Hi. I am new, and have never been to Fanime, or any other convention for that matter. A few of my friends and I want to go, and we live about an hour away from the San Jose Convention Center. We really don't wanna spend the money on the hotels if we don't have to. If we can drive back and forth between each day, that would be great, but we wanna know if it is worth it, and what the hours are of each day?
The con is open 24/7 (well they have raves until 1AM, at least) but the dealer's room, artist alley, gaming room etc. all have their own hours..I'm not sure what they are...(I've only been to fanime once)
correct me if i'm wrong anyone...........................
i think it would definitely be worth taking the journey for the day!! :D
24/4....
1) You don't have to drive back and forth everyday. (especially if your an hour away, I live 10 minutes away and I'm still getting a hotel room).
2) If you park at places that don't have in and out privileges, you may be paying a whole lot.
3) Staying at a hotel with your friends for 4 days, it's pretty fun.
4) We have programming all night at Stage Zero and the arcade/gaming room is open all night.
5) Our dance/rave last year went to 2 a.m.? Or past that. I'm not sure, I was sorta busy elsewhere.
6) Hentai/Yaoi nights start at midnight - 3 a.m. (thus if your 18+, it's always a fun experience)
7) Downtown night life is pretty cool.
Quote from: Steve.Young on December 14, 2008, 10:46:00 PM
1) You don't have to drive back and forth everyday. (especially if your an hour away, I live 10 minutes away and I'm still getting a hotel room).
2) If you park at places that don't have in and out privileges, you may be paying a whole lot.
3) Staying at a hotel with your friends for 4 days, it's pretty fun.
4) We have programming all night at Stage Zero and the arcade/gaming room is open all night.
5) Our dance/rave last year went to 2 a.m.? Or past that. I'm not sure, I was sorta busy elsewhere.
6) Hentai/Yaoi nights start at midnight - 3 a.m. (thus if your 18+, it's always a fun experience)
7) Downtown night life is pretty cool.
For the OP it's a matter of funds, not preference. When comparing the cost of hotels to the cost of gas (
plus the cost of parking) I suppose you'd be saving money. It might be taxing for the driver but you don't really need a hotel to enjoy fanime.
As mentioned earlier fanime goes on all day/all night but you're not missing out on alot if you decide to only be at fanime for half the day. When I went to my first con I mostly spent my time in the dealers or gaming room, and a whole bunch of mindless wandering, which got really old really fast. Maybe it'll be different for you though since I had no plans on going to the cosplay meets, panels, or other programs.
I'll admit though, the hotels do give a different experience. A certain feeling of freedom, especially if you're still in highschool/live with your parents.
Anyways
Well I figure that the quality of the experience might factor into the decision, as sometimes I'm willing to pay a little bit more for a better experience.
I had friends last year who commuted to each day from Santa Cruz. They still had a blast but decided that they should get a hotel room for this year. With an hour's drive I think you can still have a experience of the con. You can always decide to get a hotel room another year.
I believe the artists' alley, dealers' room and the panels are pretty much during the day/late afternoon. events happen early or late evening. video rooms are 24 hours. I live less than an hour away but my friends and I still get a hotel room for the weekend so we don't have to worry about driving home late at night/early in the morning (hey, sometimes we're up until 3:00am or 4:00am depending on what's going on. Even if we're not in the convention center, we stay up in the room watching stuff, comparing what we bought, chatting, etc.
i am PRETTY SURE the games room is open 24 hours, i mean i have had to use the restroom, drag some friends out of there... yeah sorry for the PERSONAL info lol, but yeah the dealers room closes at like 8 or 9 i think. MAYBE 10 im not sure. but the Con main doors are open 24/4 as EWU said
You could drive back if you want to but I wouldn't suggest it. When I first started going when I was is high school, me and my fellow anime club members would try to drive up there everyday of the con but it just got too expensive and time consuming. Plus I like the night life of the con. I can hang out with my fellow sleepless con peps and just be Otakus together. XD