Tag: convention center

Thursday fun begins at Comic-Con 2025!

The fun has officially begun this Thursday morning at Comic-Con 2025!

Fans are streaming into the San Diego Convention Center, long lines have formed at the many offsite activations, and cosplay has appeared everywhere downtown!

That’s Mario and Donkey Kong in the above photograph riding through the Gaslamp Quarter!

There was a Thursday morning line at the Pendry Hotel for the Donut Bar’s special donuts…

A line outside the Hard Rock Hotel for Spider-Man Magic: the Gathering.

People head toward the San Diego Convention Center past the Percy Jackson offsite in Gaslamp Square.

Check out this cool Code Vein II motorcycle!

Hot dogs!

Friendly masked Green Lantern had some cool comic books on a table along MLK Promenade.

A line of Abbott Elementary fans wait for the Block Party to open!

The line ends way over here!

Super Toucan chalk art on the bayside boardwalk!

The center of excitement: the San Diego Convention Center.

A steady stream of fans were arriving from their hotels by bus.

Get your 2025 San Diego Comic-Con shirt near the Interactive Zone at Petco Park.

Yes, there will be lots of trash.

The Thunderbolts ice cream truck would begin serving at 10 am.

A fun Phineas and Ferb photo op tucked away near the Percy Jackson offsite.

On the other side…

The Gray Sisters taxi outside the Percy Jackson offsite…

An example of cool cosplay on Thursday morning, back on MLK Promenade…

San Diego Comic-Con sights everywhere you turn! I love it!

C-3PO occupies the Coca Cola Star Wars box office!

Now that’s scary!

Heading back up Fifth Avenue. Another long offsite line. This is for The Lodge, promoting Paramount+ shows.

Hello there. This must be San Diego Comic-Con!

King of the Hill graphic at BAIT in the Gaslamp Quarter. Drinking in public gets one behind bars…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Afternoon walk before Comic-Con Preview Night!

Comic-Con 2025 is about ready to begin in earnest! Fans are streaming into downtown San Diego for Preview Night!

My walk around the San Diego Convention Center and through the Gaslamp Quarter in the mid-afternoon kept my camera very busy.

Enjoy another collection of photos!

House of Blues has cool programming during Comic-Con 2025.
These guys used lightsabers to remove a Predator’s head.
All sorts of merch on display outside the Doctor Who offsite!
Twisted activity expected here.
Twisted Metal on Peacock graphic.
Red Sonja is wanted by order of Emperor Draygan.
Hot Wheels is back!
Friendly sign spinner directs fans to the Comic-Con Blood Drive at the Manchester Grand Hyatt.
Look at the line of buses!
ABC will lift Abbott Elementary fans high into the San Diego sky.
Graphics near entrance of the Voodoo Ranger offsite.
Ramp down to Voodoo Ranger “pirate ship” has these cool graphics.
Ahoy there, matey! Voodoo Ranger returns to Comic-Con.
Looking south down the bayside boardwalk past King of the Hill’s offsite.
Indiana Jones is here! Drinking from the Holy Grail has seemingly preserved his youth.
Must Be This Crazy to Ride at Starr Park!
Is that a cat mermaid at Adult Swim?
Find two Smiling Friends at the Adult Swim activation behind the San Diego Convention Center.
This way to Indigo Ballroom in the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
A view of offsites behind the convention center from the Hilton.
Down there is the Superman offsite, a production of DC Comics and Old Spice. Does Superman sweat?
This smiling guy wants you to ask questions!
The Interactive Zone at Petco Park seems a bit sparse this year. At least, so far.
The Labu-Tique Pop Up Shop at Petco Park!
Lots of stuff has shown up near the Omni.
That Thunderbolts graphic kind of looks like a cereal box.
Yes, Stitch has huge ears.
How adorable.
Stitch surfs in San Diego!
Spead ’em Nerds! I didn’t realize Liam Neeson can do the splits.
A Triple Chocolate Feast sounds good right now.
Fifth Avenue is going to be crazy the next four days!
Cool sculpture at entrance to the Predator: Badlands activation.
I’m not sure I’d want to be a friend of Frendo.
Cheetos mascot on a bicycle!
Coca Cola presents Holocreator starring you!
Would you like to become a Sith?
Fantastic Rewards can be grabbed by fans who enjoy the Google Play offsite.
Mitchell, didgeridoo player from Balboa Park, has beamed down!
Yikes! The Joker has arrived!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Bad Guys, Predator, Superman and more outside Comic-Con!

