Surprise! There’s going to be an offsite for Fantastic Four in San Diego during Comic-Con 2025. Workers are starting to put it together on the grass next to the Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter hotel!
This makes sense, considering Fantastic Four banners line Fourth Avenue leading right up to it!
I was told there will be no carnival rides involved, but it’s going to be big and impressive. It will be the sort of activation that people can walk through.
I can’t wait to watch as this Fantastic Four offsite activation takes form. I’ll be taking photos, naturally!
Also, a barge is now docked behind the San Diego Convention Center, which will be the site of the Brawl Stars offsite activation. Workers were busy getting it ready this Thursday morning!
UPDATE!
More photos taken late Thursday of what I was told will be a Fantastic Four related offsite…
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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.
One week to go in San Diego before the start of Comic-Con 2025! Preview Night is next Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
Not surprisingly, preparation in downtown San Diego–particularly in the Gaslamp Quarter and East Village–is kicking into high gear.
Cherry pickers everywhere! Lots of building wraps going up!
I’m always surprised at how quickly these gigantic advertisements can be applied to the sides of our downtown high-rises. They are essentially large format printed stickers. The workers are highly experienced and do an amazing job every year. Some of the guys are from Arizona; others come down from Los Angeles.
I walked down Fifth Avenue this morning, over the Harbor Drive pedestrian bridge, then turned around, heading back to my nearby downtown home. I took a bunch of photographs!
First, here’s some cool stuff I saw as I headed down Fifth Avenue.
Peacemaker and Eagly have appeared along the sidewalk…
Check out this ultra-cool Hot Wheels vehicle! I assume it’s here for Comic-Con.
A shop window is painted with Batman, R2-D2 and other pop culture characters.
Outside Happy Does, workers were finishing up with the venue’s usual Paramount+ The Lodge wrap.
Workers were getting busy sorting rolls of printed “wrap segments” at the Hilton Gaslamp building.
And this is how the wrap will appear. Scream For Me!
On my return trip, I noticed they had already made a little progress…
Oh wow! What’s this at the Omni San Diego Hotel?
It’s Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle! All Out War Begins!
Coming around Petco Park, look what I spy on the Park 12 building!
This huge building wrap must’ve gone up super fast. It’s Dexter: Resurrection on Paramount+. He’s Alive and Killing It!
Looks like local artist Shirish Villaseñor is painting the windows of Sweet Things Frozen Yogurt with Pokémon characters! Every year she creates fun stuff for Comic-Con!
What’s this on the exterior of the Omni? I can see it’s a Sony movie that’s coming up.
Making my way back across Harbor Drive to the Gaslamp…
Heading back up Fifth Avenue mid-morning…
The two Daryl Dixon wraps on the Pendry San Diego Hotel appear more than halfway done!
Stay tuned!
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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.
The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up opened in San Diego a couple days ago, in time for this year’s Comic-Con!
The kid-friendly cafe, located in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, features Pac-Man themed food, merch, and lots of arcade games that can be played freely!
What’s on the menu? Everything from Team Ghosts Cake Pops to Waka Waka Rice Krispies to Blinky’s Blast Slushes to Pac-Man 45 Anniversary Shave Ice. Want to eat something more substantial? Why not devour Chomp and Cheese Nachos, Sweet Mazemen Maruchan Noodles, Pac-Ked Chicken Quesadillas…
I saw tons of merchandise for sale for Pac-Man fans, from skateboards to bag clips to Pac-Man nanoblocks. You can get a free fan club button, too, by joining the Pac-Man Discord!
I suspect the lines will be long during Comic-Con, so consider swinging by early. The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up is located at 323 Seventh Avenue. Its hours are 11 am to 8 pm. This super fun activation will remain open until August 3, 2025.
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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.
Can you believe it? The very first building wrap for Comic-Con 2025 is already being applied in the Gaslamp Quarter. Two sides of the Pendry San Diego hotel will be promoting The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, a popular show on AMC!
I spoke to a friendly gentleman putting up one of these huge wraps, and he said his company will be wrapping the Omni Hotel and Hard Rock Hotel as well. Others will be wrapping additional buildings around the San Diego Convention Center, so it appears downtown will be dressed up in epic fashion as usual!
I love how San Diego Comic-Con materializes before one’s eyes in a sudden burst of creativity, as if by magic.
I’ll provide an update in a day or two as the Daryl Dixon wraps on the Pendry near completion!
UPDATE!
On Thursday morning, the wraps were almost wrapped up!
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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.
The latest San Diego trolley wraps to appear for Comic-Con 2025 promote shows on Audible. Two cool designs, four cool shows!
