Thursday Night activities

[Daniel Perales 95]

Well, you have to remember that people have to rush back home because they (or their parents) have jobs to go back to the very next day. I usually stick around until late Monday morning (I always start my vacation at Otakon). But still, I get to feel a bit sad when the con's over and I see a lot of my fellow attendees just sitting right outside the Convention Center waiting for their ride to pick them up. Most looked tired while others have the "Well, what are we going to do, now?", look in their faces.

Ya I suppose...or they just have the money for one more night in a hotel. It's worth it, in my opinion though. You dont have to exit the hotel in the mass exodus that is Sunday morning and dont have to find a place to stash your stuff and thus dont miss half the con that day...plus I'm always 100 percent exhausted after Otakon and it's nice to not have to go home yet. I tried going to work the day after Otakon once and ended up going home halfway through the day because I hadnt really recuperated from the weekend.

But back on topic, I dont know what it is, but every con I go to I get there on Thursday (it's just easier that way) and that same level of excitement really just isnt there...in fact sometimes it's downright dull.

[Duelistbluerose 0]

So, what's faster?

Being in the front of the main entrance to get your badge Friday morning since like 6:45 AM

OR

Picking up your badge Thursday night, and going into the other line around 7 AM.

Which of these will get me into the dealer's room line faster?

Thanks!

[MissV 0]

I worked at the GEM museum for like, a week. It's a cool museum tho!

Thursday isnt a big day for my group, tho I usually cosplay. We go down, get our badge, then meet up with some friends for dinner.

[Mikey 0]

So, what's faster?

Being in the front of the main entrance to get your badge Friday morning since like 6:45 AM

OR

Picking up your badge Thursday night, and going into the other line around 7 AM.

Which of these will get me into the dealer's room line faster?

Thanks!

Thursday is definately faster - and more fun. faster in terms of getting into the con. the dealers room doesnt open until like 12 noon anyway so it doesnt matter.

[evaunit01berserk 0]

its alot faster mikey

your getting up at 4:30, im still asleep and resting in my nice soft bed.

while your there at 5:30 waiting in line on a hard pavement...im still asleep in my nice soft bed.

at right before the doors open so your line gets moving, im getting out of my nice soft bed getting dressed, walking casually down to the con.

as your running around trying to get to the dealers room, im already there...not even out of breath

thursday pickup makes your con so much better

[alabaster 0]

I still don't understand why you'll willingly miss out on programming to go stand in a line to get into the dealer's room. Show up at 12:30pm and you'll walk right in! That huge line of thousands of people gets sucked right in and disperses in minutes.

Please, PLEASE don't wait in lines unnecessarily.

[Asrial Dune 0]

I still don't understand why you'll willingly miss out on programming to go stand in a line to get into the dealer's room. Show up at 12:30pm and you'll walk right in! That huge line of thousands of people gets sucked right in and disperses in minutes.

Please, PLEASE don't wait in lines unnecessarily.

Agreed, the line moves very quickly once the room opens - it's usually clear within 30 to 45 min. If you want to waste the 3.5 hours between the doors opening and the dealers room opening by standing in line then that's your choice, but you're missing out on some good programing. If the dealers room is all you're interested in then you could even sleep for a few extra hours, walk into the BCC without a line around 12 and by the time you get in line for the dealers room it'll be moving. The dealers don't sell out of their things in the first day, so there's no extreme need to be in the dealers room exactly at noon.

[ithilienne 2]

Poking my head in to steer this thread back onto its original topic, Thursday night activities.

[Mikey 0]

I don't mind sitting there, last year we were playing name that tune for a while haha

I just hope the line isnt downstairs again this year for two reasons

1) no electrical sockets

2) the wifi doesnt reach down there :-\

[hitorione 0]

just curious but how late is the aquarium open till? i figure that or a paddle boat race would be a fun way to spend Thursday....or even a paddle boat joust.

[Asrial Dune 0]

According to their website, the ticket counter closes at 4pm on Thursdays, but if you already have a ticket before then you can spend 1.5 hours in the aquarium after it closes.