New stuff outside Comic-Con 2025 keeps popping up! Look what I stumbled upon while walking around downtown San Diego this afternoon, two days before Preview Night!

First, check out the Gaslamp Quarter sign! It has been taken over by The Bad Guys 2! Some panels were on the nearby sidewalk, too. Not sure where they’re going to be placed…

Workers were putting up large frames along Harbor Drive near the trolley tracks. And into the frames go Peacemaker graphics…

Still putting up Comic-Con graphics on the San Diego Convention Center…

The Gaslamp is filling up with Comic-Con goodness. Check out some of the awesome AMC graphics…

Work continues on the Percy Jackson offsite at Gaslamp Square…

A spaceship has landed at the southeast corner of the Hard Rock Hotel. I was told there will be a Predator: Badlands screening here!

The Rookie and Abbott Elementary building wraps on Petco Park grow…

That vertical banner workers were having trouble with this morning is now attached to the corner of the Hilton’s parking garage. It promotes Little Nightmares III.

Some cool graphics have appeared on one fence at the Alien: Earth offsite by FX.

Another surprise! I was told this offsite in the courtyard beside the Hilton San Diego Bayfront will concern Superman! It’s a collaboration between DC Comics and Old Spice. I’m told there will be photo ops.

Adult Swim is shaping up slowly…

The fun Abbott Elementary Block Party is also shaping up…

The Coca Cola/Star Wars activation is taking shape at First Avenue on MLK Promenade near Harbor Drive…

The Fantastic Four mural near their offsite is about done, looking cool…

I’ve come full circle back to the Gaslamp Quarter, where STARZ wraps are still being applied to the Hard Rock Hotel…

The IGN balcony is about ready at the Hard Rock. Which celebrities will be spotted here?

I peeked inside The Lodge and found Mission: Impossible!

Outside, Happy Does’ yellow smiley face has been replaced with the Paramount mountain logo!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

New wraps, offsites appear for Comic-Con 2025!

With about three days to go until Comic-Con 2025’s Preview Night, new offsite activations and building wraps continue to appear! My previous blog posts provide a lot of the action up until now.

Early this morning I set out on a looping walk through downtown San Diego–through the Gaslamp Quarter, around the convention center, and back. Even as the city slept, workers were getting busy!

Check out some photos.

First off, Gaslamp Square is going to be the location of Disney’s Percy Jackson offsite. They were just beginning to set up as I walked past…

I’ll skip past the Fantastic Four and Doctor Who offsites. There was nothing going on, and it appeared they hadn’t made much progress since late yesterday.

I did notice the big Star Trek: Strange New Worlds wrap on the Marriott Marquis hotel is almost complete now!

Behind the San Diego Convention Center, the Abbott Elementary Ferris wheel appears to be somewhat assembled.

Guys were working on the entrance to the King of the Hill offsite…

The huge FX building wrap on the Hilton will take several days to finish. It promotes Alien: Earth…

I passed the quiet Adult Swim and FX offsites and crossed Harbor Drive, heading back to the Gaslamp Quarter.

Nothing on the grass that stretches near the Omni hotel yet.

The long Gen V wrap facing Fifth Avenue is expanding…

And, surprise! The Hard Rock Hotel’s wrap will be…STARZ! Workers got started on it this morning…

UPDATE!

I took a similar walk in the mid-afternoon. Here’s what I saw!

Surprising how quickly the STARZ building wrap on the Hard Rock Hotel was applied on the hotel’s Fifth Avenue side…

And across Fifth Avenue, the Gen V wrap was moving along…

Now I’m walking along San Diego Bay with the FX wrap and Abbott Elementary Ferris wheel in the distance…

The next two photos were taken from Embarcadero Marina Park South…

(The Alien: Earth graphic is looking cool!)