The Audible trolley wraps promote Sacrilege: Curse of the Mbirwi, an Audiobook by Nyasha Hatendi; Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman; Kingsland by Dwayne Alexander Smith; and Oracle by Andrew Pyper.
Comic-Con is less than two weeks away, and I’ve noticed more and more fun stuff popping up around downtown San Diego.
Cool San Diego Sights is now going into Comic-Con mode! Unfortunately, the epic pop culture event will be over far too soon. Then I’ll return to the more usual “cool” sights in San Diego.
Enjoy!
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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.
Walking around downtown San Diego, I’ve noticed more and more signs that Comic-Con 2025 is fast approaching. Less than two weeks to go!
First, a bunch of banners promoting shows on STARZ have been hung at the Gaslamp Quarter trolley station and along Martin Luther King Jr. Promenade. Shows include Spartacus and Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
On July 18, the week before Comic-Con, they will be offering over 70 original and rare animation cels for purchase! Art includes that of Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones.
The Chuck Jones Gallery in Seaport Village will present The Art Side of Comic-Con 2025. Appearing artists include Fabio Napoleoni and Ben Olson.
American Comedy Co. San Diego will present Comic-Con related shows, including Natasha Leggero w/Moshe Kasher & Dana Gould, and Doctor Z & Friends.
The Music Box will host some Comic-Con related parties, including Mosh Eisley (The Best Party in the Galaxy), and One More Time (A Tribute To Daft Punk) the Comic Tron Comic Con After Party.
The recently installed electronic kiosks around downtown San Diego list Comic-Con as an upcoming event, but sadly provide very little elaboration.
The Pac-Man Cafe Pop-Up appears at 323 Seventh Avenue during Comic-Con! Free arcade games and merch giveaway included!
Excited yet?
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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.
Today, in the mid-afternoon, people were gathering along San Diego’s Embarcadero to watch Fourth of July fireworks. Families were camping in grassy spots and setting up lawn chairs and blankets in strategic positions next to San Diego Bay. After dark, four barges on the water would be launching synchronized fireworks during the 9 o’clock Big Bay Boom!
I enjoyed a long walk, observing the activity. As time passed, more and more people arrived until a good crowd was milling about on the Embarcadero’s boardwalk.
These photographs begin near the Hilton San Diego Bayfront, proceed through Embarcadero Marina Park South, then head up past the Marriott Marquis Marina, through Seaport Village, through Embarcadero Marina Park North, past Tuna Harbor, the USS Midway and the Broadway Pier, and end a short distance north of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
It was a sunny afternoon, with barbeques out and kites flying–another perfect day in America’s Finest City!
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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.
Another trolley wrap has appeared in San Diego for Comic-Con 2025!
The trolleys promote an offsite activation created by mobile video game Brawl Stars that will appear during Comic-Con called Starr Park. Starr Park will be set up at the Fifth Avenue Landing, near the superyachts that dock behind the San Diego Convention Center. It will be open to the public during Comic-Con, July 24 to 27.
I’m not familiar with the game Brawl Stars. As Google AI explains: Starr Park is a fictional theme park that serves as the central setting and lore element within the mobile game, Brawl Stars. It’s depicted as a once-optimistic place, but with a darker, unsettling undercurrent, especially within its security footage and promotional materials. The park is a focal point for the game’s narrative, with updates frequently referencing its lore and introducing new content within its framework.
I can’t wait to see this offsite materialize. I’ll take photos as we approach Comic-Con!
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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.
Downtown San Diego is about to become even more fun! That’s because Downtown Skate will soon be returning to the the Marriot Marquis San Diego Marina hotel!
As you can see from these photos taken today, workers have been busy setting up the outdoor roller skating rink on the Marina Terrace!
If this seems familiar, perhaps you recall how Downtown Skate popped up in the same place during the holiday season. I visited back then and took these photographs.
This time Downtown Skate will be operating from June 27 to July 9, 2025. You can find the hours and other information on the event website here.
Like last time there will be food and snacks available, and DJs playing music to skate by!
Have fun in the summer sunshine beside San Diego Bay!
The immensely popular Demon Slayer manga and anime is returning to San Diego for Comic-Con 2025, and there’s evidence of it already, weeks in advance.
Not only are many San Diego trolley cars wrapped with cool graphics promoting the upcoming movie Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, but now advertisements for SEGA’s video game Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 have appeared up and down Fifth Avenue in the Gaslamp Quarter!
Seeing how popular all things Demon Slayer are, I thought it would be fun to share some cosplay photographs from past Comic-Cons. A cool car, too!
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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.
Cool San Diego Sights! 