[Yseult2nd 0]

Thursday I usually have to work, at a University, August is CRAZY-TIME!!! So, my hubby picks me up at 5, we head to Giant and pick up our weekend rations - we always bring breakfasts and lunches, so we only have to eat dinners out for the weekend, much cheaper and less line-y. We are responsible for cold cuts, ice and water, so it's hard to pick it up earlier in the week.

Next step is the ride to Balmer. We have arrived in past years between 7 and 8, depending on traffic. By which time, we are RAVENOUS! Meet up with the buddies, who have already checked into the hotel. Slog all of our stuff upstairs to the room.

Dinner out, usually at the food court - yeah for sesame chicken!

Then badge pickup in the evening, and lots of highlighting of programs in the hotel. Bed time is pretty early, 10 or 11, as the wake-up time is early as well for costume prep. There's inevitably something we want to see on Friday at 9:00 AM, so we have to wait in the line and zoom to the room!

[ota_retired 6]

I reckon we'll get there around hotel check-in time, unpack, get all our food in the fridge, eat something, go snag our badges, and go find something to do for the rest of the night. Anyone know of any arcades near downtown..?

Edited January 16, 2008 by Otaku Ru

[Duelistbluerose 0]

just curious but how late is the aquarium open till? i figure that or a paddle boat race would be a fun way to spend Thursday....or even a paddle boat joust.

[hitorione 0]

just curious but how late is the aquarium open till? i figure that or a paddle boat race would be a fun way to spend Thursday....or even a paddle boat joust.

oooh now THAT is an idea..... cosplay paddle-boating on thursday night. I say there should be a paddle boat race across the inner harbor: the narutards vs. the bleach nuts

as far as the dealers room line - that really doesnt make any sense. i guess i can understand there not being anything you want to do or see friday morning, but why wait in a line for hours when it'll disperse in a few minutes once the doors open? there should be SOMETHING fun for you to do. and there is nothing rare in the dealers room that is going to sell out right away. this is why I think the dealers room should be open on thursday night for a few hours........ i dont think the dealers would mind and the people that wanna jump into the DR right away will be pleased.

and there are some cons that dont even allow lines to form - and its to prevent things like this from happening. I think thats a good idea.

[Duelistbluerose 0]

LOL

I dont think the otakon staff would appriciate a water ballon fight - they have enough to worry about.

but i could see a paddle boat race: naruto vs bleach............ kingdom hearts vs FF7............ L vs Light

[Asrial Dune 0]

Water balloon fights are a very bad idea. You aren't going to do it inside the BCC - that'd be the last time Otakon was in the BCC. There isn't any place around the BCC that's safe to do it either, you're either in a parking lot, in the street or on the sidewalk, all of those places have major reasons to not do it. It's just a very, very bad idea, keep the pirate vs ninja stuff to dance offs and other things aren't likely to cause damage to property or people.

[hitorione 0]

Water balloon fights are a very bad idea. You aren't going to do it inside the BCC - that'd be the last time Otakon was in the BCC. There isn't any place around the BCC that's safe to do it either, you're either in a parking lot, in the street or on the sidewalk, all of those places have major reasons to not do it. It's just a very, very bad idea, keep the pirate vs ninja stuff to dance offs and other things aren't likely to cause damage to property or people.

[Kaze Neko 0]

I have a pretty interesting Thursday story. It took place during Otakon 06 and it was me, my brother, and my mom. She didnt stay with us though, she just wanted to make sure we got everything before she left us to have our weekend anime fill. Any ways it was a pretty hot August day and we're walking to the convention center from my grandmothers house who lives right across the street from the convention center. No really she does, if anyone has ever noticed those town homes behind the convention center...yeah she lives in that tall apartment complex over their, or to put it simpl a senior citizen apartment complex. Anyways as we arrive to the line we noticed just how long it was and started looking for the end of it. Somehow though we ended up accidentally cutting the line because we walked up some stairs that I think were supposed to be closed off but they werent. So as we were standing in the line some one of then staff radioed some other people about some handicapped people being in line standing in the sweltering heat. Luckly my mom had sprained her ankle and endded up on crutches. Yes I know that sounds bad lol. So we ended getting out of that line and into the the disabled line which took us right inside and to one of the badge counters. So yeah that was my thursday experience.

