This newbie survived Comic Con’s Hall H

SAN DIEGO, California — I have been going to Comic Con for four years now, inexplicably drawn to the opportunity to watch trailers for new movies, ogle stars of my favorite films and television shows, and load myself down with shirts, grab bags, trinkets and books from my favorite merchants.

There is always something to see, an actor or two to lay in wait for, and there is always Hall H.

What draws people to Hall H?

With a seating capacity of 6,500, the largest theater at the San Diego convention center plays host to the panels composed of actors and producers of the biggest movies and television shows.

People lucky enough to get into the hall early can spend their entire day there as panels come one after the other. “Star Wars,” “Star Trek,” “Batman vs. Superman,” “Twilight” and Marvel panels all took place at Hall H.

Confession

I must confess, in the four years I have been going, I have never gone through the Hall H experience. After hearing about the horrors of what goes on to gain admittance to the hall — staying in line for 24 hours, just to get a wristband, which then allows you to fall in line again to get in — I have studiously stayed away from the Hall H line. Until now.

There are two shows I would go through this for – “Outlander” and “Game of Thrones.” So wouldn’t you know it, “The Game of Thrones” panel, actors and show runners, were scheduled to appear on Friday, July 22, in, where else? Hall H.

Here’s a clue. The only way, the only way, you can survive the madness of the lines of Comic Con is when you band together with like-minded souls. My friends and I were lucky enough to have such a network in place.

Well, let me take that back. My very intrepid friend, Roberta, who weeks in advance of the event, “met” several other folks on Twitter who were going to the same place and wanted to see the same panel as we did. So we all banded together to make it happen.

24 hours in line

When they say that you need to line up 24 hours in advance of the screening, they were not kidding. From our hotel window, we saw that the line had already formed Wednesday afternoon for Thursday admittance; and early Thursday, at around five in the morning.

For the Saturday panels, the line started to form at 7 a.m. on Friday. Insane, right? We had agreed in advance that we would take shifts to hold our place in line. Roberta took the first shift at five a.m. Another couple relieved Roberta around eight. I was assigned the mid-day shift from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mid-day in San Diego is no joke. What I failed to plan for was the heat and arming myself with materials necessary to survive the Hall H line. I thought that my stadium blanket, sunblock, sunglasses and hat would suffice. I was wrong.

The sun was unforgiving that day, and sitting on the pavement, even with the stadium blanket as protection, was unbearable. Thankfully, our line neighbors had an extra stool that they so kindly lent.

I still had the problem of the sun beating down on me. At first, I jerry-rigged some shade. However, that was not enough. Although we sat by the water, the lack of a cooling breeze and the unrelenting sun started to take its toll. I was getting a headache.

Rescue

Our line neighbor’s friends came to the rescue. They brought a huge beach umbrella that threw enough shade to offer some relief. I even set up shop behind their chairs where I took advantage of the cool shade. So there I stayed until someone else came to relieve me in line.

At seven that evening, all eight people from my group had to get back in line to secure wristbands. Now, let me tell you when people have been in line for over 12 hours, they do not have patience when someone tries to sneak in.

Apparently, a couple thought they could slyly sneak into a group and get wristbands. Well, unfortunately for them, the people who were in the part of the line where they snuck in didn’t take that too kindly. They reported the line jumpers, and security promptly cut up their wristbands. They left the line amid chants of “Shame! Shame!”

Once we had our wristbands, a lovely couple whom we met and natives of San Francisco like us volunteered to stay overnight from 6 p.m. to 6 .m. They were ready with their sleeping bags, air loungers, caps, sweaters, water, food and chairs. They were veterans at this.

Rough start

We were back in line at six a.m. the next day without coffee or breakfast. It was a rough start, but with the promise of getting great seats for the “GoT” panel, we were all in. After waiting for a few more hours, the line began to move and we all eagerly anticipated getting inside the hall. Once inside, it was every man for himself.

We power walked our way down towards the front, shimmied between bodies, emptied our purses and plopped our belongings on several seats, saving them for the rest of our crew. Once they had made their way in front, we all got seated, six, yes, six rows from the front — near enough to make eye contact with the panelists, and far enough not to be considered stalkers.

Six rows up? Not bad, not bad at all, and totally worth the price of admission. We all were happy to get in and pleased that we found great seats. We settled in and enjoyed the fun and hilarious bantering, the outtakes, the behind-the-scenes revelations of the panels.

Memorable

Overall, my first Hall H experience was memorable, eye-opening and an exercise in patience. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. I was able to spend time and catch up with friends, and make new friends and relationships.

I found out that the Hall H line is not about the shows or the actors and actresses you get to see. The Hall H line is about the people you meet, the costumes and characters you get to enjoy as they walk by, the stories shared and the relationships, old and new, that get established.

Best of all, we all agreed, we would do this again next year — same group, same place, same hall. Who knows? Keep an eye out. Maybe by then, I’ll be brave enough to don one of those costumes.