Nerd Vacation Number 16!
My sixteenth San Diego Comic-Con is now complete! I know I say this every year, but I can’t believe it is already over. This year, I didn’t bother updating my “tips for SDCC newbies” blog post because there are so many guides out there and no one is going to sit and read a long ass post these days. So here I am writing a long ass recap post that no one will read either, but I’m doing it for myself!
TUESDAY
This was our first year traveling to SDCC from Los Angeles. What a treat it is to take the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner down to San Diego, as opposed to flying across the country! We live a short Uber from our local train station, and the Santa Fe Depot in San Diego is literally across the street from the hotel that we booked during Hotelpocalypse. So our travel day was a whole lot less stressful than flying from the East Coast…dare I say it was even pleasant? The portion of the train ride that goes along the beach is so lovely:
John and I arrived in the early afternoon on Tuesday and rolled our luggage on over to the Intercontinental San Diego. The hotel is very nice, but location-wise it’s not great for SDCC. But it is downtown, so it’s still a more convenient location than many other con hotels.
We checked in and I rested in the room. For dinner that evening, we went up to Seneca Trattoria on the top floor of our hotel. We had been interested in seeing what the place was like, and it was well worth the visit. The place is beautifully designed and has city views on either end of the restaurant:
The food and drinks were delicious, too. Our wedding anniversary was the weekend prior, so we treated this as a nice anniversary dinner to kick off our SDCC 2026 adventure.
After dinner, we strolled over to the Manchester Grand Hyatt and took the elevator to Top of the Hyatt. It’s a really great spot for (pricey) drinks and sunset viewing. Mother Nature did not disappoint us that evening:
WEDNESDAY
John and I had breakfast at our hotel, which offers a rather nice breakfast buffet. Our friends were arriving in the afternoon, so until then we took it easy. I rested and got in some upper body weights at the hotel gym, which I had all to myself (love it when that happens!).
My brother and our friend K’s train arrived in the afternoon, so we greeted them on the platform and walked with them to the Wyndham so they could check in. We weren’t all able to get rooms at the same hotel this year, but at least our hotels were just a couple blocks apart. Their hotel didn’t end up being great, so we need to remember to avoid it in the future.
After they got checked in, we all walked up to Little Italy to try a food hall called Global Fork. I got a veggie burger (the “burger” was fried cauliflower) from Cosmos Burger, and it was pretty good. After dinner, we Ubered to the Hyatt so we could enjoy drinks at Top of the Hyatt before the con crowds descended (er, I guess I should say ascended) the following day.
THURSDAY
I really missed staying at the Hyatt, because I love grabbing breakfast from Spill the Beans right behind that hotel. Having breakfast daily in a restaurant with a server (even when a buffet is involved) is not really my jam. At least the Intercontinental has a Starbucks, so I ordered ahead on the app and went downstairs to pick up my breakfast.
Once I was showered and ready to go to the con, I walked on over and met my friend K inside the exhibit hall. She had already gone in and snagged us 2pm tickets for the Yesterdays booth line. They had some pins that I really wanted, but their lines are always long. It was great that they offered return tickets!
K and I wandered the exhibit hall for about an hour before I hit my limit. But I bought some cool items (scroll to my haul at the bottom) and we saw fun stuff during our wanderings. Like these cute Pokemon figures:
Here’s a really good Bo-Katan figure from The Mandalorian:
And a good Jabba the Hutt:
Baby Yoda/Grogu is never not adorable:
And here he is with his BFF, Mando:
Below is a slideshow of some of my favorite horror figurines that I saw while exploring the exhibit hall on Thursday! Hover over the bottom of the photo to hit the play button or use the arrows to advance through the slides.
When I hit my exhibit hall limit, I walked back to the hotel to rest before I needed to return for the Yesterdays line. I walked back over to the convention center and met K so we could join the line at the appointed time. And we proceeded to wait for exactly one hour. But it was actually worth it, because all three of the pins that I wanted were still in stock! I got the Yesterdays SDCC 2026, pin, the Widow’s Bay pin, and the One Wish Willow pin (from the blockbuster horror movie Obsession):
I also picked up the two items that I had pre-ordered from Yesterdays: a Hall H t-shirt (you’ll see the full thing if you scroll to my haul pics way below) and a journal with the convention center on the cover.
Standing on line for an hour in the bustling convention center after going back and forth from our hotel twice took it out of me, so I decided to walk back to the hotel to rest up before dinner.
My brother’s birthday was that day, and I had made our group a dinner reservation at Mothership. We went there on his birthday a couple years ago and really enjoyed ourselves, so I figured that would be another good way to celebrate. And it absolutely was. The food and drinks were just as great as we remembered! It’s a very cool place to check out if you’re visiting San Diego (definitely make a res in advance).