Sadly I didnt get to have one for 07 because my darn cosplay sword was giving me problems. The pain wasnt drying fast enough, darn 8 foot Zangetsu. So because of that me and my friends endded up in the line on friday, but it wasnt that bad. Actually it just added to the suspense.

[Duelistbluerose 0]

Sadly I didnt get to have one for 07 because my darn cosplay sword was giving me problems. The pain wasnt drying fast enough, darn 8 foot Zangetsu. So because of that me and my friends endded up in the line on friday, but it wasnt that bad. Actually it just added to the suspense.

[Sacred_Moon 0]

hmmm my pre-otakon thursdays are usually spent like this:

-Wake up

-Check for everything I will need friday

-Go around town with the 'rents and sibling, doing errands

-DDR the night away so I can sleep *ya need lots of sleep for otakon XD*

-Stuff my bag before I sleep with sweets and water

-Call friends last time to make sure of the plans

-Nemuri

XD not really eventful but who said it would be if you're a 16 year old LOL

[Kaze Neko 0]

Sadly I didnt get to have one for 07 because my darn cosplay sword was giving me problems. The pain wasnt drying fast enough, darn 8 foot Zangetsu. So because of that me and my friends endded up in the line on friday, but it wasnt that bad. Actually it just added to the suspense.

Are you saying you werent allowed into otakon because your cosplay sword was too big? If thats so, I can understand being frustrated over that - but an 8 foot prop would be hard to carry around for 3 days, not to mention possibly hurt someone. I have a 5 ft cosplay pole and BCC staff was inspecting THAT at the door. boy, I was sweating bullets until they said "okay you're fine".

[ota_retired 6]

This is why I'm totally avoiding cosplaying anything with weapons.. after a while it sounds like it just gets to be a friggin' pain in the neck.

Hey, would anyone be interested in a little LAN party at the Days thrusday night??

Edited January 20, 2008 by Otaku Ru

[Kaze Neko 0]

Sounds good...I would be in but its still somewhat early to finalize anything.

[chocolate moonbunny 0]

This thursday i'l be able to come up and explore the city for once. And not have to stand in line for two hours on a humid day. Its wonderful indeed going up on a thursday

[QueenToast 0]

This is why I'm totally avoiding cosplaying anything with weapons.. after a while it sounds like it just gets to be a friggin' pain in the neck.

Hey, would anyone be interested in a little LAN party at the Days thrusday night??

[ota_retired 6]

I was thinking PC/360. Probably some TF2 or CoD4 for PC, and Gears/Halo/CoD4 on the 360. BYOC of course.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Otaku Ru

[Duelistbluerose 0]

Sadly I didnt get to have one for 07 because my darn cosplay sword was giving me problems. The pain wasnt drying fast enough, darn 8 foot Zangetsu. So because of that me and my friends endded up in the line on friday, but it wasnt that bad. Actually it just added to the suspense.

Are you saying you werent allowed into otakon because your cosplay sword was too big? If thats so, I can understand being frustrated over that - but an 8 foot prop would be hard to carry around for 3 days, not to mention possibly hurt someone. I have a 5 ft cosplay pole and BCC staff was inspecting THAT at the door. boy, I was sweating bullets until they said "okay you're fine".

Edited January 23, 2008 by Duelistbluerose

[calculusman 0]

Well, last year on Thursday, after getting my badge, I went and ate and watched a movie at Arundel Mills (Harry Potter!), since I was staying in the BWI hotel district (taking the light rail up to the BCC). I'm staying the hotel district this year again (finally decided on where to stay) so I may be doing something similar again, unless someone organizes something which seem interesting enough to go to.

