How's everyone's day gone?

[Poppy]

Some of the comments don't fill me with confidence. I've an early start tomorrow (03.00) and arriving from Dublin. I hope the organisation is better tomorrow as I will be pissed if I miss any of my photoshoots. Already had two cancellations.

Yes, I am really worried about this. I can only go to one time slot for each of my photos so there is no 'later' for me. I also don't have enough time between each photo shoot to be queuing for an hour! Fingers crossed all goes smoothly. Im especially worried about Bill Paxton at 9.30....I will be beyond devasted if I don't get my photo with him. Very scared after reading all this!

[subwaykfc]

 

Can anyone tell me why Photo Tickets sold today (Old Style so I was told by a crew member) were given priority over E-Ticket Holders who bought their tickets several months ago? (told to me by the same crew member).

 

Also did anyone actually buy a normal size can of Pepsi (500ml) for £2.30?

 

They shouldn't have been, and I saw each photo area had a board saying Diamond > Gold > old paper > non batch e-ticket > batch e-ticket.

 

At first glance, I couldn't see how old paper were distinguished from on the day (OTD) tickets. But I think the number on the tear off stub is highlighted orange. That way crew would be able to tell - IF they knew this (and if I'm right).

 

Crew - please go back to the old way of calling a group, then the next group, then the next - and if someone from group 1 arrives late, they go at the END. Too much effort was wasted today trying to slot late people from earlier call outs into their correct places. I arrived midway through a shoot with an old paper ticket. Before, I'd have joined the end of the queue. Today, I was brought forward and slotted in at the back of the old paper ticket group. It felt like queue jumping, even though it was authorised and I checked with the crew who confirmed they were doing it that way because they'd been told to!

 

I was in a queue in the zoo sorry 'Photo A' and the chap from showmasters held up an old style paper ticket and shouted out 'If any one has one of these style tickets come to the front'. So this would include tickets sold that day thus getting in before E-Ticket holders.

[MartyMcFly85]

I had a great day and managed to get my BBTF poster signed by all the cast including MJ Fox. It looks amazing!!

 

 

What was MJF like at the signing - was he chatty? How long did you get? (ie 10 seconds, 2 seconds, 30 seconds!!!)

[Tolkienerd]

Out of interest, did Michael personalize or add his character name?

[Firecracker]

 

 

Can anyone tell me why Photo Tickets sold today (Old Style so I was told by a crew member) were given priority over E-Ticket Holders who bought their tickets several months ago? (told to me by the same crew member).

 

Also did anyone actually buy a normal size can of Pepsi (500ml) for £2.30?

 

They shouldn't have been, and I saw each photo area had a board saying Diamond > Gold > old paper > non batch e-ticket > batch e-ticket.

 

At first glance, I couldn't see how old paper were distinguished from on the day (OTD) tickets. But I think the number on the tear off stub is highlighted orange. That way crew would be able to tell - IF they knew this (and if I'm right).

 

Crew - please go back to the old way of calling a group, then the next group, then the next - and if someone from group 1 arrives late, they go at the END. Too much effort was wasted today trying to slot late people from earlier call outs into their correct places. I arrived midway through a shoot with an old paper ticket. Before, I'd have joined the end of the queue. Today, I was brought forward and slotted in at the back of the old paper ticket group. It felt like queue jumping, even though it was authorised and I checked with the crew who confirmed they were doing it that way because they'd been told to!

 

I was in a queue in the zoo sorry 'Photo A' and the chap from showmasters held up an old style paper ticket and shouted out 'If any one has one of these style tickets come to the front'. So this would include tickets sold that day thus getting in before E-Ticket holders.

 

 

Yes, that's why I said I think the orange highlighted number was maybe meant to differentiate. But if the crew weren't told about this (admittedly good) way of distinguishing, then they would have no way of knowing - they'd see a paper ticket and call you. I don't know for sure, it may well have been fed back and corrected for tomorrow.