The bathrooms are wild:
FRIDAY
The back and forth on day one plus the line waiting had already tired me out. Oh, and did I mention that it was hot and humid in San Diego during SDCC this year? It wasn’t at the level of DC midsummer heat and humidity, but it was enough to be quite unpleasant for me. So I rested a bunch on Friday morning after getting my Starbucks breakfast. When I decided to walk to the convention center, a free con shuttle bus was pulling up at our hotel. I decided it was fate, and hopped on. The shuttle ride is 30 minutes versus about 20 minutes walking, but because the bus is free and heavily air conditioned, it was actually a real treat. And it was nearly empty when I got on.
The shuttle drops you off at Petco Park and then you have to walk over the bridge to the convention center. The convention center view from the bridge is always a good one:
I met up with K by the Hilton Bayfront and we went into the convention center so I could pick up my official con bag, lanyard, con guide, and pin. My con bags haven’t been anything I’d want to hang on to recently, and I left mine in a hotel bathroom for someone else to take. However, this year’s pin was really cute:
From there, we went to the Marriott Marquis pool to hang out with John. I sat in the shade for about fifteen minutes using my portable fan before deciding I needed to find some air conditioning, because I wasn’t really cooling down. So I found a corner in the Marriott conference center where I could sit and cool off.
Once I cooled down and rested for a bit, I went back out by the pool with John and K. Eventually we all decided we wanted to be indoors, so we found a spot to rest in a Marriott conference center hallway.
I had plans to meet a friend at her hotel lounge at 5:15. She was staying at the U.S. Grant Hotel; I had never been inside this historic luxury hotel before, so I wanted to see what it was like. When it was time to head out, I walked up to her hotel to meet her, while John and K went to grab pizza in Seaport Village.
The Grant Grill Lounge is a very nice, quiet spot with good food and drinks. They had a few SDCC specials on their menu. I ordered the Red Sun and it was yummy, and my friend and I shared a cheese and charcuterie platter.
My friend’s friend had a small industry event to attend at the same lounge, so when he arrived he joined us for awhile and the three of us had a nice time chatting. The two of them were heading to a private industry party that evening, so when it was time for them to leave for that, I walked back toward our hotel to meet John and K for a drink at nearby Dockside. My arrival timed perfectly with sunset:
SATURDAY
Lots of walking, the heat, and not-great sleep was kicking my ass. When I’m overstimulated, as I usually am when I socialize a lot, it’s hard to turn my brain off when I get in bed. So I did another morning of Starbucks breakfast, resting, and recharging.
While I scrolling Instagram that morning, I learned that Widow’s Bay had created a surprise pop-up! I LOVE that show and watched the first season twice. K also liked it, and when I told her about the pop-up she ended up getting on line for it since she was already out and about. I left the hotel to walk over and meet her, and she happened to be near the front of the line when I got there (she had waited maybe 20-30 minutes). I hopped on line with her for this photo op with “Rosemary”:
The “Mayor” greeted us before the photo op and handed us each a Widow’s Bay keychain. “Rosemary” gave us each an island brochure plus a flyer for Sunset Cocktails. After the photo, we were able to take some Widow’s Bay postcards, and K took a pic of me as Richard Warren:
Then we went into the exhibit hall and wandered some more. By that time I was quite over all the walking and constant ping pong-ing off of bodies. I did buy a graphic novel and got it signed by the author, spooky (complimentary) actor David Dastmalchian, who was signing at the booth when I made my purchase. The wait was maybe 15-20 minutes, relatively not bad.
I did snap pics of a couple fun things that we saw…here’s a Haunted Nadja Dolly:
And some cute lil Killer Klowns figurines:
When I met up with my friend on Friday, she had invited me and my group to a Saturday evening party for her friend’s comic book. So I RSVP’d for us, and when we were ready we Ubered over to Bali Hai for the event. John and I have been to this tiki restaurant a couple times, but K and my brother had never been. So I was glad they got to check it out!
The party was in the restaurant’s outdoor event space by the water, and it included tiki drinks and passed hors d’oeuvres. We had a great time chatting, and it was actually nice to get out of downtown for a con-related event. When we Ubered back at the end of the night, we said goodbye to K and my brother, who were taking the train back to LA the next day.
SUNDAY
Got my Starbucks breakfast and rested in the morning. For the past few years, it’s become a bit of a tradition for John and I to walk the exhibit hall together in the last hour that it’s open. I couldn’t handle more back and forth, so I decided I wouldn’t go to the con until later in the day.
