Entrance tickets and queue

[angiebaby]

I have to say how very very disappointed I am at the organisation of the Queues at this event. We waited 2 hours to get in, only to be told that they were at full capacity and couldn't let more people in!

Why did it take 2 hours for someone to realise this? There were no stewards to be found anywhere! In the end we ended up coming home, cold and angry!

It would have been nice to have been kept informed at the status of the capacity earlier. Or at least have a virtual ticket system. I understand people with pre-bought tickets have priority, but we were paying customers too and a little bit of communication would have been nice.

To finish, the day was ruined as we had to come home without even getting inside the doors of the event, may I suggest that next time take into account that your event may be getting more popular and take that into consideration when booking a venue!

[txteva]

It took over an hour to get those of us with the pre-paid tickets in!
I understand there was an emergency situation and all entries were paused - but there should have been a queue for pre-paid ticket holders from the start (there was one eventually but that wasn't until well after opening).

I really feel for those who waited for hours in the cold only to be told to go home!

Overall it was a good event that needs more tweaking.
Talks were good - glad they were in a different hall - might need a bigger one again! Missed game of thrones but red dwarf was awesome!

Burger van was a great idea - but I think they has vastly underestimated the numbers (30mins waiting to get no burgers is kinda annoying) but there was a huge jump in number this year which must be hard to predict.

Sent from my HTC Vision using proboards

[adampink]

I agree that there needed to be 2 separate queues. We couldn't believe the length of the queue when we arrived just before 11, it was about 20 times longer than last year! I think they were caught off-guard but handled it well, and credit to them for keeping us informed about the reason for the delay.

I also agree on the burger van being a good idea, but it was a long wait to get served.

Aside from the massive jump up in numbers, I think this year's Wales Comic Con has been organised superbly. From the initial announcement of the show, all the way up to the show itself, my interest has been kept high and all guest announcements have been well publicised. They've put Memorabilia to shame in that department.

Some small things I thing that I think could improve it next time would be:

- As mentioned above, separate queues for pre-paid and not pre-paid
- Clearer queueing for the guests - it was hard to tell who the queue was for and what was the queue and what was just people standing around
- Information displayed in the photoshoot area to say about how collecting your photos worked, so we didn't all have to ask the same question
- Photoshoot times announced in advance, so we can plan our day/travelling better

Overall I think it's been fantastic, and me and my friends left as very happy customers. Well done to all involved and I look forward to next year being even better

[spikeimar]

I purchased an earlybird ticket and it was the best thing I did, arrived at 9.30AM got in at 10.15AM met new friends in the queue, got inside, no queues for any of the guests etc.

I think the numbers this year took everyone by surprise and I think the whole team did their best in difficult situations, especially the security guys who were always polite.

I agree that a bit more sign-age would have been welcome, especially on the subject of photo pic ups which would have saved a lot of repetition.

But for those that got in, what you got for a fiver was nothing short of astounding, let's not forget that.

I for one think you all did a superb job. Grats.

[snaveage]

We waited 2 and a half hours to get in which was longer than expected but OK considering they never expected the huge numbers of people to show up.

We were told by a steward after about an hour that the hall was at full capacity and they were letting people in on a 1 in 1 out system, but the queue seemed to keep moving. Were you told by a steward that you wouldn't get in? Even later on in the day they were still letting people in so I think If you had stayed in the queue you would have gotten in eventually! To be honest I'm glad they did slow the numbers a little as at least once you were in you could walk around and meet the guests without too much trouble.

Definitely need a bigger venue for next year but as far as I'm concerned it was definitely worth the wait to get in.

[zerocool]

I was quite unimpressed by the lack of communication. In the end we had to leave because there was just no way we could stay in that hall for another 2 hours until the Q&A with the Red Dwarf guys.

So we returned later, arrived 15mins before the Q&A was letting people in only to be told it was already full??

Seems to me an absolute joke!

If you have to pay to get in but you cant take photos without paying, and you walk around the same stalls selling pretty much the same stuff that you may not want... i thought the £5 (all be it a good and fair price) was stupid considering i only paid that to see the Q&A with RD.

I hope next year Mercury Promos that you sort a bigger venue, or at the very least a bigger hall for the Q&A so that you can get more people in!

I understand that you were caught off guard... but it would not have harmed you to have tried to do something about it on the day.

[Ash]

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