CE16 Noob Celebration Europe Help Please

Hey guys,
CE16 will be my first celebration and I had a few burning questions that though that you maight be able to help with .
I live about 30 min away from Excel and I would really like to make the first main opening panel. Any ideas on how early to arrive to the building before the start?
Are there any ideas on how the tickets will be given out?
Also finally are there any days better than others, or days i should spend my cash , and which events are normally worth going to.
Thanks very much hope you can help

 

When I went in 2007 Friday was the least crowded day, Saturday was extremely crowded - you could barely move in the vendor area, and Sunday was hot because the a/c in Excel had packed in. Late in the afternoon on the Sunday is a good time to get deals with the vendors as they'd rather sell the stuff than pack it. Not sure on the tickets as I got mine mailed in 2007.

 

If you are talking about the entry tickets, then you can normally collect them for 3-5 hours the day before Celebration and then all through opening hours of Celebration.

If you are talking about tickets to the main event, then it would be a first-come-first-served kind of thing, though VIPs would have priority.

When you should arrive is anybodys guess - assuming it actually is an opening panel. In Anaheim, Main Event was an opening panel, but at other Celebrations Main Event has been at other later times.
Assuming they have learned their lesson, and now let fans line/queue up prior to the event instead of during the event, than it will also still depend upon the number of seats and the interest among fans, as to when you need to arrive in the morning. If the number of seats if few and the number of interested fans is big, then you might need to arrive the day before. If it is the other way around, then you might be fine arriving a couple of hours before, but there is really no way of being sure before we stand there.

 

I can't believe it's basically a WILL CALL situation to get your tickets........It's going to be a bottleneck right from the start I'm fearing.

 

They had will call in Essen as well, with no lines to speak of, that I noticed.

I have been to Celebration 4, 5, 6, 7 and Europe II, always having to get my access badge from will call because I am from Europe and the only time I actually had to stand in a line to get it was at Celebration 4 where I was there at the very first opportunity 3 days ahead of the event as I remember it. There was maybe around 50 people in the line and Steve Sansweet came out to say hi to us. Two friend of mine came late the day before Celebration and us who were already there met them at Los Angeles Convention Center and there was no queue at all half an hour before they closed. Felt a bit stupid there for having stod in line 2 days earlier.

 

I bought the Saturday ticket and I have no idea what to expect haha. This is going to be my first celebration as well. Do you guys have any advice on how to prepare or what to bring?

I fear Saturday may be too busy...

 

Bring water, maybe some snacks, a bag of cause. Maybe something to securely hold autographs, if you are into that. Camera, money. Did I mention water - bring water, this may not be Californien or Florida, but with this many people it can still feel hot and humid.

If possible through the official app, then list your contact details, so you can exchange them with fellow fans you meet in queues. The app had that opportunity for Celebration Anaheim. If they don't bring that feature back, then remember business cards with contact details. If you meet someone you want to keep in contact with, then it is a lot easier with the app or business cards, than to write details down on the spot. And you will be in queues, and possible a lot of them, so say hello to the people around you. You may get to know people from all over the planet that way.

 

I'm a n00b as well.......what is the usual set up for attaining an autograph and pic? Just get in line and wait?

 

Well, in the past Official Pix has been running it. Now someone else is gonna do it, rumors has it showmasters are gonna crew it.
Luckily for you I have experience with both! Although only once for each! (haha)
Fairly similar:
Official Pix: You could buy your tickets for autographs early so that you wouldn't need to worry about carrying the cash with you to the table. Only the "ticket." However you still had to queue up!
Showmasters: Get your cash ready! You pay right before you are to get something signed. For the more popular guests they had a virtual queue (you got a ticket with a number on it and for example Right outside "Carrie Fisher" there would be a sign saying "signing 50-100" meaning 50-100 ticket holders could now queue up.

For both of them you got your item ready or picked out a complimentary picture right before you got to the popular guests. Smaller guests you picked your picture right infront of them.

 

Same here. Just attending Saturday. There will be three in my party. We're traveling from the States so any insight as to the "Will Call" situation, etc. would be greatly appreciated!

 

Haven't seen anything announced on ticket pickup - keep an eye on the web page you used to buy tickets. I'd hope we'd be able to pick them up on Thursday - we've just booked a hotel room from Thurs night- Sat nite with Sunday checkout.

 

I like that idea.............

 

Yeah they have fallen slightly silent on this topic. Looking forward to the event though. Wow! Amazing that you're coming from the states.

 

Just happened to work out in my favor. We're spending 12 days visiting Scotland/England and will be in London during Celebration. I was beyond excited when they released more tickets!

 

Convention noob here as well, flying in from Sweden. Do the vendors/food stalls on the show floor usually take visa/mastercard? or should I bring loads of cash for all the loot I will buy Are there ATM's inside Excel?

 

Credit cards are a fairly good bet for most of the vendors. However for food/drink and other stuff like that they will probably want cash or a debit card. If I recall correctly there are ATMs in ExCel but the lines were long. If you need an ATM check around your hotel for a bank branch. Just a note that Natwest bank machines do not charge a fee for use by non-customers. Your own bank might charge you a fee though. Also if you don't normally use your cards outside Sweden you might want to let your bank know you will be travelling so they don't suspect card fraud and block your cards.

 

Thanks for the helpful info folks, celebration will be a blast I'm sure now I just have to wait for the ticket collection details. I'm landing around lunch on thursday, so would be great if I could get my bearings, find the venue and grab the ticket that afternoon.

 

We're planning on coming up Thurs as well - our hotel is booked from Thurs-Sat night. Hopefully we can get our tickets also.