CE16 Celebration Stage wristbands & queueing (was: How to get in to Hamills stage show)

Anyone have any idea how quickly the Rebels panel will fill up? I was thinking I could get up early on Saturday (around 4am), head over to Excel, wait around till wristbands are given out, then go grab another couple hours sleep. Would that work? Or once I've got wristband do I have to stay in centre? Or for Rebels should I be queuing the night before as soon as A New Hope ends? Cheers

 

I don't think anyone can really predict how quickly the queues will fill up in all honesty.

Once you have your wristband you can then leave. The main Celebration hall doesn't open until 10am anyway.

 

Yes, after you have your wristband you can either start queuing for the main hall opening at 10am or simply go home and come back later (either nearer 10am or after during the 'free flow' period).

Just want to make it clear that "4-5 hours as a minimum", and "queuing overnight in order to get any chance" are speculation at this point. They're potential, but by no means set in stone.

In retrospect, the organizers should perhaps have simply stated that the wristband 'office' opens at 6am. The 'we start handing them out at 6am' wording not only implies a queue already but also has connotations that they are all handed out at that time (ie, within minutes). As such, there's a lot of hysteria on this 'must be there before 6am' attitude, which in turn is driving more people to feel that they need to be there at that time. It ends up being a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 

People are going a little nuts, it seems like this is happening at the big conventions in recent years. Don't stress out about any of these events guys; do what you're comfortable with to get to them. I'm confident that this won't be like SDCC's big Hall H panels in any case.

 

Indeed, the organisers have compounded the problem by telling people not only that 'we start handing them out at 6am' but then by telling (and implicitly encouraging) people that they can start queuing from 8pm the night before. So that's bound to create a rush. And only 7 days in advance. Either way, if people elect to camp out overnight, or turn up at 4am 'in good time' to get into a queue that may or may not already be swelling to capacity, it's at the very least going to annoy a lot of people who had already planned their trip to arrive say an hour or so before official opening, expecting to then get bands, only to find they had all gone at 6am.

It's certainly annoying those of us with medical problems and disabilities who have fatigue and pain issues, who have to pace ourselves for the day ahead with limited resources, such that we can't get up at the crack of dawn, to sit in a queue for 6am handout (if we are lucky and all the bands have not gone by the time we reach the head of the queue), and then still have to wait getting on for another 4 hours onsite before the event even opens. (that's what I meant by 4-5 hours minimum )

The organisers policy of only handing out wristbands on the day makes matters worse, compounding it all into one mad rush. Compared to getting into Sigourney Weaver's panel at last years London Film and Comic Con, where admittedly you had to pay extra over the conventions entry fee but at least there, you could buy the pass to her talk in advance online, or onsite. So I just ambled up to the info/panel ticket desk on the first day of the convention and bought a ticket for her talk which was on the following day, minimal queuing, no physical stress and no silly queuing hours well before opening in a separate queue that isn't even the queue for getting into the convention proper. Minimal fuss for an actress who I guess has as much pulling power as Hamill and Fisher. Much better organisation from Eventbrite in that respect

 

LFCC last year was a problem with not organising people in queues according to what type of ticket they had. One man at the front was shouting in a crowded hall calling for certain ticket types & many couldn't hear.
They needed more staff, and a better way of passing messages down the queue

 

Yep, this much is true, the queuing especially to get into panels and meet and greets (once people had already bought their talk/panel tickets though) was atrocious and poorly planned, especially on the 1st floor gallery, which was seriously blocking through flow traffic to the west part of floor one. The organisers there failed monumentally in planning for just how many people would turn up when they booked the space.

 

Yeah, it's definitely gone nuts on the Facebook page. Almost everyone there seems to be acting like they've been told arrive at 8pm the night before or you won't stand a chance when that's not what it says at all.

To try and put this in a bit of perspective. Last year the official queue for TFA panel began at 6pm the day before, the first person in the "unofficial queue" was there at 8am (basically proving the hardcore fans will queue no matter what so at least this way they have a properly organized area to do it). If the reports I'm reading are right the line for the main stage was capped at 7:20am, less than 3 hours before the panel/show opened and almost 24 hours after the first person started queuing. And then they still had the 2 streaming stages to fill.

I think everyone can agree that's a far cry from you "have to be there the night before and queue all night or you won't stand a chance". Plus that was a US Celebration in Anaheim for The Force Awakens. General consensus is that European Celebrations are traditionally less busy (though we are in uncharted waters post TFA) and as much as I think Rogue One looks amazing the hype isn't at TFA levels. That was a true once in a lifetime moment.

So basically be prepared to arrive early if you want a Rogue One wristband but whilst you'll have a greater guarantee if you queue overnight I don't think it's essential as long as you arrive early enough in the morning.

