Friday July 13
Woke up at a ridiculous hour because I wanted to try to get a wristband for Game of Thrones autographs. When the bus dropped us off we had to walk across the pedestrian bridge and we go our first look at the line for Hall H. It was crazy and it was only 6:45 am!
Hall H line
We had to walk to the opposite end of the convention center to get in line for a for wrists bands. My friend Chris jumped in the line to see Firefly. The line for autographs was pretty long and they weren’t even going to start until 8:00am. Made a few friends as we waited in line. I have to say they’re pretty efficient when it comes to lines at the con. Except when there are too many chiefs deciding what to do. At 7:30am the line started going up the steps when someone yelled stop. Silly us we did what they said. Then we waited while they figured out where they wanted us. Once that was done they walked us up the steps to one of the patios outside the Sails Pavilion, except that wasn’t a big enough space. They took us over to another set of steps and made us go down them to line up, when we were told to stop again. The staff had a little pow wow and they took us down the steps across another terrace area and back up the steps where we started. It was a bit ridiculous if you ask me because when we got up the steps they had let people get in line ahead of us and now we were back about 30 people. So now we waited. When they line started to move there was a raged cheer.
Now I have to explain how this whole wristband thing worked. When you got to the front you told them what show you wanted to pick for, you could only choose one. If you wanted more then one show you had to pick then get back in line. So what you had to do was pick a ticket. When you pulled it out it was either blank on the back or it had a stamp. If it had a stamp you got the wristband.
So we watched as the majority of people picked for Game of Thrones, who the hell am I kidding, EVERYONE was picking for Game of Thrones! We would watch as people picked. Then it came my turn. I have no luck when it comes to this type of things so I was a bit freaked. I reached in and pulled out a ticket…..Yes! I got a wristband! I was not getting back in line considering it was very long at this point. It probably moved a lot faster since Game of Thrones was finished shortly after I picked. So I was lucky and got a ticket. So was Chris because she got into the Firefly panel and didn’t even have to camp out over night.
Now it was time to get in the line for Hall H. This line is absolutely enormous! I got in the line at 8:15am. First panel, which was ParaNorman, didn’t even start until 10:45am. The line started at the front of the convention center and they snaked it in the park next to the building, then it went across the street and snakes 3 times, in long lines behind the center by the marina. Me, I was back by the marina in the second snake. My friend who has been coming to the Con for a few years said she’s never seen it quite this long before. So now we wait. You make a lot of friends while standing in line. So we waited and waited and waited. We talked about a whole bunch of things when my one friend told me that Kit Harrington wasn’t coming because he broke his ankle. I was devastated! John Snow wasn’t coming? He was the one I really wanted to see. That’s why I stood in line for the autograph wristband. My first disappointment of the con! So we waited some more but missed the panel for Big Bang, which started at 12:05. We were so close, about 100 people away when they closed the line for Walking Dead, which started at 1:25. My friend was disappointed because she really wanted to see that and so did I. Disappointment number 2. So now we have been waiting in line 5 hours and we’re not even sure if we’re going to make it in for Game of Thrones. My other friend bailed because she wanted to make the Spartacus and Falling Skies panels. So we waited an hour and crossed our fingers. The line started to move and we made it in for Game of Thrones!
Let me tell you a little about Hall H. It huge has it’s own bathrooms, giant screens hanging from the ceiling and if you need food that’s provided too. If you are at the back of the hall everyone on the stage is tiny. With all the great pictures I’ve seen from Hall H I never expected the actors to be so far away. Whoever posts pictures of close ups has to be sitting in the front row. The press area is off to the right side so there’s no way to get a picture from the front. Hell you can’t even see over the floor of the stage from over there. So needless to say I don’t have many pictures. The best way to get pictures is off the giant screens.
The panel started with a video that recapped season 2. Then we got a video that introduced the new characters for season 3. The big surprise was Diana Rigg was going to be Olenna Redwyne. George RR Martin was the mediator and he introduced all the actors. Richard Madden (Rob Stark) got a big round of applause.
Richard Madden
The one who go the most was Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen), who looked so different with her dark hair.
Emilia Clarke
As we were listening to the panel someone came around and passed out tickets. I had no idea what it was for. My friend told me it’s to pick up special swag that only people at the panels can receive. Great swag too! Backpack filled with a T-shirt, notebook, key ring and other goodies. All items were related to the show. Mine was House Barratheon; I would have preferred Stark or Targaryen. As soon as the panel was over I had to run back to the exhibit room to get in line for autographs.
Okay the autographs are over rated. You get barely two seconds to talk to them as they shuffle you quickly through the line. There was a wall of reporters standing by the actors so you couldn’t even get any pictures. So unless you collect autographs it’s not worth the frustration of waiting in line to get a wristband.
Rose Leslie
Finally found my friend Chris and we headed back to the hotel. Thus ended day 2 of Comic Con.