Botcon 2013

[orionpax1]

Botcon 2013 dates have been released it will be in San Diego California june 27 - 30 at the Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center. So start saving.

[Paulbot]

I'm interested in going, but travelling so close to the peak of the US holiday season will make accommodation and flights a bit of a chore.

[gekisou]

I'm going. I'm be having my honeymoon in the US anyway and the wife promised I could go to BOTCON!!!!! :D

[Demonac]

San Diego was good fun.
We went there as part of our Botcon '11 holiday.

[griffin]

A link with details (http://www.tfw2005.com/transformers-news/conventions-15/botcon-2013-announced-june-27-30-in-san-diego-176457/), and the botcon site for booking a hotel room (http://www.botcon.com/BotCon2013/).

Hotel rates are $135 per night plus tax (for the Convention rate), and it seems that there are still plenty of rooms available.
First night's deposit is charged to your card (to weed out the people who weren't likely to go, but take up rooms early on a whim because it used to be free), but if you cancel up until 48 hours before arrival, you should get the deposit back.

Pre-registration will come later.

[Paul Agnew]

Stuff the haters. Machine Wars + SDCC = Win for me.

[reillyd]

I'm really keen on going, but don't know how much it would all cost. Does anyone have a ballpark figure for how much they spent last time (incl. flights, food, expenses, etc.).

I also noticed the hotel room booking for 1 person for a week was the same for 2 persons 2 beds. Have any of you tried sharing accomodation before?

[Demonac]

Including toys, if you stay about 10 days, you'd be looking at about $5000

[griffin]

My advice for those thinking of going, but yet to decide, is book a room (with 2 beds) because you can cancel it later (but check the fine-print first to see if there is a cancellation fee, as the deposit should be refundable). And book more days than you think you might need, in case your plans change when booking your flights - you can always change your reservation later to reduce the days, but if the hotel fills up, it might cost you more to add on extra days later.

Demonac and I went to San Diego in 2011, in the week before BotCon, which you can read about here (http://www.toycollectors.com.au/bc11/bc11intro.html).
We went to Legoland and the San Diego zoo, but there is also a Seaworld there as well, plus some cultural areas (Balboa park is one)... and for the more adventurous, Mexico is just a 20 minute drive from next year's BotCon hotel.
Plus, if you are flying in through Los Angeles (as most flights from Australia do), you have a whole heap of things to do there as well, including the Transformers Ride at Universal Studios.

Next year is one of the cheaper options for Australian fans, as it is on the west coast of America (less flying), so I'd imagine a few people might go... but the hype for the "official" convention is a lot less than it was 4-5 years ago, which makes it harder to draw in long-distant attendees.

[griffin]

I'm really keen on going, but don't know how much it would all cost. Does anyone have a ballpark figure for how much they spent last time (incl. flights, food, expenses, etc.).

I also noticed the hotel room booking for 1 person for a week was the same for 2 persons 2 beds. Have any of you tried sharing accomodation before?

I usually list my rough costs in my botcon write-ups... but for me it averages out to about $3000 for the necessary expenses (flights, hotel, botcon registration, food), and an average $2000 for the extra stuff like toys and non-botcon events.

For the necessary items that everyone going to BotCon has to pay (can be a big margin here, because there are a lot of variables)...
Flights & insurance (must always get insurance) - $1200-2000 (west America) to $1800-2500 (east America).
Hotel - $150-190 per night (most botcon hotels PLUS tax)
Registration - $150 (cheapest) to $1400 (everything including the at-show toys and some merchandise items)
Transport and food - $10-50 per day (depending on what else you are doing outside of BotCon hours... and your dietary requirements)

That would cover you for the basic BotCon experience. The longer you stay, the more stuff you do, the more expensive it gets.


Most Hotels will have rooms with either one or two beds at the same price, and only start charging extra for 3 or more people in the room (more of a mess to clean and more things needed like towels).... so it is always best to book a room with 2 beds, so that if you find someone to share with that you trust, it halves the cost... and if you don't find someone, the extra bed can just be like a big table for all your botcon goodies to just sit on until you pack up to go home.

[reillyd]

That's good travel advice Griffin, thanks for that. I will give it some serious thought

[llamatron]

Most hotels won't enforce the limit on people per room (within reason). It's pretty common to have 5 - 6 people staying in a 2 bed room at these cons which helps keep the cost waaaay down. Selling the boxset + attendee exclusive will cover registration costs + a bit extra. It is usually possible to sell the boxset to a dealer if you do it during the first sales session on the Friday.

[SuspectimusPrime]

Would this (http://gbblackrock.zzl.org/) make an accurate reflection of the cost of Botcon box sets and respective souvenir sets at the show?

[griffin]

That lists the original prices of various BotCon toys.

[SuspectimusPrime]

That lists the original prices of various BotCon toys.

Thanks, griffin! :) I should've asked earlier, but have been buying at roughly those prices + shipping for all the odd pieces I wanted.

[Bidoofdude]

I talked to my Mum about Botcon earlier today and she seemed... interested-ish.

[Doubledealer]

Booked my hotel reservations from Tue-Sun in the Royal Palm Tower. :D

[reillyd]

I've booked mine for the the Royal Palm 2-bed (it sounded better, and said it had the biggest rooms), but noticed it wanted the name of the other guest. I just put TBD as a placeholder for the moment. I want to see some of San Diego, go to some of the American eateries I've only dreamed about, visit a Walmarts, etc. So I've booked Tuesday until Monday to give me plenty of time.

I'm kind of thinking of etting in a little earlier if I could swing a flight to LA, and visiting the Transformers Ride. Griffin's photo/reviews make it sound pretty neat.