TomDent
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Content Count
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Posts posted by TomDent
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38 minutes ago, KyoKyo said:
Agreed 100% My friend was working at home and lined up in the queue at around 11:45 and was already something like #3,500. He had to wait over 45 minutes to get us a room around 12:45. I mean if you have to actually work how are you supposed to sit there for 45 minutes waiting in queue? I really wish they'd open these blocks on weekends ESPECIALLY if they're using the queue system.
Luckily we got the Westin again but Otakon really needed to clarify how this system was supposed to work including the fact that even if you had CC issues or your connection dropped the whole thing would refresh and kick you out of your spot.
Our group got really lucky. Three of us out of a six person group were going to try to book a couple of rooms for the whole group. Myself and one friend were at work (we work together in a factory setting with crappy Wi-Fi and even worse cellphone signal) and we were planning on joining the queue at 11, which is when our lunch break starts, then kind of hide out over the next hour or so at the risk of getting in trouble. Another friend works from home and was ultimately the one who booked the rooms. He was just messing around on the site a little after 10 and noticed he could join the queue, so he let us know. He got in at #552 and we got in around the 600-700s. Since our Internet connection was crap in the factory, we kept losing our place and got knocked back to near 6000 by noon. The friend at home was able to keep his place and get the hotel we wanted. He actually moved up in line really rapidly when the booking session started (I'm guessing a lot of people may have panicked and refreshed their page, booting them to the back of the line). It was nerve wrecking to say the least.
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6 minutes ago, rotinoma said:
Hotel registration is a huge part of the convention. There are people who won't come if they don't get a reservation, and this fiasco turns something kind of mundane into a pain in the butt. But at least Washington DC has a lot of hotel inventory even for a event like Otakon that has 46k attendees last time, so when push comes to shove, attendees are not completely SOL. I'm more concerned that something fairly straightforward, that was done basically without major issues for years, was bungled this badly this year. Wish someone from the con can at least explain why.
I think, at the very least, that this system would have worked fairly well if we just had all the info a good amount of time in advance. All the info they first put out about how it would work differently this year should have went out a lot sooner than the day before. And other important pieces of info, such as don't refresh your page if it said disconnected and that you need to make sure your card's expiration date is acceptable, should have been included from the start. I found out a lot of important info either through unofficial social media posts or just by dumb luck.
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Something this big should have been officially announced AT LEAST a week before. And I know that maybe this should have been common sense, but I just saw the note about your credit card needing to have an expiration date of 8/25 or further out. I didn't think to check my card until then and realized that mine expires 7/25.
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I keep getting disconnected and have to refresh the page. I went from #670 to #5051. Also I thought the virtual waiting room didn't open until 11, but my friend was just messing around with it and it let him in almost an hour before.
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Beacon Hotel and Corporate Quarters
Our group stayed here for the first time. We were going to get two rooms at the Marquis Marriott, but we had to change our plans due to budget reasons, so we got two rooms at the Beacon to save some money.
Cost: It was about $730 for a room with two double beds and a pull out sofa bed.
Amenities: The rooms were a nice size, not cramped at all. The beds were OK (the sofa bed was pretty stiff, as they usually are). There was a mini kitchen with a small (not mini) fridge/freezer, sink with garbage disposal, two burner stovetop, some dishes and cookware (barely enough for 2-3 people), single cup coffee maker, and complimentary bottled water. Besides the beds and sofa bed, there was a small desk (no drawers, just a tabletop hanging on the wall), a small dining table, two dining chairs, and a reading chair with ottoman. There was also a bar/lounge/restaurant in the bottom level and a rooftop bar/lounge (we didn't try either of these for some reason). They also have valet parking that I think was something like $60 a day (we parked in a nearby garage for much cheaper).
Location: The location was nice IMO. The real downside was that it was a 20+ minute walk to the WEWCC, but for it's length it really was an easy route mainly just following Massachusetts Ave. There was a Wawa and CVS nearby, so that was nice. Wasn't too far from some restaurants, but if we didn't eat in the WEWCC (which we really tried to avoid doing) or really close to it, then we just ordered delivery from a few places to the hotel.
