SWC19 Star Wars Celebration 2019 Hotels

Wish they'd let us see whats available before the 5th...

 

I will go to onPeak!

 

Not looking forward to having a mad scramble to get tickets and hotels at the same time...

BUT!

How many VIP tickets did they have last Orlando that went in seconds? 900 sounds right, but I'm not sure. One person could buy multiple tickets, which means they would go faster. If everyone bought 2, that's only 450 sales. But at least with hotels, one person isn't booking multiple rooms for him and a friend. Which means that if there were only 900 hotel rooms available (I know, there are much more than 900), they'll get booked slower.

So maybe I shouldn't be too worried about it.

 

They never officially said how many VIPs were in Orlando, but I guess it was around 300 which is in line with what it was in Europe. It certainly wasn't 900. You could buy a max of 2. A good chunk of the VIPs I met were there solo (pun intended).

 

< Shrug > I'm not worried about tickets. I'll just take a general admission. I wouldn't get enough value out of a VIP ticket to justify the cost. It's the hotel reservation that matters. There will be a LOT of fans shuttling back and forth to the convention center, way more than in Orlando.

 

If you're not able to get something adjacent when they first go up, just keep watching the site like a hawk throughout the year. At some point, life will get in the way and some people will have to cancel.

 

Hotel reservations are a first priority here too! May the Force be with all of us on the 5th!

 

I just figure I’ll know in less than a minute if I’m lucky enough to get VIP so it’s not that much time lost (really hoping I don’t regret this )

 

Honestly, if you're talking about going to the overnights anyway, I would save your money and not bother with VIP.

 

That system can sit for a minute while it processes though. I mean, you can assume if it doesn't come back right away with VIP that you didn't get it, because those will be gone within a minute. But on your browser you might show a loading symbol for a while before you even get to purchase your badges. That's what happened to a lot of people when tickets for Orlando went on sale. I couldn't purchase mine until about 45 minutes after they went on sale because the server was so jammed. They won't sell out by any means in that quick of a time. But still, it might not even process right away. So I figure I'd rather just secure my hotel first.

 

Yeah that's definitely a possibility and if they D23 price the VIP's I'm out. It would just be nice to have the option in case there's 2 or even 3 over nighters next year. That and we're going with friends who I know won't do more than 1 overnight and wouldn't do any if they managed to get VIP. Plus, it's my first US Celebration and I kinda want to go all in (and I just want Jedi Master Luke on my badge ).

Yeah my assumption is if I'm not through in the first minute then they're gone (and I'm sure these boards and Twitter will confirm that). Since we're going with friends so we might have one person go for the room whilst the rest try for VIP.

 

Map of hotels within walking distance. Just thought it might help.

 

I may try to attend this celebration. Might have to get a hotel within walking distance..

Chicago South Loop Hotel has pretty decent prices. I have a AAA membership so that will come in handy...

 

How fast do the hotels sell out? I have a car, but I don’t really want to use it other than driving to whichever hotel I book because I hate driving in Chicago.

 

They'll sell out quick.

 

I'd definitely do it on the 5th.

 

I would do it right away. Last year I screwed up and ended up getting a room late. I ended up at the Hilton(it was a fabulous hotel) but I wanted to be connected to the convention like I had in previous years to make it easier on my family. I'm not messing around this time. It's connected or bust.

 

Yep. Especially this time around because there's only a handful of hotels that are even close to the convention center. It's not like Anaheim or Orlando where there are dozens of hotels in the immediate surrounding area.

 

Rooms will likely sell quick on the 5th and stay booked for much of the year, however, a lot of rooms become available about a month prior as plans change and bookings are cancelled. Also, many of the cards used at the initial booking will either be declined for lack of funds or some other reason. So even if you don't get a room right away, don't sweat it. Along those same lines, I would be very surprised if they don't have a hotel shuttle service due to many of the hotels being a bit of a distance from the event. You could walk, but tens of thousands of pedestrians in the middle of a major downtown area will impede traffic and I'm certain that the organizers will be looking to alleviate that as much as they can.

 

I have booked a room in a hostel which is within my walking distance (about 40 mins), it's pretty expensive for what it is, however, so I may just book a similar sort of arrangement slightly further out and get a CTA+pace pass.

 

Thanks for the map.

 

I was going to stay completely out of this...but after seeing some of the posts above, I can not in good conscience withhold comment. If I may introduce myself....

My wife is "jjawa3" I am her husband.

I was born and raised in the City of Chicago...and I don't mean the suburbs. I have lived in various addresses around the city---the last one being a relatively short distance from McCormick Place. I grew up in an area known as Englewood, within the city.

I will simply say this: you do NOT want to walk alone in the area posted on the map. If you can take public transportation...that is a start. But it is still DEFINITELY not the best option. If the venue provides shuttle service to your hotel, that will be a REALLY big plus. In a pinch, there is taxi service---but that can be quite expensive.

I will say this once more, and once only...you do NOT want to walk around that area in the City of Chicago. You'll want to avoid it during the day. And you DEFINITELY do not want to be out there at night.

 

Could you elaborate a bit. What can happen to people walking around in that area?
Is it known for gangs? Are we talking mugging? Robbery? Assault? Shooting?
And is it better or worse outside the immediate area surrounding McCormick Place? North, South, West?

I am reading conflicting info about whether or not one should worry about walking around in the area, but I must admit, that for the time being I would rather worry for no reason than to expect conditions like in Orlando or Anaheim only to unpleasantly surprised. I am not happy about it being in Chicago.