[whysoserious79]

I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get to level 3. I asked the guys operating the lifts and they kept directing me to other lifts. Trying to determine which floor you're on let alone where the staircases are is a mission in itself. I was finally told there was no level 3 on Friday!! A big red cross ontop of the level 3 area on the floor plan would've been helpful. Plus some signs to say which level you're on, this might sound like a silly request but just wait till you get in the Olympia - it's HUGE, the layout doesn't resemble the floor plan, and the staircases & exists are not clearly marked. 'You Are Here' dots on the floor plan would've been a BIG help. (Also, if you are looking at the floor plan, PLEASE don't stand 3 inches in front of it! Chances are there are 20 people behind you trying to look too!!).

 

Other than the confusing layout (and the pointless new staircase) it was an enjoyable day. Busy but not hectic as everything is spread out.

 

Oh, and can some people PLEASE buy some deodorant, it's not expensive!!!!

[giuseppe1969]

not very well organized, joined the gold pass line around 12:30 and entered the event 1:30pm. got both VQ tix for Englund & Lloyd (#135 & #230!) & didnt have the chance to meet them both. Makes me wonder what will happen tomorrow .

& the gold pass has no advantage in autos (to me at least), the busy lines need VQ & most of the others are empty or no need for VQ. I just hope we get the early access tomorrow.

If you have a gold pass you don't need VQs! Just join the back of any queue you like.

[Hemooo]

 

not very well organized, joined the gold pass line around 12:30 and entered the event 1:30pm. got both VQ tix for Englund & Lloyd (#135 & #230!) & didnt have the chance to meet them both. Makes me wonder what will happen tomorrow .

& the gold pass has no advantage in autos (to me at least), the busy lines need VQ & most of the others are empty or no need for VQ. I just hope we get the early access tomorrow.

If you have a gold pass you don't need VQs! Just join the back of any queue you like.

are u sure? I thought the diamond pass guest require a VQ tix.

[Klikklak2]

 

not very well organized, joined the gold pass line around 12:30 and entered the event 1:30pm. got both VQ tix for Englund & Lloyd (#135 & #230!) & didnt have the chance to meet them both. Makes me wonder what will happen tomorrow .

& the gold pass has no advantage in autos (to me at least), the busy lines need VQ & most of the others are empty or no need for VQ. I just hope we get the early access tomorrow.

If you have a gold pass you don't need VQs! Just join the back of any queue you like.

With a gold pass you DO need a vq ticket for the diamond guests.

Too bad they didnt have them yet for christopher lloyd when we got there at opening so there was a que to get a vq ticket

[giuseppe1969]

 

 

not very well organized, joined the gold pass line around 12:30 and entered the event 1:30pm. got both VQ tix for Englund & Lloyd (#135 & #230!) & didnt have the chance to meet them both. Makes me wonder what will happen tomorrow .

& the gold pass has no advantage in autos (to me at least), the busy lines need VQ & most of the others are empty or no need for VQ. I just hope we get the early access tomorrow.

If you have a gold pass you don't need VQs! Just join the back of any queue you like.

With a gold pass you DO need a vq ticket for the diamond guests.

Too bad they didnt have them yet for christopher lloyd when we got there at opening so there was a que to get a vq ticket

Sorry, I didn't realise you were referring to diamond guests. In such case, you are right. I think gold pass might become obsolete very soon, should they add more diamond pass in the future.

[Emz11]

 

I had a pretty good day today. I got a majority of my autographs with the exception of Kelly Hu as she finished signing at 4.30.

My only issue was trying to figure how to get to the next floor from level 1! But luckily everyone I needed today was on this level.

 

Kelly was still signing and had no queue at 7:50 when I met her.

Grrrr! I got told she was no longer signing by the crew member at the end of her queue.....oh well it was fine since I got early this morning so all is good! Edited July 18, 2015 by Emz11

[tompain100]

Got all my autographs and my MJF DeLorean shoot all successfully.

 

Missed my GoT talk due to being a bosom.

 

EDIT: Bosom? Really? I feel so....censored.

Edited July 18, 2015 by tompain100

[Sierranevada]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can anyone tell me why Photo Tickets sold today (Old Style so I was told by a crew member) were given priority over E-Ticket Holders who bought their tickets several months ago? (told to me by the same crew member).

