A Legendary BlizzCon Adventure: Getting There
/Written by Shawn Hall
BlizzCon 2017 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Getting There:
I have been a fan of Blizzard Entertainment since I first played StarCraft seventeen years ago, so it was incredible for me to be able to attend BlizzCon this year. I attempted to purchase tickets for a friend and myself on the first wave of online sales in April and was disappointed when tickets were sold out in a matter of seconds, but I didn’t let that discourage me from attempting the second wave. I lost my mind when I saw that I was able to purchase the two tickets I wanted. Thus, the first step in my legendary adventure was taken. After about seven months of anticipation the next step in my journey had arrived and it was time to leave the comfort of my home in Colorado to travel to the land of BlizzCon - Anaheim, California.
The crowds at BlizzCon 2017.
The first full day of my adventure started with a flight from Denver International Airport (DIA) to LAX in Los Angeles, which are two totally different worlds themselves. DIA is more like a dungeon with how huge and dark it is inside, whereas LAX seemed much smaller and was lit up with natural lighting through windows all over the place. I then boarded a shuttle to Anaheim from Los Angeles, which was easily the most intense part of my journey. Traffic was more abundant than anything I had ever seen in Colorado and the shuttle driver had to be more assertive than any taxi or shuttle I have ever been in. After white knuckling it through this shuttle ride I arrived at my hotel and found my room. The place I stayed was only about 0.7 miles away from the Anaheim Convention Center where BlizzCon was located, so I decided to just walk over to the convention center. Since I had arrived the day before the actual event started, I could just walk in and pick up my badge. The badge pickup was in Hall E along with the Blizzard Gear Store, which had a huge line - for both the regular store as well as the Blink store. The regular store was a well organized merchandise booth that attendees could browse wares, try on sizing samples, and eventually pick up their loot at the various checkout counters. The Blink store was essentially some checkout and pickup counters for any purchases made through the online store (accessed through the BlizzCon app). I used the Blink store to purchase some loot the following day and will go more into detail about it when I talk about my first day at the actual convention. After checking out the merchandise area and picking up my badge, I went to the main entrance of the convention center to take a selfie in front of the BlizzCon and various Blizzard games signs on the convention center.
Shawn Hall at BlizzCon 2017.
After all of this it was time to grab some food on the way back to the motel. A fellow attendee that I had talked to on the shuttle ride earlier had recommended a restaurant called Tiffy’s that was located between the convention center and my motel. This was great advice because Tiffy’s had some of the best food and service that I have had in a long time. I got a veggie delight entrée that consisted of pasta with broccoli, carrots, and cheese melted on top along with a side of cornbread that was honestly one of the best vegetarian dishes I have ever had anywhere. Then it was time to get settled in at the motel and get rested for the amazing first day of BlizzCon.
This is the first in a four part series covering BlizzCon 2017. Be sure to check out the other three parts here: Day One, Day Two, Photo Gallery.
BlizzCon 2017.