Though watching a 2 1/2 hour movie that started at like 9:30 or 10 was a bad idea the day before Otakon started...

That's one thing I learned from last year. Either manage my sleep better, or get an alarm clock which is so annoying that I can't just slap it and go back to sleep lol.

[Mikey 0]

Sadly I didnt get to have one for 07 because my darn cosplay sword was giving me problems. The pain wasnt drying fast enough, darn 8 foot Zangetsu. So because of that me and my friends endded up in the line on friday, but it wasnt that bad. Actually it just added to the suspense.

Are you saying you werent allowed into otakon because your cosplay sword was too big? If thats so, I can understand being frustrated over that - but an 8 foot prop would be hard to carry around for 3 days, not to mention possibly hurt someone. I have a 5 ft cosplay pole and BCC staff was inspecting THAT at the door. boy, I was sweating bullets until they said "okay you're fine".

No No I got into Otakon perfectly fine with my 8ft sword. I got pictures taken of me, and even interviewed, the sword didnt feel that heavy to me though and I only cosplayed on Saturday, but nobody said anything to me for almost the whole day until around 1-3 oclock. I was walking somewhere and next thing you know I hear one of the staff members yelling weapons check. So next thing you know Im being taken to some room and before I even step through the entrance good enough Im being told that I had to take it back. So I went ahead and took it back so I wouldnt get kicked out. Turns out they had changed the whole height rule, and what used to be 8 feet was now I think 7 something. I didnt know that I only saw what was on the actualy rule page and that said nothing can be bigger than 8ft or something like that.

[Jimm 0]

LAN parties refer to pc's usually and pc games (LAN being Local Area Network) such as counter strike, unreal, enemy territory quake wars. It'd be tough to set that up in a hotel, but good luck trying

[ota_retired 6]

Yessir, Jimm is right.

I was aiming more towards Gears of War or Halo 3 on the 360. Or if people actually wanna bring their PC's, we'll do some TF2 I guess. But I doubt people wanna bring their rigs to Otakon, so PC's are pretty much out of the question.

We'll have two rooms nextdoor to eachother so it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

If I officially decide to do this, I'll post the details.

Edited January 24, 2008 by Otaku Ru

[Duelistbluerose 0]

ugh

the last thing i wanna do is bring my laptop to otakon if i absolutely dont have to. i try to pack as light as possible since i travel to baltimore by bus and 2 trains. there's also the possibility of theft or getting it broken

[Mikey 0]

ugh

the last thing i wanna do is bring my laptop to otakon if i absolutely dont have to. i try to pack as light as possible since i travel to baltimore by bus and 2 trains. there's also the possibility of theft or getting it broken

[ota_retired 6]

I figure if we can gather up at least 4 TVs we should be okay. Hotel TV's are a no-no since moving them is bad and they never have line-in jacks.

[QueenToast 0]

I was thinking PC/360. Probably some TF2 or CoD4 for PC, and Gears/Halo/CoD4 on the 360. BYOC of course.

[Aludian 0]

last year on Thursday I hit Edo's Sushi in the harbor with a bunch of congoers. We all paid for our own meals but it was cool to have a table with 20 people sitting at it before con even started.

[Sacred_Moon 0]

Maybe we all should throw a DS/PSP party while waiting for our badges. =3 can somebody say Mario Party and a random assortment of games? > 3<

[Animewasamistake 0]

Im new to this entire "thursday" concept... or the otakon concept in general. If i drop by on thursday to pick up my badge would i be allowed to pick up my friends badge as well cause she cant get off work??

[The INfamous MC 24]

Im new to this entire "thursday" concept... or the otakon concept in general. If i drop by on thursday to pick up my badge would i be allowed to pick up my friends badge as well cause she cant get off work??

No you can not pick up your friend's badge.

Taken from the Otakon FAQ on the site:

Can I pick up a badge for a friend? What about for a member of my family?

Nope. Sorry, you can't pick up badges for anyone but yourself. The only exception is if you're picking up a free badge for a child you're responsible for. (It's probably wise to bring printouts for your kids, or for a forgetful significant other.)