 

Also did anyone actually buy a normal size can of Pepsi (500ml) for £2.30?

They shouldn't have been, and I saw each photo area had a board saying Diamond > Gold > old paper > non batch e-ticket > batch e-ticket.

 

At first glance, I couldn't see how old paper were distinguished from on the day (OTD) tickets. But I think the number on the tear off stub is highlighted orange. That way crew would be able to tell - IF they knew this (and if I'm right).

 

Crew - please go back to the old way of calling a group, then the next group, then the next - and if someone from group 1 arrives late, they go at the END. Too much effort was wasted today trying to slot late people from earlier call outs into their correct places. I arrived midway through a shoot with an old paper ticket. Before, I'd have joined the end of the queue. Today, I was brought forward and slotted in at the back of the old paper ticket group. It felt like queue jumping, even though it was authorised and I checked with the crew who confirmed they were doing it that way because they'd been told to!

I was in a queue in the zoo sorry 'Photo A' and the chap from showmasters held up an old style paper ticket and shouted out 'If any one has one of these style tickets come to the front'. So this would include tickets sold that day thus getting in before E-Ticket holders.

Yes, that's why I said I think the orange highlighted number was maybe meant to differentiate. But if the crew weren't told about this (admittedly good) way of distinguishing, then they would have no way of knowing - they'd see a paper ticket and call you. I don't know for sure, it may well have been fed back and corrected for tomorrow.

Same in photo area D. The 'old style' paper tickets for Alexander Siddig were allowed through before batch 1, but as he was only announced on Thursday I believe these must have been purchased today rather than online.

[DIDS]

Had about 45 mins wait to get in which was surprising due to the miles of people snaking around the block. Had a queue jumper family who could not care less when told about it.

I only had 4 auto's to get and no photo shoots so all went well for me.

Really hot on the autograph floor and the wait for the stairs was just awful. As I mentioned in another post,I wanted to go back down to the bottom dealers room but the middle stairs was one way only and I could not for the life of me find out how to get back there.

Left early. Was back home at 2:30.

[Goodie586]

First off, met some amazing guests today and from that perspective I had a great time.

 

Alas however the venue was far too overcrowded and the photoshoot areas were a farce(despite great efforts from the staff)

The event was oversold as were the photo ops. An hour was marked down for MJF and there was 400 diamond passes alone! How did you ever think that was going to get done in an hour?

Same with Sigourney!

 

I have been attending events since 2008 but this was the first time I felt things were not as enjoyable as they should be!

The over attendence is a false economy, I came with pockets full of cash but other than a Pop figure spent nothing due to the cramped conditions.

 

The photoshoot areas were poorly signed and they were even moved without all the maps updated.

 

I missed out on 3 shoots I had booked due to clashes and I left before another 3 were due as I was over tired and fed up with the crowded conditions!

 

I love these events but today has caused me to question if I will continue attending as its just not as fun anymore

 

I am sorry I am being negative as I am a fan and truley grateful for the chance to meet such great guests.

I have no complaints about the crew who were all excellent

 

I hope more consideration is given to the venue, photoshoots areas and layout next year!

Also if you are calling batch numbers please have someone checking them in the queue as alas not everyone is honest!!!!

[CelticRob]

Great guests. Best lineup I've seen yet.

Too many attendees for the type of venue. Felt like 25000 inside at times.

Poor layout consideration with photos hoots meant many punters missing shoots. First time I've missed shoots in years of attending due to time spent trying to traverse dense crowds.

Superstage was great.

Much better entry for golds on Saturday. Yalc and golds split as it should have been.

[Tony1975]

I have to agree with other views. The layout was terrible! Got to the first floor and managed to meet Neve Campbell ok. Then spent ages trying to find Rey Mysterio only to eventually find out he were on the top floor! After giving up on the elevator I then battled the overcrowding to make my way up the stairs. Surely it could have been organised a bit better and have the signing area all together on the one floor away from the merchandise stalls?

 

Overall I did have a good time and will go again. I just hope it won't be so stressful next time.

