by Violet
Are you going to WonderCon this weekend and wondering what the seating capacity is for each room at the Anaheim Convention Center? Well, look no further, as we have broken it down for you room by room below!
We went straight to the source, the Anaheim Convention Center website, for the following info for seating capacity.
| Arena | 4,000 (The website lists capacity at 7,500, but if it’s set up like last year, only about half of the Arena is used. A staff member informed us last year that there were about 4,000 seats) |
| Room 203 | 301 |
| Room 205AB | 273 |
| Room 206B | 137 |
| Room 207 | 788 |
| Room 208 | 294 |
| Room 210A | 194 |
| Room 210BCD | 620 |
| Room 213 |
788 |
| Room 300AB | 1,519 |
| Room 300DE |
1,519 |
| Room 303AB | 396 |
Keep these 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 just like San Diego Comic-Con, WonderCon 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.
Something else that might help you decide when to get in line is the “Popular” feature on MySched, 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 MySched, so the actual number of people who say they are attending is much smaller than the number of people who will actually attempt to attend each certain panel. However, at least it gives you a gauge to go by. For example, currently the #1 most popular panel is the Warner Bros. Presentation panel with 585 attending, but we all know that panel will be full.
At this time, the top 4 panels are in the Arena, but #5 and #6, Once Upon a Time and Batman 75th Anniversary (currently with 392 and 316 attendees respectively), will be in Room 300AB, with a much lower seating capacity than the Arena, so you can bet that these are panels you’ll need to get in line early for. Look at it this way: the Once Upon a Time panel is 2/3 as popular as the Warner Bros. panel, but the room that Once Upon a Time is in has less than 2/3 the seating capacity of the Arena, so that gives you an idea of just how popular that panel is.
#7 and #8 are in the Arena, but #9, Frozen: The Art of Story (currently 307 attendees) is in Room 207, an even smaller room than #5 and #6, so beware of lines for that panel. Again, looking at it from a mathematical perspective, the Frozen panel is over 1/2 as popular as the Warner Bros. panel, but the room that Frozen is in has way less than half the seating capacity of the Arena.
[4/17/14 UPDATE] Frozen has moved up to #8 now, verifying just how popular this panel is. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Again, you can’t base your decisions solely on the amount of people who RSVP’d on MySched, but it does help you get an idea of how popular each panel is. If your desired panel is in one of the much smaller rooms, but doesn’t crack the Top 50 on the popularity list, then you most likely don’t have anything to worry about.
What days are you going to WonderCon? Are there any panels that you’re worried about not getting into? Let us know in the comments below!
