC, it takes a lot of sacrifice and commitment to get in. For that reason, I haven't attempted to get into the Hall H panels in years.
For starters, Hall H seats about 6,500 people. It's the largest auditorium at the convention center. It is also the main stage for the biggest TV and movie studio panels. The con typically likes to schedule the movie studio panels for Saturday.
Now, in order to get into Hall H, you need to wait in line to get a wristband. The wristbands are distributed beginning at 9 PM, the evening prior to the day that you want to attend. So for Saturday's panels, I had to be in line for Friday night's wristband distribution.
I thought it would be good enough for me to get in line at 2 PM on Friday. I ended up receiving one of the last thousand or so wristbands.
When I first got in line, I had to weigh the odds that I wasn't in a line that was longer than 6,500 people. I chatted with other folks around me to hear their thoughts, and we all agreed that it didn't look good. Even if we estimated that there were "only" 3,000 people ahead of us (sure seemed that way), chances were that many of them were holding spots in line for their friends.
One of the major issues is that the official policy is that each person in line can hold a spot for up to FIVE others. A line of 3,000 could potentially balloon into...well, you do the math.
I decided to take my chances and stay in line. I had originally planned to wait in line with a buddy, but he bailed on me. He didn't like the idea of sacrificing a day waiting in line. We could have split the time, taking shifts, but it was just too much for him. SDCC is one of the hottest tickets to get, and I blew my Friday waiting for a shot at getting into Hall H on Saturday. This meant that if all went well, I wouldn't get to do anything else on Saturday also, since I'd be in Hall H all day on Saturday.
The physical location my place in line was at was PERFECT. I was next to a grassy park, with plenty of trees to provide shade from the blistering sun. I was close (but not too close) to the restrooms, and I was right next to the ocean. But I was near the end of the line.
When wristband distribution began at 9 PM, the two con employees worked their way down the line. The wristbands are labeled A, B, C, and D. There are about 1,000 to 1,500 wristbands in each letter group, and by the time the wristband distributors got to me, they were well into the D group.
At 1 AM, I finally received my wristband. There were hundreds of people who waited for hours and ended up empty handed that night.
Once you have a wristband, you are guaranteed a seat in Hall H - as long as you were in the entrance line by 7:30 AM on Saturday.
I had to decide whether to get right back into another line to spend the night on the premises, or to go back to my hotel and come back the next morning. My choice was already made hours ago. I felt and smelled gross. I had to go back to my room, take a shower and sleep in my expensive hotel room.
When I returned back to the convention center the next morning, the entrance line was insane. It was 7 AM.
One thing I should mention is that I had a press credential, which meant that once inside Hall H, I was allowed to sit in a regular seat, or I can opt to stand in the photographer's pen, which is adjacent to the main stage. Another option is to stand along the wall near the front of the room. I hate the pen because not only is it difficult to view the screen from that angle, but it is near impossible to get any good photos of the celebrities on the stage (due to the angle and due to the crowd of photographers in there - it gets jam-packed). A press credential provides no priority seating.
When I finally made it inside by 11 AM, the auditorium was already 2/3 filled. I went straight to the front of the room. There were no open seats in the front 1/3 of the room (there actually were, but people were being selfish and simply wanted additional space).
I knew I could stand in the pen, but I would only go there as a last resort. When I went to the wall, I discovered that it was filled - and the security guards only allowed a single-file lineup against the wall.
I spent the next few minutes looking for a seat again. In the meantime, the rest of the hall quickly filled. My time was running out.
In desperation, I went back to the wall and saw two photographers who had set up their tripods in such a way that there was a tiny gap between them. I asked very politely if I could sit on the floor between their tripods, and they kindly said that I could! I rarely run into kind pro photographers in the field, so this was really awesome.
I had made it in, with a great spot, to boot. I was well-rested, clean-smelling, and super excited.
After the first panel (Warner Bros.), one of the photographers next to me left the auditorium and offered her spot to me, allowing me to set up my tripod and have plenty of space for the rest of the day.
After seeing the great panels and film footage, I'm happy that I put in the time and energy to cover Hall H, but if I get to go to SDCC next year and my buddies don't camp with me, I will probably not do it again.