Back on the boardwalk behind the San Diego Convention Center, the Abbott Elementary Block Party has some graphics up…

King of the Hill’s entrance…

The Brawl Stars barge… (Whoever waved at me–hello!)

Looking over Adult Swim toward the Hilton…

Starbucks has the beginning of fun Scooby-Doo window graphics…

The FX offsite has added additional fences, making photos from the outside more difficult…

ABC television wrap just beginning to be applied to Petco Park…

Disney’s Percy Jackson offsite has a lot of metal, but no substance yet…

Up MLK Promenade, the Doctor Who offsite entrance is almost done, it appears…

Heading back toward the Gaslamp, The Fantastic Four offsite is looking epic. It’s almost Clobberin’ Time!

Finally, heading back north up Fifth Avenue, the sidewalk was closed in front of The Lodge. Lots of activity inside!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Mysteries and a surprise before Comic-Con 2025!

Four days to go until the start of Comic-Con 2025 in San Diego. And so many mysteries! And a surprise!

First, a mystery! Why are bales of hay being forklifted into the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter? And why is a lamppost and weathervane also heading into AMC’s Shudder offsite? Shouldn’t there be a scary clown and cornfield?

Next, a big surprise!

NBCUniversal will not have a prominent offsite at Gaslamp Square as they have for years on end. No–it’s going to be Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians!

Mystery!

What are those arches at The Fantastic Four/Google Play offsite? Will those large people movers take visitors through the Baxter Building, or perhaps through an interdimensional portal? Will Galactus be waiting around the corner?

Mystery!

What the heck are these things? Is this the beginning of the Doctor Who Black Archive offsite???

Mystery!

Will The Lodge promoting Paramount+ be as cool as ever?

Mystery!

Will the old ESRI conference building wrap on the Marriott Marquis hotel vanish before the cool new wrap for Star Trek is completed?

Mystery!

Why is the vintage trolley of MTS out and about? It usually rolls on holidays. Something up?

Mystery!

Did these guys at the FX Alien:Earth offsite catch the escaped xenomorph yet?

Mystery!

Why have trees suddenly sprouted outside the King of the Hill offsite fence?

Mystery!

What will become of people on the Brawl Stars island, Starr Park, should a large ship pass through the bay and create a huge wake?

Mystery!

How blazing hot will it be outside when Comic-Con 2025 opens in San Diego next Wednesday?

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

San Diego Comic-Con photos: 5 days to go!

Five days to go until the start of Comic-Con 2025 in San Diego!

This mid-afternoon, I walked behind the San Diego Convention Center and up through the Gaslamp Quarter to see how the many different offsite activations and building wraps are shaping up. Lots of activity!

Most of the offsite builds have materialized almost overnight.

During my walk I confirmed there will be nothing at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina Terrace this year, where Dragon Ball activations have been erected in the past. I also verified the mysterious activation on the grass by the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter is indeed for The Fantastic Four!

Here we go, starting along the bayfront boardwalk heading toward the towering Hilton hotel. You can see FX had begun applying their usual wrap. I’m sure this one will promote upcoming show Alien: Earth…

I was told this spot just before the superyacht basin will be for ABC television’s Abbott Elementary. They’ve been here previously. I’ll keep an eye on it…

A tall, long fence on the convention center side mostly conceals what will be the King of the Hill offsite…

The barge docked on the bay that will contain Brawl Star’s floating Starr Park activation is proceeding nicely. Interesting how it’s elevated…

Now I’ve come to the usual Adult Swim area. They hadn’t started setting up in earnest, at least when I passed by. I believe it’s a pirate theme again this year…

Next up, in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, the FX offsite The Wreckage. It will promote upcoming FX series Alien: Earth…

A huge banner now hangs on one side of the Hilton parking garage. It promotes action role-playing game Code Vein II, scheduled for release in 2026…

The Omni hotel’s huge Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle building wrap is finished!

The AMC wraps on the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter also appear to be about done. (Includes my very first photo.)

The Fantastic Flour offsite activation is going to be impressive. My guess: a walkthrough of the Baxter Building???