Staff: The only interaction we had with the staff was with the front desk when checking in and checking out. We dealt with the same guy both times. Checking in was a bit of a wait, not because of the staff, but because their computer crashed and had to be rebooted. They also informed us at check in that our room was given a complimentary upgrade to a singe king bed with a sofa bed (something I declined in an email from them the week before), but after telling the front desk employee that we really needed the two double beds, they fixed it with no problems. Everyone that we saw working at that hotel seemed super nice and professional and very patient (A+ in my book).
Pros: Rooms were spacious, clean, comfortable, and had more amenities than I expected. In-hotel bar/lounge/restaurant (we didn't use them, but it's nice to have that option). Nice laid back location with no disturbances that I can think of. Decent price. Very nice staff.
Cons: No vending machines that we could find in the hotel. The fridge wasn't really cold at all, just a bit colder than room temperature, and the freezer was more fridge-like temperature (we just put all of our drinks and leftovers in the freezer). The bathroom door was a sliding door that was a little off track and didn't lock (we were OK with this, so we didn't ask for a different room or anything). The walk to the WEWCC was by far the biggest con for this hotel. Google Maps listed it as 23 minutes by walking and it was every bit that, but at least it was just following down one street for 99% of the way.
Conclusion: This wouldn't be my first pick for Otakon, but I would recommend it for a solid backup option if you can't get the hotel you want, as long as you don't mind the walk. The biggest issues with the room were the fridge not working properly and the bathroom door not locking, but for our group, we decided we could deal with it (hopefully they'll get these things fixed as I did mention them in the review they sent me). It was overall nice and comfortable at a decent price (considering the other hotels' prices) and had some good amenities in and around it. 7.5/10 (solid 8.5/10 if not for the long walk).
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So far, the BBS has actually been running pretty smoothly for me since the Monday after the convention. This might just be good luck on my part though. I know it's been said that this board will eventually end, so there aren't going to be any fixes to these issues as far as I can see. I started using the Discord channel as a replacement for the BBS, but I just can't get into it. I use Discord for a couple of other things, but I just don't think I'll ever get very comfortable with it as it just doesn't feel as organized as this board. Also, it's just way easier to catch up to discussions in the BBS than on Discord. I think that might be the worst part for me. It feels like you have to be engaged on Discord almost 24/7 to keep up with anything, so a casual user like me just can't deal with it. I know it's probably better for mobile use and that most people are using their phones instead of sitting at a PC, but the BBS just feels like it's easier to get started in and keep up with and would work well for casual users like myself and heavy users. Thank goodness there's an Otakon Reddit. It's really not the same (at best, like an Otakon BBS lite), but I enjoy reading things there than on the Discord.
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That makes sense. I don't have any Funko Pops, but I don't dislike them either. I can see how scalpers can take advantage of them and it's sad for fans who can't afford a more expensive figure to get autographed.
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I've seen bans like this at small conventions as well. I've never owned a Funko Pop and have only gotten one autograph at a con before (on a CD), so I never really understood why there are so many problems involving the Funko Pop autographs. Like why Funko Pops specifically and are there problems like this with other items?
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21 minutes ago, Daniel Perales said:
I don't drive to Otakon anymore. I take Amtrak instead. It's cheaper to go that way when you reserve your ride well in advance (when I'm going alone).
I'm incredibly jealous of people who have Amtrak in their area. I live at the VA/TN border where we barely have any public transit at all (like a few of those short busses in a limited area since it's really rural most places here). There's been talk for years of expanding Amtrak through VA down to TN, but at this rate if it ever happens I'll likely be an old man by then. We did get a bus line though called Virginia Breeze that runs from Bristol, VA, where I'm at, all the way to Washington, DC, but it leaves Bristol at 11am every day and takes about 7 1/2 hours to get to DC. I think it leaves DC a bit early in the day, too, and costs about $120 per person round trip, so we've never thought about using it.