I did make an attempt to start walking over in the early afternoon but after about 5 minutes of walking I was so hot and so over it that I said fuck it and went back to the hotel. Later on, I decided to shuttle over and enjoy sitting on a cold bus. Fortunately, there was some shade by the shuttle bus stop and I only had to wait about five minutes for a bus to come by:
Once I arrived at the convention center, I met up with John inside and we browsed together. And I ran into a friend whom I hadn’t run into there in years, so that was a nice surprise!
Here’s a slide show of my favorite things from the exhibit hall on the final day of SDCC 2026!
As is now our tradition, we took a selfie during our final meanderings of the con:
Also took a selfie behind the convention center once we left SDCC 2026 for good:
We had more than an hour to kill before our dinner res with John’s cousin and his husband at 6pm. So we sat at the Marriott Marquis pool bar and grabbed a drink.
From there, we walked to Malibu Farm, located in Seaport Village behind the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Final night dinner at Malibu Farm has kinda become another San Diego tradition of ours.
The food is really good and it’s located in a spot with nice views. We had a lovely time catching up with family, and then it was time to head back to the hotel and rest up for our trip home.
MONDAY
John and I got breakfast buffet together in the morning. After that, we had to pack and get ready to return home. Our train wasn’t until noon, so John spent time reading by the pool and I watched the previous night’s Big Brother episode.
The train left right on time and it was an uneventful ride home. Of course, I took another beach pic out the dirty train window:
OVERALL SDCC 2026 THOUGHTS
At this year’s con, I didn’t attend a single panel, nor did I even attempt to. There were a couple panels I was interested in, but after the Yesterdays line on the show floor the first day, I really didn’t want to do any additional long waits. I think this is the first year that I never even ventured into the Gaslamp District to witness the con madness. I’m slightly bummed that I didn’t go over there, but with the heat and the crowds, I’m pretty ok with having missed it.
Another thing to note about SDCC 2026 is that there were almost no activations behind the convention center. Typically, the lawn between the convention center and the marina is chock full of activations and a carnival-like atmosphere. This year, it was very oddly almost empty. No IMDB boat (though they also didn’t go last year) and no Voodoo Ranger pirate ship. Hardly any megayachts to gawk at either. So I didn’t even walk along the marina to check out the scene like I typically do.
Overall, the con vibe was a little weird, IMO. The lack of activations was odd, and among my group, we experienced two instances of hearing offensive comments (to be fair, one was from a car driving past us downtown but the other was actually inside the exhibit hall). The comment inside the con was truly vile and I will not publish it here, even if the person who said it *somehow* honestly thought they were just making a joke.
I’m sure bigoted comments get thrown out at the con every year, but this is the first time in my 16 years of attending that I can remember any of us hearing anything like that. SDCC used to feel like a utopia where everyone was happy and could just be whoever they wanted to be and no one would think anything of it. After those two experiences this year, I’m starting to wonder if the current US leader’s utter toxicity has made some attendees feel like they can say whatever disgusting shit they want in a crowded exhibit hall.
Also: we came to the realization that now that we live just a train ride away, we don’t feel like we need to go to SD for such a long trip next time. When we lived on the East Coast, we liked traveling on days that would be less busy with con travelers. Now we’re toying with the idea of going from Wednesday to Sunday in the future, which would shave two nights off our hotel budget. Not insignificant. Going from Tuesday to Monday (which is our usual itinerary) felt like a little much this year. That being said, we still enjoyed ourselves.
SDCC 2026 HAUL
I bought some fun stuff this year!
The very first things I bought were the KB Toys items. K and I were walking around when I spotted the KB Toys logo at a booth called Icon Heroes and just about lost my mind. KB was my go-to toy store when I was a kid! I still remember where the store was located in my favorite mall and what the store looked like inside. The store is long gone, and seeing that toy soldier bobblehead triggered my nostalgia. So I bought it, as well as two pins, and then received a free KB Toys tote bag with my purchase! It made this 80’s kid very happy.
Then I lost my mind again when I spotted more toys from my childhood at a booth called TLS Toy. I ended up buying a small purple Popple, a Jem doll, and a mini Angel Cake Strawberry Shortcake figurine. It seems that this is a company that has licensed and manufactured various 80’s toys. I sorta love the idea of repurchasing beloved toys that I had when I was a kid.
Here’s my copy of Through by David Dastmalchian, which he and the illustrator, Cat Staggs, both signed. It looks beautiful and I’m looking forward to reading it.
Last but certainly not least is a triptych of Dia de los Muertos horror icon drawings by Jose Pulido that John got me as a belated birthday gift. How adorable are they?! I love them.
Thank you for reading this very long blog post! Now we recover and wait for 2027 badge pre-registration in October…
