San Diego Comic-Con 2009
2009-03-31Many years ago, some of you were unfortunate enough to be part of The Red Card Group Podcast in which we discussed all things geek. One episode in particular that has since been mercifully scrubbed from the face of the internet was one in which we covered E3. Since that day, I had always hoped that we would eventually travel to one of these conventions as a group. But the years continue to pass by and many of these conferences are not what they used to be.
So this year, I'm organizing a big trip to Comic-Con 2009, baby! Prepare for film adaptation previews, comics, pretty girls dressed as Princess Leia and so forth. Tron 2 will also be revealing the official trailer this year at Comic-Con as well. It turns out that last years preview was merely a teaser to get Disney to give the film the green light.
Excited? Well then let me tell you what you need to know...
Where and When?
The 4 day convention is being held in San Diego, CA from July 23-26. But seeing as how all the 4 day passes have already been sold out, I thought we'd just take in Friday and Sunday and leave the rest for sight-seeing. I hope to find time to make it to San Francisco as well where we can visit Google and Apple's campuses at least. If you have any other places you'd like to check out while we're there, feel free to offer them in the comments.
While we're there, I intend for us to stay at a moderately priced Best Western hotel. This way we can save the bulk of our money for souvenirs and food and so on. (Yes, it does have high speed internet)
How much?
This is a matter I've finally had time to put some decent research towards. The actual convention itself is only going to cost $30 on Friday and $20 on Sunday. We could go on Thursday as well, but I figure some of us will be pretty much bored by the event after those two days.
The real expense comes into play when you consider travel and accommodations. I priced out a non-direct round trip from Hamilton, ON to San Diego, CA for $915 with WestJet which included a stop-over in Calgary both ways. This is the only airline I've ever flown, and by far the best value that I'm aware of. This particular booking was made for a departure on Friday the 24th and a return on Monday the 27th. The length of stay is entirely negotiable and I hope to see input on our length of stay as well in the comments.
As for the hotel, It looks like we can expect to pay $150 a night per room. Each room would have two double beds that would comfortably (I suppose that's up for debate) fit 2 people each. A four-way split on each room at that price per night seems reasonable to me.
I'd put away something just shy of $2,000 for this trip. That should be comfortable for eating out regularly and picking up things while we're there.
Who's in?
That's the basics covered at least. I'm sure there are plenty of details I have yet to consider. But for now, I wanted to at least make this announcement official and get the word out there. If you are interested in tagging along, please leave a comment or send me an email saying so and make sure you've got your passport up to date.
I'd like to have everyone confirm by the end of April as the tickets do seem to be selling fast and it would be a shame to plan all of this out and then realize that there is no point in going.
So I just need a few things from you:
- confirmation of attendance
- how long you would like to stay
- what you would like to do while there
- make sure your passport is up to date