Gen V wrap on north side of Hilton Gaslamp building is now finished and looking good…

Several cool Walking Dead Universe window wraps at the Pendry hotel were being completed as I walked past…

(I once worked at a print shop, and applying wraps without trapping air bubbles underneath can be difficult. Great work guys!)

Finally, Super 7 has become Godzilla Station!

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

San Diego gets ready for TwitchCon 2024!

Thousands of video live streamers and fans will soon be converging on the San Diego Convention Center. San Diego is getting ready for TwitchCon 2024!

This year, TwitchCon will be bigger than ever, and evidence of its popularity has begun to pop up around downtown–in particular the Gaslamp Quarter.

TwitchCon 2024 will run this weekend from September 20 to September 22. The San Diego Convention Center is already decorated for the event, as you can see from these photos taken Tuesday afternoon.

The TwitchCon Block Party will be held in the Gaslamp Quarter near the convention center on Fifth Avenue this Saturday, September 21, beginning at 7:00 pm. Head on down for three hours of food vendors, live music options, themed photo ops, plenty of spots to chill with friends, and more.

A bunch of advertisements concerning TwitchCon have appeared up and down Fifth Avenue. Here are two “glitchy” ones…

And check this one out. Find five marbleverse marbles and get free loot!

Gamers! This is really cool.

Bards & Cards at 936 Fifth Avenue will be hosting a free event. On Saturday, September 21, from 11 am to 4 pm, you can meet Briana White, the voice of Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Remake! Get her autograph and photos!

Briana White is also a Twitch streamer. She’s known as TheStrangeRebel.

Finally, if you’re a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog, go check out the Sonic the Hedgehog Speed Café at 910 J Street, just north of Petco Park. They debuted before Comic-Con and will remain open to the public until early November.

Inside they’ve got fun graphics for photo-ops, all sorts of Sonic merch, and really great fast food. Tonight I took home one of their Knuckles chicken sandwiches and it was tasty good!

UPDATE!

Next day, street lamp banners were appearing in the Gaslamp…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Photos of Sunday morning outside Comic-Con!

It’s the final day of Comic-Con 2024 in San Diego. As usual, I went for a morning walk with my camera in hand.

In the early morning few people were about. I imagine many fans were sleeping in after yesterday’s super exciting Hall H reveals by Marvel, the Crunchyroll concert at The Shell, and other late night San Diego Comic-Con parties.

By mid-morning a crowd was growing in the Gaslamp Quarter and outside the San Diego Convention Center. While two offsites had disappeared overnight (the Bathroom Battlestation and MrBeast Lab), lines for the activations behind the convention center near the bay (FX, Voodoo Ranger, Adult Swim, Hulu, Abbott Elementary, and Dragon Ball) were already long.

Sunday is a day when many local San Diegans come out to enjoy the free offsite activations. I saw lots of families with kids!

Walking down Fifth Avenue early Sunday morning I saw this!

Police bomb-sniffer dogs were getting underway. Thank you for keeping everyone safe!

A fun photo near the FX offsite early in the morning.

The IMDb Boat is gone.

Banners remain for the two Crunchyroll concerts at The Shell.

Fun graphics at The Shell box office.

Additional colorful One Piece graphics remain at the San Diego Symphony’s outside venue, The Shell.

No super long Hall H line winding through Embarcadero Marina Park South on Sunday.

A Comic-Con view on Sunday morning from Embarcadero Marina Park South.

The Dragon Ball line on Sunday morning was long. They give out good swag.

Back in the Gaslamp. Wolverine and Deadpool got their masks confused!

Sunday morning line at The Lodge.

You can see how the crowd was growing during the course of Sunday morning.

Romans in togas greet fans passing the Those About to Die chariot racing offsite in Gaslamp Square. A line was growing here, too.

Setting up a sign by the SpongeBob squirting activation.

A hot dog with mustard and no ketchup. Promotion of Universal Basic Guys on FOX.

Shortly after ten o’clock the Petco Park Interactive Zone was already quite busy!

Super cool Predator cosplay!

Once more I’m behind the San Diego Convention Center. Comic-Con International chalk art!

Pirates busy signing in visitors along the Adult Swim line.

Having fun on the big carnival swing ride at the A.V.A. FEST of Abbott Elementary.

