WonderCon 2023: March 24-26, Anaheim

[alyssa]

can we book hotel rooms via the con rate yet?

[Nyjin]

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Doesn't look like hotels are available yet for this year. Not sure when they usually go up.

[rv65]

Hotel that I normally stay at has gone up in price by a lot. Not sure if I should book now or wait for the WonderCon hotel list. Maybe I should try another hotel.

[Transmute Jun]

If you can book a cancelable reservation, do it now. You can always pick up a WC hotel block room later, if you want.

[Old Man Grey]

If you can book a cancelable reservation, do it now. You can always pick up a WC hotel block room later, if you want.

I agree. I saw a couple of good rates, but they were nonrefundable. March is a long way off and no telling what might happen. I did make a reservation at a nearby hotel but I'm still going to look around. Prices are definitely much higher this year.

[rv65]

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Here is a Sneak Peek of the first 4 guests coming to WonderCon 2023!

[rv65]

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A few more guests have been announced.

[semigeekgirl]

Single day badges are now on sale:

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I usually only go Friday... I know everything is more expensive this year but $55 for a weekday badge to Wondercon is still a bit of sticker shock. (There is a $10 handling fee per member.)

[perc2100]

Single day badges are now on sale:

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I usually only go Friday... I know everything is more expensive this year but $55 for a weekday badge to Wondercon is still a bit of sticker shock. (There is a $10 handling fee per member.)

Those are the same prices from 2022 for badges.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login
Prices were cheaper in 2019, but that feels like a lifetime ago; I'm actually kind of surprised prices didn't go up more...

[semigeekgirl]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login It's technically the same price, yes, but last year they had early bird for single days as well, not just three-day passes. Also the per-member processing fee has gone up from $7.50 to $10.

Side note, I hate processing fees. They should just be rolled into the price of the ticket. I can't count how many times I haven't bought something on Ticketmaster b/c the final price ended up ~30% more than the advertised price.

[perc2100]

You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login It's technically the same price, yes, but last year they had early bird for single days as well, not just three-day passes. Also the per-member processing fee has gone up from $7.50 to $10.

Side note, I hate processing fees. They should just be rolled into the price of the ticket. I can't count how many times I haven't bought something on Ticketmaster b/c the final price ended up ~30% more than the advertised price.

I'm 100% with you on the "processing fees."  While I am not an IT person, I don't understand why it's $10 per person for what I presume is mostly an automated program (and I was in HS in the early 1990's and was all-in when Pearl Jam boycotted Ticketmaster & testified in Congress about their monopolies and sketchy practices - unfortunately things have not improved over the decades  )

[hikanteki]

I'm 100% with you on the "processing fees."  While I am not an IT person, I don't understand why it's $10 per person for what I presume is mostly an automated program (and I was in HS in the early 1990's and was all-in when Pearl Jam boycotted Ticketmaster & testified in Congress about their monopolies and sketchy practices - unfortunately things have not improved over the decades  )

Probably just a way to raise the price without making it look like raising the price, especially on the cheaper options. That said, I’m much more okay with a $10 processing fee on a $120 purchase than like a $24 processing fee on a $45 concert through Ticketmaster.

[semigeekgirl]

Probably just a way to raise the price without making it look like raising the price, especially on the cheaper options. That said, I’m much more okay with a $10 processing fee on a $120 purchase than like a $24 processing fee on a $45 concert through Ticketmaster.

It doesn't bother me as much for SDCC, but you're right that's probably because of percentage. In this case it will be $20 on $68 (Friday for me and my senior dad), which is almost 30%!

[dolphina]

Single day badges are now on sale:

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I usually only go Friday... I know everything is more expensive this year but $55 for a weekday badge to Wondercon is still a bit of sticker shock. (There is a $10 handling fee per member.)

I usually go all three days, but this year thinking only Friday and Saturday. I’ll admit, I’m getting older and for me 3 days at con and then work on Monday, it’s just getting to be too much.

[perc2100]

I usually go all three days, but this year thinking only Friday and Saturday. I’ll admit, I’m getting older and for me 3 days at con and then work on Monday, it’s just getting to be too much.

Same; I think the last few WonderCons we've gone up Saturday, stayed overnight at a local hotel, went around Sunday, and left around lunchtime.  For me it usually depends on the panels, so I guess if there's something I want to see on any specific day I'll go up for that and kind of plan around the programming.  Buying a house at the moment means I'll likely not be buying much at WonderCon (we typically like to spend a lot of time/money in artist alley) so I suspect our time at the convention will be even less this year.

But again, it'll depend on the programming so we'll see!  I am glad the last few years haven't been over Easter weekend; a few years driving from San Diego to Anaheim were ROUGH on Easter with tons of traffic on the 5