Celebration III

Has anyone been able to reserve any rooms yet?

 

*writes down "need to reserve room"*

 

We need one person to get our room reservations. That way we're all together and we know we have the rooms. Before we were discussing getting two suites at the Hilton(?), I think. I would do it, but my credit card is totally maxed out. What do you guys think?

 

The official word from GenCon is that most of the rooms available in the hotels will be block rooms and can not be reserved until probably September. I was told by the person in charge of this at GenCon to watch the official Star Wars Celebration site for the announcement. Most of the hotels in the area (and I called them) will not reserve a room any earlier than 50-52 weeks in advance (which would be about now) but that reserving rooms in the blocks must be made through GenCon. She also confirmed that rumors about people already reserving rooms and the hotels being fully booked are false.

Unless she was lying to me, we have to wait until September unless there are some available rooms outside of the block and those will be more expensive. Right now she told me the rooms would range in price from $130-160/night.

 

I would advise booking a room now - although Gen Con has blocked rooms at various hotels, it might be hard to get in on their discounted rooms this summer when they finally make them available. You can always cancel your reservation if you get in on the Gen Con deal. I've gone through this before - been to c1 and c2 and my reservation got lost, I was switched to other hotels, it's always advisable to have a backup.

Just my opinion.

 

Holy crap on a cracker! Michele posted!!

 

Hey Michelle!! Long time no hear...I guess...Nice to see ya again!

 

Yes, I am alive and well. I check in every so often, just to keep up with things. c-3 should be quite exciting!

 

Some of us have already made reservations (outside of the GenCon room blocks since those are not available yet) as a precaution. The per night cost is an arm and a leg but at least we are, right now, assured of a room and within walking distance of the convention center. And Michelle is correct - we can always cancel those for rooms in the block at a later date. But, be warned, if these block rooms MUST be reserved through GenCon, there is a $50 cancellation fee no matter how soon or late you cancel (of course, I am assuming the same policy will be in force as they have for hotel rooms for GenCon in August - where there were no available rooms outside of the reserved convention blocks).

Good luck to everyone!

 

went last time am sooo going this time... i couldnt believe that its gonna be 4 days instead of three!! am hoping to findout times of events and the schedualing of the whole thing... so many rolls of film i must have!!!

 

Well, at this point, it looks like I'm not going to be able to go at all. Money is just way too tight with me paying my own way through college, and my parents putting my brother through a private high school.

If things change, I'll let you all know.

 

It looks like we will only be able to go for the weekend due to me having a newer job and not a lot of vacation time. We have a few others things I want to take time off for next year as well.

 

I made a costume for this event and I am definitely going! Twisty- let me know how things are looking for you that way I can plan out if I should make that handmaid outfit that goes with the Senate costume of mine.

 

What day are you wearing costumes dressing up? I'm hoping it's on the weekend so I can see you all.

 

Hello FF Milwaukee!

I'm "Sal" the guy that's negotiating a deal with GenCon for lower rates and possibly prebooking rooms before they become available to the general public.

The deadline for submission of numbers has been extended to July 1st.

So, if you haven't as yet said you were going, you have another week to do so. (PM your CR.)

The negotiation for rooms is taking place before they are being offered to the general public. This is for rooms at one of the connected hotels to the convention center.

In the event we cannot negotiate a deal for either cheaper rates or pre-booking or both, there is no harm no foul since this will be decided upon before the actual booking takes place.

The following is a "letter" I passed along to the CR's in the CR forum. Please read carefully and if interested have your CR contact me no later than the new deadline of July 1st.

Start copy/paste
To all CR's, RSA's and GSA's,

This is a formal letter regarding hotel room booking information for CIII. I have been told by Terry (aka: Rox) that I am authorized to negotiate a group rate for all of Fanforce. It is my hope to secure a full hotel connected to the convention center (by skywalk) for all of Fanforce before the general public is able to book rooms. I am fairly confident that this is possible.

What I need from you all is a tally of FIRM numbers of interested people from your respective Fanforce chapters. (Also, if you have some "possibles," you may give me a count for those as well.)

Please format your numbers as such:
Pittsburgh FF: 14 Firm, 6 Possibles

I will need your final tally no later than June 21st, EDIT-the deadline is now July 1st, so that I may compile the list and start negotiating with GenCon (the promoters of CIII).

The 501st already has a deal through them for 250 rooms, but I am confident that with the combined presence of Fanforce we will be able to have many more rooms requested, and could then present a valid case for special consideration in regards to discount rates and "pre-booking".