[TheHorrorFreak]

Day 2 was a success. Meeting Sigourney was probably the highlight of my year. The people there were amazing and the atmosphere was great. It was a bit crowded and I wish less tickets were sold but it's all part of the experiance I guess. Once you meet the guests all the bad things simply don't matter any more haha the gold pass really helped with the Sogourney shooy today, we even got booed by everyone else when we got called haha I had to miss 2 photoshoots though, which I'm not to happy about. I don't even care about the money it just sucks that I didn't get the pictures. The staff were rather nice but some had no idea what was going on. Can't wait till tomorrow now. Can't believe the weekend is almost over.

[para50]

I'm totally dreading tomorrow now as it sounds like it wasn't very fun for a lot of people. Is there anything I need to know that would make things easier? Are the photo areas really hard to find?

 

It looks like I have zero chance of getting a Christopher Lloyd autograph. Rose Leslie is now in question as she'll be so busy. What was Hayley Atwell like queue wise?

[cptpugwash]

i was there friday, got there just after 11 and was back just passed pizza express took about 25 mins to get in, wife went straight up for rda vq ticket got number 88, 5 hours later he was on 70 luckily we got his auto by 7pm, i got photoshoot with christopher lloyd, with got one with rda and we both got 1 with keisha, only 1 i missed out on was john ratzenberger that was because the photo area c i think had a power cut and all shoots were pushed back and by 7:15pm we just needed to get back to hotel to relax, but also got his autograph, keisha's auto, garrett wang ,carrie henn and nicole de boer.

 

only negative i had was queuing up for carrie henn photoshoot on friday with my sigourney diamond pass, was told to join diamond pass queue which i did, they then let in some e tickets first then apologised to the people in the diamond pass queue that we will not be getting in and to come back tomorrow.

 

saturday got there about 7:15 am, by 9am the queue was down the road back up the otherside and round the corner(wow), took me 20 mins to get in, got both photos with sigourney, these were crowded plus autograph, so did the wife, had to go up to level 3 for my joe"the animal" shoot, could not believe the queues for the lift so decided to use the stairs in the corner, the queue there was even bigger but we got there in the end, got photoshoot done but getting back down was a hard job we just decided to stay and queue for the lift.

 

in summary i have to say i had a great time, better then last year, got to see and browse the stalls which i couldnt last year, all guests i met were so nice even if john ratzenberger could not remember at first being on hells kitchen last year.

 

a big thank you to all the crew members everyone i talked to were polite and helpful and a big thank you to showmasters a great event in my opinion better organised and a better venue, only thing i do miss was when at earls court you could go outside and meet the fantastic cosplayers you cannot really here.

 

thank you again to all involved

[Vegas Queen]

As I was grumbling yesterday, it is only fair to review today as well. The gold queue to get in was as it should have been yesterday, wristbands given out in good time and we were through the doors at 8.45am, brilliant same again tomorrow please. The Michael J Fox photoshoot was huge! A massive shout out to blue t shirt Luke who single handedly took on what seemed like a 1000 people and got them to stand where they should and join the queue in correct order, no pushing or queue jumping. This guy deserves a medal! All the diamond passes sailed through in order followed by my gold pass again in batch order and I assume everyone else after that. How he did that in good humour with the amount of people was amazing, thanks Luke. Managed to get around everyone in good time today. Sorry stall holders I still have not had time or space to shop I will try tomorrow and hopefully the zone 3 stair problem will be sorted as I have to be up there tomorrow. So far so good, excellent day. :)

[HiddlesStark]

OK, I'm not even going to try to stay calm.

 

First the positive... however little of it.

 

GUESTS- All of the guests I met- Tom Burke, Luke Pasqualino, Eric Bauersfeld, Daniel Portman and Maimie McCoy were lovely- MAIMIE ESPECIALLY! She was was incredible, possibly one of the nicest, if not THE nicest guests I have ever met! She even took a picture of my sister and I's Rochefort and Constance cosplays and has sent them to Tamla Kari and Marc Warren OMG (must confess, I'm freaking out a little!!! )

 

That's literally it.

 

Now the negative.

 

I do NOT expect to have a major anxiety episode caused by the overcrowding, lack of exits and poor management of stairs/lifts.

