SDCC 2014: Countdown To Pre-Registration Day On 8 February!

Tick tock, tick tock...

After a long long looooonnnnnnnnnng wait, pre-registration for this year's biggest and craziest geek event, San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), will kick off at 9 AM Pacific Time on Saturday, 8 February.

That's just a few hours away!

For the last few years, pre-registration (i.e. the time when people who had attended the previous year's SDCC try to get their passes online) have always been held before November.

This year, the online process has been scheduled unusually late - only 5 months ahead of the convention dates of 23 to 27 July.

Not surprisingly, fans waiting to grab hold of those super hard-to-get SDCC passes have been feeling antsy since the third quarter of last year! Here's photo evidence of a very patient fan who had been waiting for SDCC pre-registration dates to be announced:

(From Twitter, courtesy of @pedobearclaw)

With just a few months before July, it is understandable people are anxious about knowing if they are able to attend the convention and can then decide on their travel plans.

So why has SDCC pre-registration been delayed for this long?

Well, for starters, the pricing and registration process have been changed for this year. Instead of offering an option to buy 4-Day passes, one would have to buy single-day passes separately if they do not desire to attend Preview Night (23 July). Plus, ticket prices have also gone up slightly.

The belief was that this would give fans more options to buy only for the days they want/ need to attend during SDCC and frees up more chances for others to get a pass on any combination of those 4 days. The downside of this probably affects international folks who might not find it cost-effective and worthwhile to attend SDCC if they are not assured of getting passes for all 4 days. Red Dot Diva thinks that the best option then, for folks travelling far and wide, is to bid for the chance of the 4-Day package + Preview Night.

This is because at the registration page, one just needs to tick the Preview Night box, and all other badges (Thursday through Sunday) will be automatically marked for purchase. And if your purchase gets through, you are in for the entire show!

Due to these changes, and a known history of server-overcrowding during online registration, the organizers have explained that more time was required for the fine-tuning and (hopefully, very rigorous) testing of the EPIC Registration System.

Well, despite the changes, Red Dot Diva expects that there will be tons more people wanting to attend SDCC than there are available passes. And come Saturday morning, it is still most probably going to be a stressful and heart pounding event.

To increase your chances in scoring those passes, here are some quick tips from Red Dot Diva:

1. Read all the instructions and get familiar with the process.
Check out the details in the links here: http://comic-con.org/cci/2014-cci-badge-preregistration and http://comic-con.org/cci/2014-cci-badge-preregistration#sthash.xwQ47rJA.dpuf

2. Go test the browser landing page on your PC/ Mac - http://landing.cloudapp.net/Home/Precheck2

3. If you haven't already, gather your friends and acquaintances and help each other register! Keep in contact with each other during the process -- best done through Twitter!

4. Make sure your email is not blocking Comic-Con's notification email. And check your spam/ junk mailbox. Your personal registration code and link to the EPIC waiting room will be sent to you at least 24 hours in advance. 

5. When you have the link of the landing page, bookmark it!

6. Type up all information and save it where it is easily accessible, like the computer desktop. You can then easily copy and paste Member ID and last name during registration.

7. Keep an eye on the clock. The EPIC waiting room opens up 7AM. Once you are in there (regardless what time you enter the waiting room between 7 AM and 9 AM), you will be assigned a random number and be put in a queue.

8. Check your credit cards and ensure that there are enough funds and the credit limit has not been exceeded.

7. And remember... once you are going through the registration process, DO NOT use the browser's BACK button!


Oh, if you run into any problems, do and keep the screenshots so that you can run it by the organizers/ EPIC. These screenshots might turn out to be useful as proof.

Tick tock, tick tock...

SDCC Pre-registration time is Coming...

Stay calm.

Meanwhile, Red Dot Diva wishes you all the best in getting Comic-Con 2014 passes!