[Duelistbluerose 0]

sacred_moon - I really like your avatar. you must send me a link to were you go it!

and to answer the person that's 2 post above me......

Thursday night is an otakon tradition. there are many traditons but this one is popular. you basically come thursday night to pick up your badge - this prevents standing in the nightmarish line on Friday morning. but if you read the posts in this thread you can see that lots of people like standing in lines, therefore they will come thursday morning and stand in line all say with DSs and cosplays. some people meet up with their friends and go out to eat or do other activities. some just wait for a reasonable time like 7 pm, go get their badge, and they head back to their hotel and chill [ME].

Thurs night feels like a 4th otakon day without the activities - which is why its popular among a lot of people.

[Animewasamistake 0]

<(^-^)> thnx i had no idea

[ota_retired 6]

To those of you who are PMing me about the proposed 360/PC LAN party at the Days.. I'll post something more official later on if I can gather enough people/support.

[Soriin 0]

Has anyone actually tried to setup a lan (pc or console) over a hotel's network? Like if everyone has a wired network in their room (and pays for it if needed) would their stuff be able to see each other? I was wondering about this myself. I don't know the underlying infrastructure of a hotel, but it seems like it would work.

The Renaissance is installing new LCDs in all their rooms with easy access ports for gaming and stuff, so that's not an issue.

[Tareei 2]

Sadly I didnt get to have one for 07 because my darn cosplay sword was giving me problems. The pain wasnt drying fast enough, darn 8 foot Zangetsu. So because of that me and my friends endded up in the line on friday, but it wasnt that bad. Actually it just added to the suspense.

Are you saying you werent allowed into otakon because your cosplay sword was too big? If thats so, I can understand being frustrated over that - but an 8 foot prop would be hard to carry around for 3 days, not to mention possibly hurt someone. I have a 5 ft cosplay pole and BCC staff was inspecting THAT at the door. boy, I was sweating bullets until they said "okay you're fine".

[MiltyWay 0]

Usualy Thursday nights, get to Baltimore by 1 pm for check in play a few games, Draw a bit, hang out and chill, then around 6 or 7 *...after a Summer 06 event I never go get my badge before 6..* Hang around the mall for a bit grab a bite to eat, discuss what panels and events to go to over the few days and then head back to the room and spend time with the ones I'm rooming with and SOMETIMES invite some other friends over.

Thursday is usualy the SLOW night that is still filled with soo much fun cause time goes by slowly for ya waiting for Friday but its also fun cause your with your friends and it seems to last for a life time X3 Thursday is also the best time to plan everything out X3 Via time and panel going time.

[zodd242 0]

this will be me and my friend's first con, and honestly i figured after we get our badges and get a good meal...........we are gonna hit the bars and where ever else we can find thats fun at night. stumble back to our rooms 2-3 o'clock in the morning talk smack sleep it off and go to the con in the morning. i'm not flying 8-9 hours to the u.s. to stare at my hotel room walls... ....... pssshhhhhh! live while your alive!!!!!!!

real talk

[ota_retired 6]

this will be me and my friend's first con, and honestly i figured after we get our badges and get a good meal...........we are gonna hit the bars and where ever else we can find thats fun at night. stumble back to our rooms 2-3 o'clock in the morning talk smack sleep it off and go to the con in the morning. i'm not flying 8-9 hours to the u.s. to stare at my hotel room walls... ....... pssshhhhhh! live while your alive!!!!!!!

real talk

[zodd242 0]

this will be me and my friend's first con, and honestly i figured after we get our badges and get a good meal...........we are gonna hit the bars and where ever else we can find thats fun at night. stumble back to our rooms 2-3 o'clock in the morning talk smack sleep it off and go to the con in the morning. i'm not flying 8-9 hours to the u.s. to stare at my hotel room walls... ....... pssshhhhhh! live while your alive!!!!!!!

real talk

I like this guy. xD

[ithilienne 2]

Topic, please.