 

I have not EVER suffered a panic attack due to overcrowding/claustrophobia before.

 

I attend cons REGULARLY and am used to crowds, but this was something else. Having FINALLY made it to what seemed like the only air conditioned area in the building (3rd floor), I realised that I need to get to my Maimie McCoy photoshoot. The stairs were impassible, I saw a father literally shoving his way through with a small child because seriously, someone could have been killed in that stairwell. I stood for 30 minutes waiting to get a lift, because the stairs were just not moving AT ALL. When I finally got in one, I was in a lift where a disabled person was trying to get in and no one could or would get out, because a 30 minute waiting time to leave the 3rd floor was quite literally turning people desperate.

 

As someone who suffers anxiety regularly, I have learned to control it during stressful situations. But today was so frightening that I was hyperventilating, sobbing and crying IN the lift, as well as literally on the floor on the ground level, missing my photoshoot.

 

It totally ruined my day, something which I had been anticipating for weeks.

 

There were SERIOUS issues with layout today, issues that will severely impact on my family's future attendance. We are not planning to attend tomorrow, despite having tickets, because it is not acceptable that my parents should have to consider calling the fire brigade to inform them that the venue was so overcrowded with so few exits, that ANY unforeseen event, like a fire, would have been utterly HORRIFIC.

[Naboo79]

I got there at 9.30 and met the longest queue I've ever seen. It took maybe 90 mins to get in. I had Batch 3 for the morning Christopher Lloyd photo shoot with the clock, but they only had time for batch 1 due to all the diamond and gold pass guests. At least I got my photo in the afternoon session.

 

My VG number for CL was like 782.. lol. No chance.

 

Queing for the MJF talk was a mess, and once inside, there was no difference whether you were in batch 1 or 6. People just grabbed an empty seat.

 

The event is massively overcrowded, and the maps and floor plans are a joke. Generally signage could be soo much better.

 

All that being said, the guests (mostly BTTF related) I spoke with were super nice. They personalised autos and didn't mind posing for photos. And the actual MJF talk was amazing.

[MathewW100]

My day was mostly very good, I will get the negatives out of the way first, as I know these have been mentioned elsewhere. The first was the heat, it was really hot and sweaty at times (I am glad I carried some deodorant with me!). The second negative was travelling between level 1 and 3, I got stuck in a big queue to go up at one point and then once up gave up on going back down again for quite a while. I had a few photoshoots in zones E and F so this was a problem - in the end everything worked okay but it was touch and go at some points.

 

Now the positives - the biggest one is the guests, everyone I met was great. I have met both Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy and they are always great. All the GoT guests I met were really nice too as was Jodi Lynn O'Keefe. I guess the 2 biggest guests I met were, Hayley Atwell, Neve Campbell who were both brilliant and friendly. I have to give a special mention to David Barclay who is such a great and interesting guy and talking to him about Labryinth and Jim Henson was very interesting.

 

I am really pleased with my photoshoots too - I want to give a shout out to the people doing photoshoot F in particular who were very helpful.

 

Looking back I did have a great day and when I look back I will think about all the positives rather than the negatives, but if it is a similar layout next year I think the stair situation in particular needs looking at

[amandajane7775]

I personally had a fab day... I had batch one for my 6 shoots and found that the organisation was excellent... The crew that I asked when I needed help always had answers to my questions and knew what they were doing...

Awesome guy sorting the MJF photo shoot area.. He had a great organisation and humour and made the wait fun...

 

Missed my Neve Campbell shoot due to a clash but the help desk were quick to sort it out..

 

Yes the stairs were a slight issue but I'm afraid that people's common sense seemed to escape their brains... Pepple not realising where other stairs were situated and this obviously caused big queues...People were also trying to barge through the "up" stairs line and then getting frustrated and crossing over into the down line just because they were late and could not organise themselves better.... We all knew there would be queues so time was an important factor, allow yourselves plenty of time... Plus with the "trade men's lift" being used it alleviate a lot of the problems...

 

All in all I encountered very few issues but those issues were sorted by speaking to the staff nicely and having patience...