The room rates quoted to me so far (this was by one specific hotel so rates may differ slightly)
were as such:

$134 per night for a single (1 person) 1 double bed
$144 per night for a single (2 person) 1 king bed
$154 per night for a single (3 person) 1 king bed, 1 roll out bed
$164 per night for a single (4 person) 2 doubles

Should the actual rates be different (whether higher or lower) you will be notified immediately after I receive that information.

The bed size may vary by hotel. You will also be notified of that should it differ than what is quoted here.

The information contained in the replies I receive will figure prominently in the negotiating process and, as a result, will need to be as accurate as humanly possible since a contract will most likely need to be drawn up.

Do not "pad" your numbers. Only firm numbers, please. (The "possibles" may be taken into account, but I suspect that unlikely.) We, as Fanforce, can not be responsible for extra rooms not filled, so once again I urge you to be absolutely confident with your figures before you submit them to me.

Since this is just the beginning of the negotiation phase, I do not yet have any answers regarding who, how, and when you will be able to pay for rooms. Rest assured that I will post this information immediately after finding out, so as to give you and your respective members as much time as possible to make whatever decisions you need to make regarding payment.

If there are any questions regarding CIII room booking, please PM me for now and I will ensure that a special thread be made for this, which will include a FAQ.

Thank you for your time. I look forward to hearing from you.

Let's show our "force,"
jedi_master_sal
End copy/paste

Keep in mind that hotel rooms before GenCon's discount for one of the connected hotels would have been $200 or more. So we are already getting a great deal.
Any questions please have your CR forward them to me.

 

I am confused. Can you get a room with two queen beds so that if you are sharing with someone but are not willing to sleep together you can still room together.

 

Oh you and your "morals."

 

That is pretty cool. I would definitely be interested in participating in something like that. With my costumes, I definitely need skywalk access. I'm in.

 

marajoan
I am confused. Can you get a room with two queen beds so that if you are sharing with someone but are not willing to sleep together you can still room together.

Having two beds denotes at least a 3 person if not a 4 person room and the bed sizes would be doubles. (read above)

Again though that info was given to me by one specific hotel so should the size of the beds be different I will pass that along.

Major information about anything related to the discount rooms or prebooking will be posted in the CR boards. Please have your CR actively check the thread on that board for pertinent info.

You of course are free to check out the Pittsburgh Boards (my "home boards", where I have an ever growing F.A.Q. If your question hasn't been aswered, ask you CR the question first as it may have been answered on the CR boards, then if not have them forward it on to me and I'll answer it on both the CR board and in my FAQ thread.

I will say, don't expect to spend a whole lot of time in your room. There is going to be so much to see and do at CIII that the only times you be in your room are to drop of any purchases, sleep and shower.

Try ganging up together in a 4 person room that has two doubles. You'll each pay less. I understand not wanting to sleep next to someone else, just realize that you may have to get a room by yourself then which would cost alot.

Let's get excited about this folks! It's going to be the single biggest Star Wars event EVER!

So far I have 15 FF chapters on board and have at least another 10 that are in the process of submitting requests. We're into the hundreds of people now participating in FF!

They are coming from California, Texas, New York, Sweden, Germany and Britain, to name a few.

-Sal

 

I have rooms blocked already...the problem is I don't trust the convention that much. I had an ok time getting them before- but things are handled very poorly! They do not confirm and wait until the last minute to tell you if you have a room.

We might pay more...but it could also be worth not having a headache.

How about everyone else?

Eric

 

I am confused Eric. You blocked some rooms? How many and where at?

 

2 rooms, next to each other....they are expensive but I have them just in case! That's the point this convention is run by very dumb people...so I am not taking any chances! But we have 2 rooms.

 

Yes, Eric has booked 2 rooms directly with Embassy Suites. There are 6 of us already for those 2 rooms and we did this to make sure we have rooms in case the mad and insane rush prevents us from getting one of the block rooms that GenCon will, some day in the far distant future, finally offer up. The one nasty thing about GenCon and requiring you to book through them is that, should you cancel your room with them (heaven forbid!!), they still charge you $50! What a frelling racket!!! At least that's what they did to me because I had to cancel my trip down to Indy for GenCon next month due to money constraints (unexpected car expense as well as some home surprises as well) so I'm sure they'll do the same thing for C3.

However, Joan tried doing the same thing Eric did for us and most of the hotels (including Embassy Suites and Courtyard by the Marriot) told her there are no more available rooms so she would have to wait for GenCon to offer up the blocks.

Personally, I'm beginning to feel like C3 is going to be a frelling madhouse just like C2 was...though I was able to get a hotel room as late as January that time - and right across the street from the convention center. However, my mantra for C2 became SNAFU so I might just go with that this time around as well.