You can find the rest of the photos at this link!
For starters, Hall H seats about 6,500 people. It's the largest auditorium at the convention center. It is also the main stage for the biggest TV and movie studio panels. The con typically likes to schedule the movie studio panels for Saturday.
Now, in order to get into Hall H, you need to wait in line to get a wristband. The wristbands are distributed beginning at 9 PM, the evening prior to the day that you want to attend. So for Saturday's panels, I had to be in line for Friday night's wristband distribution.
I thought it would be good enough for me to get in line at 2 PM on Friday. I ended up receiving one of the last thousand or so wristbands.
When I first got in line, I had to weigh the odds that I wasn't in a line that was longer than 6,500 people. I chatted with other folks around me to hear their thoughts, and we all agreed that it didn't look good. Even if we estimated that there were "only" 3,000 people ahead of us (sure seemed that way), chances were that many of them were holding spots in line for their friends.
One of the major issues is that the official policy is that each person in line can hold a spot for up to FIVE others. A line of 3,000 could potentially balloon into...well, you do the math.
I decided to take my chances and stay in line. I had originally planned to wait in line with a buddy, but he bailed on me. He didn't like the idea of sacrificing a day waiting in line. We could have split the time, taking shifts, but it was just too much for him. SDCC is one of the hottest tickets to get, and I blew my Friday waiting for a shot at getting into Hall H on Saturday. This meant that if all went well, I wouldn't get to do anything else on Saturday also, since I'd be in Hall H all day on Saturday.
The physical location my place in line was at was PERFECT. I was next to a grassy park, with plenty of trees to provide shade from the blistering sun. I was close (but not too close) to the restrooms, and I was right next to the ocean. But I was near the end of the line.
When wristband distribution began at 9 PM, the two con employees worked their way down the line. The wristbands are labeled A, B, C, and D. There are about 1,000 to 1,500 wristbands in each letter group, and by the time the wristband distributors got to me, they were well into the D group.
At 1 AM, I finally received my wristband. There were hundreds of people who waited for hours and ended up empty handed that night.
Once you have a wristband, you are guaranteed a seat in Hall H - as long as you were in the entrance line by 7:30 AM on Saturday.
I had to decide whether to get right back into another line to spend the night on the premises, or to go back to my hotel and come back the next morning. My choice was already made hours ago. I felt and smelled gross. I had to go back to my room, take a shower and sleep in my expensive hotel room.
When I returned back to the convention center the next morning, the entrance line was insane. It was 7 AM.
One thing I should mention is that I had a press credential, which meant that once inside Hall H, I was allowed to sit in a regular seat, or I can opt to stand in the photographer's pen, which is adjacent to the main stage. Another option is to stand along the wall near the front of the room. I hate the pen because not only is it difficult to view the screen from that angle, but it is near impossible to get any good photos of the celebrities on the stage (due to the angle and due to the crowd of photographers in there - it gets jam-packed). A press credential provides no priority seating.
When I finally made it inside by 11 AM, the auditorium was already 2/3 filled. I went straight to the front of the room. There were no open seats in the front 1/3 of the room (there actually were, but people were being selfish and simply wanted additional space).
I knew I could stand in the pen, but I would only go there as a last resort. When I went to the wall, I discovered that it was filled - and the security guards only allowed a single-file lineup against the wall.
I spent the next few minutes looking for a seat again. In the meantime, the rest of the hall quickly filled. My time was running out.
In desperation, I went back to the wall and saw two photographers who had set up their tripods in such a way that there was a tiny gap between them. I asked very politely if I could sit on the floor between their tripods, and they kindly said that I could! I rarely run into kind pro photographers in the field, so this was really awesome.
I had made it in, with a great spot, to boot. I was well-rested, clean-smelling, and super excited.
After the first panel (Warner Bros.), one of the photographers next to me left the auditorium and offered her spot to me, allowing me to set up my tripod and have plenty of space for the rest of the day.
After seeing the great panels and film footage, I'm happy that I put in the time and energy to cover Hall H, but if I get to go to SDCC next year and my buddies don't camp with me, I will probably not do it again.
You can find the rest of the photos at this link!
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