The only other panels I can see attracting over night queues are the Closing Panel and maybe Rebels but again apply logic. If people are still getting wristbands at say 8am on Friday morning for Rogue One then you probably could for these panels as well.

Of course this is just based on looking at past events and applying some common sense, since everyone seems to prefer to believe the sky is falling maybe they will all show up at 8pm, who knows! Best way to keep up to date would be to keep checking social media for updates and seeing how things are going once the queue actually starts.

 

Yep, though I still want to hear from ReedPop why those of us who get medical badges can't pick up wristbands separately, either on the day or the day before (say on the Thursday evening when I arrive) etc so we can avoid the 'mad rush' queue at 6am in the morning. After all, the "medical Badges" section on the website makes a point of supposedly how helpful they are being towards those of us who have physical issues with queuing but then it seems they haven't applied that consideration to the celebration stage queues. (which by the sound of it, are set to become the most stressful of all the queues !)

 

Taggle I'm not sure if you saw my update last night regarding wristbands for those with medical stickers.

I had a message from the facebook page last night telling me there would be a separate queue to obtain wristbands for the celebration stage for those with medical stickers.

 

I believe you can pick up a wristband for somebody with a medical badge, without them having to be present and in the queue. You may want to investigate how to get another person to be a registered Medical Sticker companion for you. Will save you having to wait in any kind of queue from the sounds of it.

A single wristband will be put on each person. Extra wristbands will not be given out. You must be present to receive a wristband (exceptions only for registered Medical Sticker companions).

 

That's good, at least that clears that up.

I think all we're waiting for now is for the final panel to be revealed (there's still one on the BTS stage on Friday that's TBC) and for the Celebration Store merchandise to be revealed. I'm hoping we'll see store stuff later today, after all aren't the VIPs meant to get the chance to pre-order this stuff before the show?

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en-gb"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Every saga starts with aisle banners. Day one of the <a href="https://twitter.com/SW_Celebration">@SW_Celebration</a> build. See you soon! <a href="https://t.co/SitxUvYCSF">pic.twitter.com/SitxUvYCSF</a></p>&mdash; Mary Franklin (@MaryPOPCon) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryPOPCon/status/752457114300325888">11 July 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


Hopefully that works,

 

I'm not on Facebook so can't see what's happening in there. However, there is not chance I'm camping overnight. I fly in from Scotland on Thursday evening and want to use the hotel room I've paid money for.
I also won't be there early enough if the lines begin in the evening.

This wristband scenario isn't the most ideal of solutions.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

 

Interesting, I now need one of the officials to double confirm that just in case the person responding to you is confusing the separate medical sticker queue for getting into the stage (once you already have a wristband) and some other 'queue' for medical sticker holders to get the bands (since no such queuing area for the latter is displayed on the maps ! So where, in that case, would medical sticker holders pick up the wristbands ?)

 

See, when I read that on the website, I thought it meant that registered medical sticker companions would not need a wristband when accompanying the person with the sticker into the Celebration Stage area. In essence, it appeared that what they are saying there is that you, the medical sticker holder have to get in the default queue and suffer regardless (because you are not the 'exception') but your companion/carer doesn't (because they are the 'exception'). They can have a nice lie in. They then meet up with you after you have spent 'all night' in the queue and accompany you from thereon.

Or maybe not, it's not really clear what they mean, based on the response above on Facebook ?!

 

Hmmm, I think you maybe right on this. It's not the clearest wording, especially since it doesn't make sense for the companion/carer to be given a 'free pass' and the person in the wheelchair, say, to be doing all the actual queuing and waiting... that's just backwards.

Hopefully the above response from Facebook is accurate and you have a queue to more or less yourself. So even if you're the one doing all the work and can pick up a wristband for someone who isn't present (ie, whoever is looking after you), which I think is bonkers (heck, I'll be a companion if that's the case!), it won't be nearly as long a wait as the main wristband queue.

 

Addendum: According to an email response I have received, those with medical stickers who have a registered companion with them, they are allowing the companion to receive an extra wristband for them. So, fine if you are going with a companion. I assume that means they expect the companion to do the queuing in your place then.

If, however, you are disabled but going alone without a carer/companion (like me), then apparently no such luck ?! So does this mean I have to court the favours of a perfect stranger before the day in the hope they will become a companion on the day and be willing to queue really early...gahhhh

Dear ReedPop, can't I just nominate one of the people handing out the wristbands as my 'companion', so they can hold on to it for me until I'm ready to turn up..

 

Well this certainly has the potential to be a complete ****show... As I'm arriving on Thursday I'll pick up my tickets before hand and I'll drag my mate out to get in a queue at 6am on the Friday and I guess we'll see how it goes. I had planned on seeing Mark and R1 but that looks like it's a fantasy now. Decisions decisions, not sure which I'd prefer at this stage...

