San Diego Comic Con 2010: Episode I

The first day to Comic Con was a time of travel. My wife and I had been planning this trip for months. We purchased our tickets to the event in the first week of November, 2009. I remember that we had discussed buying the tickets online prior to me leaving for a week-long work trip as there were still plenty of tickets available. Within three or so day’s time the situation had drastically changed and the website said they were nearly sold out! The preview night was gone but you could still purchase four-day passes. I am an archaeologist, and at the time was surveying along a mountainside near Frank’s Slide, Alberta. The boss and I had just stopped for lunch when my cell phone rang and I discovered that the tickets were almost sold out, so over the phone my wife and I decided to purchase the regular four-day pass. It was very exciting and nerve racking as we were buying something that was almost nine months away, and we did not know if we would have the time off from work, be able to get plane tickets or a hotel room!

Sofia Hotel.

Over the next nine months we slowly organized our trip and saved money. We booked a room at The Sofia through the Comic Con organization website. We found out later that not everyone received the room they wished through the website, but we did get a good room at a hotel that was our number two choice. This system worked by the Comic Con organizers through providing you a list of the hotels that are in association with the convention. Not all of these hotels are close to the convention center, nor cheap. However, by booking through the Comic Con organization you could obtain cheaper rates than by booking it yourself. You then choose about five different hotels from the list they provide, and then on a specific day and time (I think it was about 9am on a Saturday), you log into the Comic Con website and provide them with a list of your desired hotels. After a brief period of time they let you know which hotel you get. It worked out pretty well for us. Our airfare was cheap as my wife works for an airline company that flies to San Diego, however, they only fly on certain days of the week so we had to fly there four days prior to the convention’s start and left two days following its end. This actually worked out quite well as it gave us an opportunity to sightsee and relax before and after the convention.