 

I don't know which of you I'm responding to @j-jawa3. But here's the thing:

I am not in any way trying to negate your experiences and your opinions on this matter. I do not know the area of Chicago that Celebration will be held, and I am not implying that my thinking can be applied universally to every area. However, I would like to offer a different perspective on it based on my own experiences living in and around Los Angeles, a city that would rank alongside anywhere else that might be considered a dangerous place to be.

I go to concerts all over LA and Hollywood. I'm a huge metal fan, a lot of bands come through this area, and there are so many venues scattered throughout that it's basically something I end up doing on about a weekly basis. And a lot of these venues are located in what most people would consider to be very sketchy areas. Not all of them are located in sketchy areas, and some areas are obviously better or worse than others. There are also factors to consider that might make an area more safe or dangerous in one way, that is different from how another area might be more safe or dangerous, depending on what those factors are. As one of the more extreme examples I can think of, there's one venue I've been to frequently over the last few years that is located in downtown and literally a block away from skid row. So not only does it require traversing partially through skid row in order to get to it, but then a lot of that riff raff is also scattered throughout that immediate area, so you're exposed to it no matter where you are. For that matter, the Staples Center and LA. Live Downtown aren't that much further away. So think of all those Lakers and Kings fans every night who also have to traverse through some of the more seedy areas of downtown in order to get to and from. On foot I mean, after parking, because downtown LA parking is very expensive, and you often have to find a parking lot somewhere that is a good distance from where you are trying to be. In a real sense, you pretty much can't get anywhere on foot in downtown or in Hollywood that doesn't require travelling directly through an area that most would consider to be quite sketchy and seedy. It isn't just localized to skid row, I was using that as one example.

For all intents and purposes, some of these areas I'm referring to would fit exactly how you described the area of Chicago that Celebration will be held. And if you're not from here and haven't seen it and lived it for yourself, I can totally see how one might hold on to that kind of thinking and let it be a guide for them when it comes to deciding whether or not they want to come here or be in certain areas. But what they wouldn't realize is that all over LA this is just a fact of life, the good is mixed with the bad, and vice versa. You can be in a trendy bar in downtown and right out on the street could be addicts, homeless, miscreants, deadbeats, and derelicts who are no less dangerous to you now just because you are there. It is still every bit as dangerous as it would be if you weren't there. But it is what it is, and you get on with it. Just watch your back, don't make yourself an easy target, and you'll get to where you need to be, and back. You are as likely to be assaulted in these areas as you would be anywhere else. All it takes is one unstable individual looking to do harm to someone, and that can happen anywhere, it doesn't always have to be because you are in a "bad" area.

Now granted, I am a young and decently fit looking male. So this is the perspective I am coming from. I'm not about to go tell my younger sister that she'll be just fine walking around downtown by herself. I'm also not trying to make it seem like I'm all tough or anything for being willing to go through seedy parts of the city.

My point is that if your not from an area, the dangers about it might seem a little more absolute and inevitable. But if somebody were to come to me and have that view of downtown LA, a view that could be identical to how you described the Celebration Chicago area, I would absolutely tell them that while it is certainly dangerous in all of those ways and you should maintain your skepticism for your own safety, it isn't by any means a no-go zone either. You can be perfectly fine going out and enjoying your evening. Just stay with a group, be alert and aware, and you'll be fine. This is based on my own experience having done that myself so many times in these areas, areas that somebody who doesn't live here might unequivocally brand as basically being no-go zones. And I don't believe that telling somebody that they'll be alright going to certain areas of downtown LA is inevitably putting them in that much greater danger than they would be in anywhere else.

Keep in mind, I'm also not about to go traverse all over downtown Chicago willy-nilly thinking to myself "well if I could do this in LA, then I can do it anywhere". But when I think about the fact that McCormick is one of the major convention centers in the country, that holds a number of high profile events every year bringing in hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life, I don't think the surrounding area can be thaaat bad, so much so that it's a complete no-go zone as you described. Especially when you consider that by 8/9 pm each evening, 90% of Celebration attendees will already be in their hotel rooms awaiting the next day. So it's not like we're talking about everyone taking a walk back to their hotel late every night either.

Are there no-go zones in Chicago? I'm sure there are. Just like there are in LA. But that doesn't mean that that particular area is a no-go zone, even if it might have a reputation for being one. Also much like the case for a lot of areas in LA. So again, before we start scaring people from coming to Celebration, I think there might be other areas in Chicago that could qualify as being far more dangerous than the immediate vicinity surrounding one the nation's major convention centers.

Now, for anybody reading this, please don't let this be the only thing you consider when you decide to go to Chicago. Don't think "well this guy says its okay so it's probably going to be okay". No. Take your precautions, do your research, and keep your head on a swivel when your there. But I wouldn't not come to Celebration because you think it might be too dangerous. And if you do think that and don't come, so be it. Everyone is entitled to do as they see fit for themselves.

 

https://heyjackass.com/category/2018-stats/
https://heyjackass.com/2018-deadliest-hoods/
See that section between the loop and Douglas? That's where McCormick Place is.

And then this link should show you a breakdown of crimes in the area

I'm not saying anyone's statements about Chicago are unjustified, but I do doubt the objectivity of people who don't live here.

https://www.areavibes.com/orlando-fl/crime/ Did you know that Orlando has a murder rate six times higher than the national average? I don't remember anyone worried about crime when it was hosted there.