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[PRIME] First Time to PAX Prime? Have You First Timer Wisdom To Share? Inquire within...
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As others have said, many do, however I strongly recommend having cash on hand in case the Cookie Brigade walks by.
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There was a bunch of discussion on this in an old thread for East, much of relevant for any PAX. Hope that helps.
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/155012/east-pax-east-2012-parents-and-kids-meetup#latest
Summary seems to be, keep in mind large crowds, noisiness, take breaks in quiet area's, and only you know your child best.
And don't forget you need pass for her as well, don't wanna get there and THEN find out that she can't get in.
As for a serious answer: I couldn't answer it, I've only been to East once and I didn't buy anything at East. Except the Scarf. I got that mother effer! I don't plan to spend hardly ANY money except for food/drinks/entertainment. But that's just me.
Many booths do have things available for purchase (keychains, t-shirts, stickers all the way up to statues and figurines), but it isn't the main focus of most of them. I've seen Monday Night Combat character statues, I think a few companies sell their headphones and Gunnar is there with glasses.
So, there is some high dollar loot to be had if that's what you want, but overall the main draw is just being there and taking everything in.
Keep in mind you're probably going to be walking out with at least a few t-shirts, posters, buttons and stickers just for visiting booths all weekend.
The simplest answer is to just bring as much as you're comfortable spending and see what you can find.
While the big videogame related booths generally don't have much to sell, the tabletop booths almost always have stuff. Add to that the many booths that are really just stores (like Pink Gorilla and J!NX), plus the additional little shops set up by vendors and bands in the non-expo hall areas, and you have LOTS of potential to find something cool that you'll wish you had cash for.
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This is my third year going with kids, my youngest just turned 8. Biggest thing for us has been showing them what the enforcers shirts look like in case we get separated. When it starts to get overwhelming on the main floors head for the console freeplay area and play for awhile. My girls loved going to bandland and meeting Paul and Storm and JoCo, they were seriously beside themselves after that one!
Shipping cookies for Prime 2013
No, really. It works for any convention of any sort.
As for a second bag, you could stuff some of your clothes into your carry-on bag so you have a bit of space for merchandise/swag you want to bring home.
Well I guess the real question I want/need answered is do the few vendors that sell stuff sell everythng every day or do they only sell item a on day x? Since I'm skipping the keynote and hitting the expo hall first thing, if I can do all my shopping on Friday and enjoy the rest of the con not worrying about "oh I want that gota get in that 2hr line, id much preffer to do that.
How hot and or cool is it normally in Seattle during PAX? Coming from southern California and debating whether to bring a swimsuit and or jacket.
Something I've been wrestling with as well. The keynote seems like such an important part of PAX, but I've heard that people waiting in que room often rush right to the merch area to get the shirts and whatnot before they sell out.
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Yeah I was gonna go to the keynote, but with how busy ima be between panels and parties as well as not knowing much about penny arcade or ted price I decided id rather spend it with the community in the expo hall. MTG is going to love me though if they're acutally selling stuff. Getting back into that stuff so...yeah
Last year I didn't make it to the Merch area until after a pass through HaloFest and I think a pass through the Expo hall, and still got my PAX '11 Shirt. YMMV, but my feeling is "make it there before lunch" still gives you a good chance at getting one of the shirts. (Since there's apparently 3 this year, the numbers may change.)
(It's actually coming back to me, it was just before lunch, because my wife was saying she was hungry in line so afterwards we went back to the Hotel and ate and I changed into my first ever PAX shirt.)
^^^Yes this. Same goes for swag that requires some sort of competition or whatnot, if they have it, and you want it bad enough, do the thing (in my case it was a Bioshock quiz last year.) Don't interpret my earlier comments as "you have infinite time" interpret them as "Don't feel the need to stress yourself into an aneurysm" there is a happy middle ground
Far as temperature, it varies significantly. Weather outside will likely be 60's or 70's, but really you will not likely be spending much time outside, so I would worry more about your comfort indoors. Inside can vary a lot depending on where you are. I'd advise t-shirt, with a jacket\sweater if you tend to get cold. Personally I do shirt & shorts all weekend, accepting that early morning and late night i'll have brisk walks from building to building.
Keep in mind that there is no bag check at Prime, so anything you bring you will have to carry all day.
It's going to be warm inside and from a California standpoint cool outside. I'm bringing a hoody for the times I'm outside in hopes that I don't freeze.
That bring said, I'm from Seattle and live in NorCal now, I have a sweater on if it's in the 60's!
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Unless you want to bring one of these, I don't think you'll get much use out of a laptop. The problem is it's really hard to use a laptop while standing, and that's what you're going to be doing most of the time.
Warm what!?!? Do they have heaters blasting at 90 cause that's the only way to get hotter than southern Cali
I know the lineup room in the Sheraton was excessively humid and warm last year; probably due to lack of ventilation. Most areas won't be that bad, but will be will be warm just due to the amount of people.
That is what a wearable computer is for! Course, they've passed out of vogue now that phones are so powerful.
Between all the people, electronics on the expo floor, people, lack of high power A/C and more people it gets hot!
Shipping cookies for Prime 2013