As for things I miss from Baltimore, I really miss the Inner Harbor area. I miss that mall and its food court, the performers by the harbor, some of the restaurants and the book store at the harbor, and just being so familiar with the area itself. My friends and I started going to Otakon in 2011 and have only missed one year since (2021), but no matter how long we've been going to DC, it's still a bit hard for me to remember where everything is. I never had that issue with Baltimore. It's the same way with the convention centers, too. I can still perfectly picture in my mind what the BCC looked like inside and out and where all the different rooms were. At this point, I've got a basic layout in my head of the WEWCC, but I can still get turned around the wrong way easily.
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Got mine! I am SOOOO ready for this year!
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It also might help if the link to the BBS was in a more prominent spot on the main website instead of under the Help/Contact drop down menu. Might also get more people interested in the BBS if it were promoted on the social media pages and discord. There's probably tons of people who have been attending Otakon for a little while now that don't know this board even exists, so there's no telling if they might prefer this over the other channels. Then again, all this could be wishful thinking on my part. At least it seems to be working fine as of this post.
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My friends and I always get there on Thursday so we can spend the day before the con sightseeing in DC (did the same with Baltimore all those years).
We also try to eat at different local restaurants, that we can afford, that we don't have back home (though we'll eat cheap when we need to, like at McD's or something).
That's about it. We did the same in Baltimore and we'll hopefully get to continue doing these things for many years to come.
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Here lately I've been listening to a lot of Yuki Kajiura's work. It would be awesome to have her come to Otakon, maybe doing a concert with See-Saw or something with FictionJunction. Or even just as a guest for a panel or something.
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I really wish this board would get popular again. I miss the old days when this was a booming place. Social media pages are a mess (especially Facebook since 90% of my feed now is ads and clickbait). The BBS is so much more organized. Is there something that can be done to increase interest (advertise the BBS more on the social media pages or make it easier to find)?
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The Good:
- As many have said already, the crowd control was great this year. I do kind of miss the camaraderie that came with waiting in long lines and getting to play games while waiting, but it's really nice that things overall were moving at a good pace, especially when waiting outside in that heat.
- The new attendance record was great to see IMO. Large crowds wear me out, but it's nice to see Otakon growing and I really wasn't expecting it to go up that much this year. It's exciting to see.
- Even though I didn't get to go to all the guest panels this year, it was great to see the variety of guests that Otakon brought this year. Having more Asian guests outside of Japan was great to see and having Spanish dub VAs was pleasantly unexpected. I hope they keep this up.
- I loved the Japanese Embassy booth in the dealer room.
- The cosplays were great as they are every year.
- There seemed to be a lot less clogging in the hallways for photoshoots, probably due to the photo suite that I've heard good things about.
- Seeing more premiers, something Otakon has been known for in the past.
- Discotek......enough said.
The Bad:
- As per usual, the convention center staff seem very rude and at times uninformed. I guess some of that can't be helped due to the large crowd of excited people, but they have zero chill, even when they're wrong about something.
- Lack of info and supplying important info right before or even during the convention. Things like the convention center going cashless caught a lot of people off guard since it wasn't announced until the con started.
- I really REALLY miss the industry presence in the dealer room. Not having Crunchyroll, Funimation, Aniplex (I know these are all basically merged now), and other industries is a real let down. Thank god for Discotek still being there for us.
- It feels like there's less and less anime stuff in the dealer room each year and fewer vendors selling anime DVDs/BluRays and CDs. Even a lot of the vendors selling t-shirts have less anime stuff and more "meme content" stuff (I see this at other cons too).
The Ugly:
- The weather and the prices. I know that's not Otakon's fault, but holy crap it was hot and stormed on and off pretty bad and the food prices in the WEWCC are getting more and more ridiculous every year.
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Somehow I managed to get a double bedded room at the Marquis. I was suprised to see it on the list as soon as everything went live since that didn't happen last year. I kept getting all kinds of error messages while booking and thought I'd lost it several times, but it somehow went through. I've even saved my comfirmation email to two different email addresses and screenshot it to my phone, just in case. I did try to book a second room there or at the Renaissance (or anywhere within half a mile of the WEWCC), but by the time I finished booking the Marquis room, everything was gone. We'll have our biggest group ever next year with around 8 people, but by some of the dumbest luck, I was the only one available when the block went live to book the rooms. I guess I'll just have to keep checking down the road and hope I get lucky with a second room.
