Heading to San Diego Comic-Con 2018? We offer advice on evaluating the popularity of a panel based on seating capacity and using the Sched “Popular” feature.
In case you missed it, we previously published an article listing the seating capacity for each room at San Diego Comic-Con 2018. As we mentioned in that article, you’ll want to keep those numbers in mind when deciding how early you should get in line for a panel that you really want to go to. Also, remember that SDCC does not clear rooms between panels, so it is possible you might need to sit through a panel that you don’t really care about in order to make sure you get into your desired panel. You’ll also need to take the Hall H wristband policy into consideration if want to attend any panels in Hall H.
Something else that might help you decide when to get in line is the “Popular” feature on Sched, which ranks the panels by popularity based on how many people have RSVP’d that they are attending each panel. Of course, not everyone creates an account and RSVP’s on Sched, so the number of people who say they are attending is typically smaller than the number of people who will actually attempt to attend each particular panel. However, at least it gives you a gauge to go by.
For example, at the time of publication, the #1 most popular panel is the Deadpool 2 panel with 2,706 attending, but it’s a safe bet that a much higher number than that will attend. Whether it will completely fill the 6,500 seating capacity of Hall H is yet to be seen.
Currently, 6 of the Top 10 panels are in Hall H, but notice that #5 NBC’s The Good Place, #6 NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and #7 Anything Goes with John Barrowman are in the 2,663 seat capacity Indigo Ballroom. Brooklyn Nine-Nine and The Good Place have a little over 2,000 attendees RSVP’d, while John Barrowman is not far behind with about 1,900. That means the Indigo Ballroom will be a very busy room for these panels.
This brings up another point, which we mentioned above, that rooms are not cleared between panels. That means people can and will sit through panels they’re not interested in. You should always look to see what is going on in that room later on in the day and judge by the popularity of those panels to determine whether you should get in line even earlier. You can use Sched to sort by venue so that you can see what’s going on in each room each day.
Again, this isn’t an exact science, and you can’t base your decisions solely on the amount of people who RSVP’d on Sched, but it does help you get an idea of how popular each panel is. If your desired panel is in one of the smaller rooms, but doesn’t crack the Top 50 on the popularity list, then you most likely don’t have anything to worry about. However, you should compare the number of RSVP’d attendees to the seating capacity for the room, and you can also sort popularity by day, rather than than look at the overall popularity list for all days.
For example, although Thursday’s VIZ Media panel is not on the overall Top 50 list, it is currently ranked #31 on Thursday’s Top 50. However, while 565 attendees have RSVP’d for this panel, Room 7AB only has a seating capacity of 480.
Note that panels at the Horton Grand Theatre are the exception to the rule — this room does clear the room between panels. That is because each panel at the Horton Grand Theatre requires a separate ticket for entry, in addition to your Comic-Con badge. Drawings for free tickets to each panel at the Horton Grand Theatre are held at 2:00pm on Wednesday, and 9:00am on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in the Autograph Area of the Sails Pavilion for that day’s panels. Once you pull a winning ticket, you won’t need to line up early for the panel, as seats are assigned.
Now is a good time to bring up the fact that #10 on the overall Popular list is the Deadpool 2 screening, which takes place at the Horton Grand Theatre. At this time, 1,729 attendees have RSVP’d for it. Unfortunately, as you’ll notice if you check our seating capacity guide, the Horton Grand Theatre seating capacity is only 240. So it seems there will be a lot of people trying to draw a winning ticket for that screening, but only a small fraction will succeed.
These are just a few things to consider as you plan out your SDCC 2018 schedule. Remember, always have a backup plan! And a backup plan to your backup plan!
What days are you going to SDCC 2018? Are there any panels that you’re worried about not getting into? Let us know in the comments below!
Our other SDCC Tips articles:
Start Getting Comic Con Fit Now
How to Avoid Con Crud
Keep Your Devices Powered Up
Seating Capacity
Starbucks
Last Minute Tips
