150 Seconds of Pant-Crapping Terror: SDCC Hotel Registration Is Complete

Our apologies for the dearth of content today, but is has been a busy one here at the Crisis On Infinite Midlives Home Office, between significant personal business, day job obligations… and, of course, the application for convention-priced hotel rooms at San Diego Comic-Con 2013, which occurred in a white heat starting at noon Eastern Time today.

Now, you can say what you want about the fact that, these days, you need to fill out an online form, list some favored hotels (this time, six. No more, no less)… and then wait for a few days to find out if you got what you wanted, what you were willing to settle for, or if you’ll be fighting for space in the men’s room stalls without the glory holes. And that’s after you have to wait for several hours after completing the online form just to get an email confirmation that they even received your application.

But I will say this: compared to the experience of reserving a convention room through Travel Planners, SDCC’s preferred booking agent or hotels, just five years ago, the current twitchy anticipation of waiting a few days to find out what you got is a small price to pay to avoid that tooth-shattering pure, animal rage that the process used to be.

Back in 2008, the Travel Planners site opened at noon on the appointed day… and promptly shit the bed like an infant on Seconal. It took me two and a half hours to get through to where I could actually purchase a room, and by then, well, I’m lucky that finances meant that we were looking for a hotel more than a mile away from downtown. That experience taught me: if you want to maximize your chances at attending SDCC, book a backup room that you can cancel later at a non-convention hotel within a month after the Comic-Con you just got back from… and no, I won’t tell you our backup hotel of choice. I know we’re a news site, but we’re not saps. Do your own damn legwork.

Compared to that pure hell, a little anticipation and apprehension is a small price today, because the process was surprisingly simple. During last year’s hotel reservation process, my browser chugged briefly when the site opened at noon, but I was able to get through the process in about three minutes… with a few minor complications.

So how was it this year?

I sat down with my list of six hotels written out (with two additional hotels listed, just in case the listings weren’t quite as announced in SDCC’s preview list, which, however, they were) and the dates we were planning to travel so there would be no confusion. I also had a text editor open with the registration site’s URL, as well as my Comic-Con Member ID and password (neither of which I actually needed), plus two different browsers open. I began hitting the refresh button at about 11:57 am… and at straight up noon, the first page of the registration form opened right up, with no lag whatsoever.

I was able to get through the entire process by 12:02, beating my record from last year, without any fuss… upon which the self-doubt started to sink the adrenaline rush (and make no mistake, the adrenaline starts pumping as noon approaches on Hotel Day). Did I make the selections correctly? Did I enter my name right? Did I remember to request to be waitlisted if I couldn’t get a room? Did I accidentally request the Abbatoir Room at the Stuck Pig Lounge?

Not to fear, however: I received the confirmation email from Travel Planners at 5:44 p.m. Eastern Time, confirming all my choices… and advising me that I will find out if I got a room sometime in the next three days or so.

So let’s all commence wth grinding our teeth, comic fans. And let us remember that, no matter what happens… I call dibs on the handicapped stall near the gaming area / cafeteria.