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Comfort Inn Downtown DC/Convention Center
We stayed at this place for the first time this year since we couldn't get a room at the host hotels. It was on the (relatively) cheaper end at something like $650 for Thursday thru Sunday. If you don't mind a little stroll, it's about a 10 minute walk to the front entrance to the WEWCC.
The location wasn't too bad, but it seemed like all the eateries immediately around were kind of expensive and a lot of those places either opened up later in the day or closed kind of early. Some convenience places nearby, such as a formerly 24 hour CVS, weren't open too late and weren't too convenient with their stock (I needed some body wash the first day since I forgot to pack it, but it was under lock and key at the CVS and they were understaffed like most places).
The hotel itself was on the older side and pretty small. The main entrance had stairs, so anyone in a wheelchair had to use a side entrance. The lobby was tiny and the room was very small if you had 4 people or a bunch of luggage, such as cosplay stuff. Even the elevators were really small. Another thing that was annoying, but probably couldn't be helped because of being short staffed, was that no one ever came to the room to collect trash, make the beds, swap out towels...the kind of things you expect at a hotel. We had to go to the lobby to request towels and it took a while to get them. However, the room (even being in need of some updating) was very clean and cozy and the staff were super nice and as accomodating as they could be. The place also had free breakfast, but we never ate there (we tended to sleep in a bit each day).
In summary, it was a clean hotel that wasn't too far away from the WEWCC and was on the cheaper side. The staff was super nice, but understaffing caused some issues. I would only suggest it to smaller groups (2-3 people at most) who don't mind walking a bit and don't have a lot of luggage.
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I think it would be pretty cool to bring back some guests from the first few years of Otakon. Not sure how many are still active in the industry or con scene, but it would be a nice throwback. And maybe industry guests from anime that debuted or was super popular in '94.
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DEODORANT 😁
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Just got mine too! This'll be my first time back since 2019.
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I know I asked this question in another thread, but I can't remember the answer or find that post. What is the theme for Otakon 2022?
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35 minutes ago, windseeker said:
I second an attendance cap should have happened. I got extremely anxious when they announced how many people had been at the con at closing ceremonies. If Otakon ends up being a super spreader event that's not good for the con's image or for the attendees.
Otakon should have required proof of vaccination, if anything.
Just curious, but how many did they say attended otakon? Also what's next year's theme?
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I knew the hotels keeping our reservations for next year was a pipe dream, but I'm really glad they're rolling our registrations over to next year. And the automatic hotel cancellations is appreciated as well. That way we don't have to worry about much.
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IMO it'd be better to just cancel for this year and put everything into 2021. This would work out better with the theme since the Olympics will be next year. Of course I know that the folks running Otakon have to wait on official decisions from DC, the WEWCC, etc, but hopefully they've already got a solid plan for what seems like the inevitable. Also, assuming it's canceled this year, I hope we get the option to have our registration roll over for next year instead of just getting a refund (and maybe our hotel reservation as well, if that's possible). And maybe they could try a small virtual con for one day later this year, giving a bit more time to get everything worked out for such a thing. As for my group, we've already decided to skip this year in the event that Otakon somehow does occur considering the risk.
What would the date move of Anime-NYC means to Otakon's future?
in General Chit-Chat
Posted
I wonder if there's a possibility in the future for Otakon to move to a different time of the year so that it's not so close to other major cons; either earlier (late spring/early summer) or later (late fall/early winter). I can see moving to an earlier time of year being a major (nearly impossible) move since it would seriously cut down on prep time for the first year with the new date. I wonder how hard it would be to move toward the end of the year (before winter sets in). Then there's also the hurdle of getting it approved with the WEWCC. I guess I'm just curious whether it would be a feasible move or not and whether it would help or hurt with congoer attendance and major industry attendance.