More fun being had at the A.V.A. FEST!

Will this guy get dunked?

LANFest, through gaming, raises money for charitable causes. See their website here. They have 18 chapters in 3 countries!

Stilt walkers greet fans to A.V.A. FEST during Comic-Con 2024.

Adult Swim banner flies!

Captain Hook cosplay near the FX offsite. Its line was very long by late morning!

Now I’m heading back over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge. Less cosplay on Sunday, but still some good ones!

Waiting a long time for a free slushy isn’t my cup of tea.

I’m afraid I missed the Dexter activation. I’m going to steer my feet toward home.

I have some cold water at home. Thanks anyway!

A decent crowd in the Gaslamp Quarter just before noon. It’s Sunday at Comic-Con 2024.

Powdered Toast Man cosplay from The Ren & Stimpy Show. Makes me wonder about lunch: What’s in my refrigerator?

I hope you enjoyed my photographic coverage of Comic-Con 2024. I think I’ll call it quits. My aging legs are tired!

It’s time to transition my blog back to its more normal self. I’ll be publishing a variety of posts concerning San Diego: unique events and festivals, museum exhibits, historic places, nature walks, street art–the usual Cool San Diego Sights stuff. I’m never entirely sure where I’ll walk next. Or what I might discover by sheer chance!

I do know I have photographs concerning Balboa Park coming up in the next couple days. So if you live in San Diego, or simply love the city, stay tuned!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

If you’d like to view all of my coverage concerning San Diego Comic-Con, including hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things in San Diego, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Another wild and crazy Saturday at Comic-Con!

Huge crowds–crowds so humungous and dense that a body can barely move! Sudden celebrity sightings! Amazing cosplay absolutely everywhere! Uninhibited creativity run amok! It must be another Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con!

Comic-Con 2024 has come roaring back after several difficult years due to COVID and a writers strike. This year it seems like nothing had happened at all. Practically everyone loves Comic-Con and San Diego is fortunate to host such a wildly popular and simply wonderful international event.

As someone who traveled to San Diego from out-of-state told me (after asking for directions to the convention center): this is nerd heaven!

Yes, I had to walk outside Comic-Con a couple times today, to experience the wild and crazy atmosphere. I took some photos of what I happened to run across, including one very famous actress out in the crowd!

Enjoy!

Wall to wall humanity behind the San Diego Convention Center.

Here comes Emilia Clarke off the IMDb Boat, leading actress in Game of Thrones!

Just walking along…

Looks like they’re taking a break.

Ranch dressing cosplay. You don’t see this every day.

Yes, if you don’t like crowds, this might not be for you!

The Incredible Hulk flexes for a photo!

A street musician.

Looks like the chef has emerged from Tacos El Gordo.

Spidey.

I can’t recognize about half the cosplays, sadly. Perhaps you can help me with this one.

A typical sight in the Gaslamp on the Saturday of Comic-Con.

Chainsaw Man cools down in the shade.

An arrival from a galaxy far, far away…

Those MTS workers at the trolley station have a front row seat to the Comic-Con craziness!

Happily promoting Grim Death.

Cosplay of Lucifer Morningstar from Hazbin Hotel.

Sword and shield at the ready!

Don’t ask me. I’m keeping my distance.

Oh, nooo! A mutant-seeking Sentinel has arrived. All those Wolverines now in San Diego better watch their back!

Phew! Doctor Strange has sent the Sentinel away using powerful magic.

These crazed Psycho guys have been hanging around Comic-Con all week. Someone should send them back to the Borderlands.

How sweet!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

A fun Friday stroll around Comic-Con!

If a traveler had arrived in San Diego today, not knowing our city is in the middle of Comic-Con, and if they were to walk anywhere downtown or near the San Diego Convention Center, they’d conclude people have gone completely nuts. And to a certain extent they’d be right! Nuts can be good!

Check out these photographs I took while strolling outside Comic-Con today. The crowds were enormous. Super creative cosplay was everywhere. Some silly, bizarre sights designed to attract attention certainly attracted my camera!

A throng of Deadpools riding unicorns? Marketing genius! Funny, too!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!