10 years ago, when you left the convention center, you were mainly accosted by people handing out postcards for their store sales and club parties. Sometimes there would be a promotional set-up on the grass but for the most part any events and attractions took place at a venue somewhere.
Not anymore; now there are tons of things to do all over the area, whether it's going through a funhouse in the Petco Park parking lot, boarding a pirate ship, having your face painted like a superhero or getting your picture taken as you sit in the Iron Throne. Last year was really good in this regard and I'm sorry I missed so many of the possibilities. Learn from my experience; while you calculate how much time it's worth to stand in line for a panel, remember everything else you're giving up. Instead of waiting 4 hours to see a 50 minute panel, you could be strolling around and crossing off 3 different things on your wish list.
At any rate, CCI has listed a few we can expect and they sound just as tantalizing as last year's:
- Homer's Dome outside the Hilton Bayfront
- Godzilla Display behind the convention center next to the 5th Ave pier & ferry landing (hopefully this will be as good as last summer's Godzilla experience, in which he stomped past your building)
- The Adventure Time Conquest Fulfillment Center across from Children's Museum
- Game of Thrones: Survive the Realm Experience at the Omni Gallery
- The NBC Experience at Gaslamp Square - okay, they could have picked a more enticing title for that
- The Assassin's Creed Experience next to the Hilton Gaslamp
- Sony's Pixels Arcade at the Hard Rock Hotel
Obviously the Game of Thrones one is going to have an insane line, so do it sooner rather than later; that's good advice in general when it comes to these things. Often word spreads throughout the Con, so that the lines get longer each day for them.
