Comic-Con

Kevin managed to grab tickets (which is a hard thing to do) earlier in the year around February or March when tickets went on sale.  That was an experience since the website kept crashing and you had to wait in virtual waiting room before being in the next group of individuals eligible to purchase tickets.  He somehow managed to work his magic and managed to get reservations for us to go to the Comic-Con Convention along with a few of our other 130,000+ close friends in San Diego.  Who knew we would be able to see what all the craziness was like at the Comic-Con Convention?

Ashley & Brandon with
Dark Helmet from 'Spaceballs'

Never having been before but seeing the pictures and all the TV footage from the newscasts, we thought we should experience this at least once since we live in San Diego and there are talks of it moving to another city because of the massive numbers of people and the 525,700+ square footage with eight exhibit halls not being big enough to accommodate the fans.  In short, it was a great experience but not enough time and there were a lot of people to contend with as we realized that we didn't even really scratch the surface of fully experiencing it.

A father & child dressed as
a Stormtrooper & Jawa
from 'Star Wars'

The online registration is only one component which Kevin did back in either February or March of getting in; however, the actual day-of registration, we had to proceed to one of the huge halls in the convention area where they asked for picture ID to confirm the online registration, so there is no switching tickets or trying to mark-up the price as a resale, which I personally think is a smart move since it keeps the event for those who really are die-hard fans and not those looking for a huge profit.

On the convention floor

While we were walking to the registration area on the west side of the convention center and past all the exhibit halls, we started to see lots of people dressed up outside in various costumes who go all out and are very willingly to stop and take a picture if you ask.  It's a very nice group and you feel surprisingly safe with the huge amount of people as they are rather laid back.  Some of the women were scantily clad which made the kids laugh, but overall it was probably a PG rated experience.

Hans Solo cast from
'Star Wars'

During the day, we managed to collect quite a few buttons which people like to get as well as other tchotchke's.  There were lots of electronic gadgets that the kids wants to stay and watch but also random movie memorabilia that people could have their pictures taken with for posterity.  Some were old items but others were new and people were waiting in line for some things that seemed really random, like a James Bond 007 poster give-away or celebrities walking among the crowds.  We didn't see any stars that we knew of or card about, but that was fine with us since we didn't want to be in the crowds.

One of the motorcycles
from 'The Terminator'

After about five hours and a small snack from the concession stand, we knew we were slowing down and ready to leave, so we started heading back to our car and talked about all the interesting people that we saw.  The kids wholeheartedly said that they would go back again but Kevin and I need about a five to ten year reprieve to build up our courage.

A booth at Comic-Con for fun
(note all their buttons)