Persephone1

Wasn’t Billy Dee Williams a diamond pass guest? So you wouldn’t have had any priority for him.

To be honest it was the same last year. It’s a numbers thing. His people want as many people through as humanly possible hence the no personalisations & loud music in the auto session to dissuade you from talking to him. I mean I sort of admire the unsentimental cash driven approach but it doesn’t encourage repeat business. If I’m meeting someone I want a chance to say a couple of lines!

I was genuinely taken aback. People could see people in wheelchairs trying to get through & they were practically climbing over them. Just stop for 30 seconds and let them through. My god! I was getting quite bolshy late on as people had lost all their manners.

Yes this! I really wish someone had cleared them all out. It was literally the worst, most ill thought out place for people to sit. People were being quite something today. On at least 6 occasions I was the only one to stop to let people in wheelchairs through. Towards the end of the day I started literally blocking people with my arms to stop them all but climbing over people in wheelchairs they were so desperate to get through. No celeb is worth you treating yourself and the other person with so little respect.

I arrived 9:50 & it took a good 40 minutes to get in. So definitely don’t leave it that late. My friend arrived later & it still took 50 minutes for her to get in. I was a bit taken aback at how slow the queue moved but I think you should budget for 45 minutes queue & then if it’s less that’s a bonus

Just to say Matthew & Robert were both unbelievably busy today and Robert really takes his time. It will be quieter tomorrow but don’t assume you’ll easily be able to get either without getting there early. Only the smaller guests queues are easy to get through. I had a VQ for Robert & waited about 30 minutes in his queue

Slightly odd as I got there at 9:50 & was in by 10:30. But I did think that blue/red shirts were needed on the queue to help people with photoshoots. There was no one to be seen but venue security. I didn’t really expect a 40 minute queue after open. The holding hall should have been utilised to get people out of the rain. Also can we please please please have a “fast track” entrance for those who have already picked up their 3 day passes. Another large event does this & it saves SO much time. If we have our bands then subject to searches we should be whizzed inside.

Oh dear! That’s not how it’s meant to be. If the rules have been changed like that we should have been notified. Because it means I could get my gold pass rock up to a diamond pass guest pick up VQ 700 & whaltz in before any of the normal VQ tickets & probably before other diamond pass holders based on today. Other cons are VERY hot on priority levels re tickets because they know you mess it up & people won’t play. I think we could do with clarity so we can make a decision as to what to buy in future. On a non grumpy front the diamond pass goodies were excellent this year. Really well thought out and unique

Yeah I mean I’d appreciate clarity on the rules. Because if it’s diamond, gold & then VQ for autos from now on that’s fine but means I’m unlikely to buy a diamond pass again. Sure I’d run the risk the guests don’t get off diamond passes but by & large it would still pay for itself. But I’m assuming it was a mix up?

Had a really nice day. Lots of space & very well laid out I thought. Staff seemed (mostly) to be very on it. Perennial problem of wildly underestimating how popular the horror guests will be. Robert Patrick was also positioned somewhere with no space & was v popular (and unbelievably slow god bless him). My only issue was being rather unimpressed with being told I couldn’t join Gina Torres queue “until the gold pass holders had gone through.” I was a diamond pass holder & when they did let me join was behind a ton of golds with no VQ ticket. This happens every year & drives me insane. Diamond guests all that matters is diamond passes & VQ tickets. I spoke to a couple of guys who were brazen that they never buy diamonds as they can talk their way into any queue with a gold pass. Makes the rest of us seem like fools for paying the diamond guarantee! I just feel like the various different passes have been around long enough now that this should never be happening.

I think for the busiest diamond pass guests calling up photoshoots in diamond number order batches of 50 would help crowd control a lot. For autographs I think it should absolutely be the rule rather than the exception. Everyone seemed to be taking a different approach to the diamond queues. For Tennant and Duchovny there were just letting any diamond join when ever they wanted. Which as they were both in separate boxes with a clear queuing area (Duchovny on the Saturday anyway) was fine. However for Tom Baker and Matt Smith they were doing the same thing in an area which doesn't allow much space. Which meant I queued for ever to see them while people with much higher diamond passes were in front of me. I think there needs to be a consistent approach.

People do kick off though. I was at one delayed shoot and the amount of moaning I heard about extra help going first (which of course they always should) rather startled me.

Yeah and I'll be honest for the bigger shoots they shouldn't. It would be far more controlled if they called diamonds 1-50 etc. That is eventually what they did for the Tennant Tardis shoot.

I guess the argument would be diamond passholders expect to be in the front section as its part of the perks with the pass. Usually at the weekend style hotel based events for talks wheelchair users are given spots at the front of their ticket section - so here if you didn't have a diamond pass I'd expect you to be given a spot at the front of the non diamond section. But it would be helpful if you had all the rules in advance

I honestly wish they had a blanket "Keep your phone in your pocket when meeting the diamond guests" approach at these events and that this was announced well in advance. Because in practice that's pretty much already the case. But on Friday there was a "No posed photos" sign up next to Zach so I thought I'd grab a quick shot of him (from again way before his desk) for a friend. Promptly had the security guy trying to stick his hand in his face and everyone leaping etc. It just becomes really aggressive and unpleasant and makes you feel dreadful. The sign changed to No Photos later in the day but seriously just have that as the blanket policy. That way you don't have unpleasant interactions which make the fans feel awful