I can't be the only person that would have preferred a lottery before hand? I'd have had whatever I was given and taken it on the chin but all this hours long queueing isn't exactly going to help the experience. There's going to be a lot of upset/annoyed people there and even more tired and grouchy people in multiple queues.

Sorry to be a downer on it all but I've been to similar events like this and it always takes it out of you. The attitude to take it one of almost indifference and trying to enjoy the experience as best you can by talking to people around you and having a laugh where you can but it can be tough!

 

I may be able to help on the Friday and Sunday, but Saturday I'll be with some friends and arriving late in the day, so I couldn't help then. What's the process for getting a companion? I'd assume that it occurred at registration? I'm still formulating when best to get there; 6am is a funny time, since I can either get there around 2am or 7am, but any time in between is very difficult. If you are able to find out how it works, let me know and perhaps I can register as your companion or something when I get there and pick up a wristband. That said, I'd be in line for the Rogue One panel

The randomness of a lottery could lead to even fewer people getting what they want, and that's generally a bad approach to making paying customers happy. At least this way, people are a little in control of what they can get into. And what if people don't know about the lottery before hand? How is that even organized?

I go back to my possibly optimistic attitude in that most people are overestimating the number of people that are going to be there overnight and underestimating the quantity of wristbands. Granted, it would be very useful for the organizers to be more forthcoming about these stats. I believe the Celebration Stage is the ICC auditorium, which apparently has a capacity of 4,500 people, and I imagine the two streaming stages will take in another several thousand people. Will they fill the aisles and allow people to stand as well? That would go a long way to increasing capacity and keeping more people happy. Daily celebration attendance may be in the vicinity of 10-12k (generally, around 30k attend over the 3 days). So possibly about 60-70% of those attending will get into the panel. Those aren't bad odds...

On the Hamill panel. Personally speaking, although I've never seen the man in the flesh and would love to, I've watched enough of his panels to know that this may be going over much of the same content, especially since the greatest source of new experiences and stories (ie, Episode 8) is still under lock and key. That's the kind of thing that you could watch streaming later. That said, there may be enough people thinking that same way that there are more seats!

 

Wait, if daily attendance is at least 10k and it seats 4,500, how is that 60-70%? Here's an idea, cap it at 9k a day and split the panels, let's say there are four a day, 2 higher tier and 2 lower tier class of panels, you get one from each when picking up your badge. Everyone who is going should be able to see some cool stuff each day and this would eliminate so much queueing.

The registration times being so far in advance and available 24hours is the only things I have seen done right, everything else looks like it'll be horrendous.

 

@michaelsft The Rogue One panel is also being streamed in the other stages, these probably hold less than the main stage so it's a 60-70% possibility.

 

I'm including the streaming panels in that percentage, which bring up the numbers able to sit and watch the panel live or streamed to about 7k.

Your idea sounds good until you realise that you run into the same problem - people first in the line get first dibs, someone is going to pick up their ticket and find their choice isn't available anymore, perhaps all their choices; you've just swapped it from it happening at the wristband queue to it happening at the ticket office. And in this case, since the ticket office is open from Wednesday, all the panels could be filled days before the event meaning those not in town then have no chance. When you get down it it, there's a supply/demand problem here that cannot be avoided short of holding the panel at Wembley.

 

Yep, effectively when the person with a medical condition picks up their main ticket, they are required to show documentary evidence that they are disabled/have a medical issue( ie, doctors letter, DWP letter etc) and once that's confirmed, they are eligible for a complementary ticket for a companion at the same time, of the same type (so, example, I have a three day ticket, the carer would also get a three day complementary ticket) Basically, the carer/companion then gets into the whole event for free as a result.(nice ) It doesn't say whether or not you have to name the companion but I'm assuming you do have to..

On the numbers likely to turn up on each day that will be interesting, based on your estimates it's going to be much smaller than say the MCM Comic Con which also takes place at the Excel. The one that took place in May just gone, which I was at, had 133,000 people attend over the 3 days, with queues on each day to get in apparently getting on for 30,000+ people !

Despite the huge numbers in attendance then I had no problem getting into the Excel and no problems getting into any of the panels they had going, they were all open access. (no wristband, no ticket, no early morning queuing required, just half an hour before the panel started I headed off the main exhibition floor, made my way up to the Platinum suite, rolled into the theatre and parked up at the front of the seating area close to the stage. But then again, the celebs for those panels were not of the kind who pull crowds like the big names of Star Wars I would guess. However, even Gillian Anderson's talk wasn't that hard to get into at the MCM the year before either, (same, just head to the theatre and roll in) I just arrived too late at the Excel (wheelchair and related transport hassles) so missed it.