Happiest Room on Earth

Vanessa and I tried very hard to get tickets for Comic-Con this year.  The process to get the tickets are left up to chance, and luck was not on our side.  With the defeat still fresh in my mind, I discovered that Disney was hosting their convention this year as well, the D23 Expo.  With news that Marvel will not be attending Comic-Con and instead participate in D23 Expo instead got me excited once again.  So I quickly got tickets for Vanessa, Lilli, and myself.  The process of obtaining the registration and the tickets and the badges was a nightmare for D23, but everything eventually went through.

I got tickets for Saturday only because they would be showcasing all Marvel, Star Wars, and live action movies that day.  That showcase was to start at 10:00 AM, and we arrived at the convention around 5:30 AM to line up.  We were not the only ones with that idea, however.  More than enough people were already in-line, causing a stir for most of us possibly not being able to enter the showcase.  It was a grueling 4 hour wait, not because of the length of the wait, but the anxiety of not knowing whether or not there would be room for us. Many people around one was losing home as they slowly admitted one row in at a time.  The three of us just watched with envy while the line attendant got closer and closer to our line.  It wasn't until I heard the words "follow the line" was when I finally took a breath of relief.  The three of us got in!!

The showcase was the highlight of our whole D23 Expo experience.  We were shown exclusive footage and trailers of all the upcoming movies by Disney, which included Captain America: Civil War :).  We were greeted with a plethora of celebrities showcasing their movies such as; Chris Evans, Johnny Depp, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Chris Pine, and Lupita Nyongo.  The showcase lasted about 1.5 hours, but it was one of the coolest experiences I ever had.

The rest of the Expo was entertaining as we walked all around the showroom and people watching. There was a lot of very good cosplayers, set-pieces, and artists recreating their original works.  I will definitely come back again in two years for the next D23 Expo.

Private Client

Vanessa and I have been able to stay at many hotels for very cheap (sometimes free). We have been to countless timeshare meetings where we get haggled to buy one of their "luscious" properties, but we always come out on top with a free deal. However, we have grown tired of all the awkwardness these meetings can bring, and have concluded that the cheap to free accommodations aren't worth the trouble anymore. One of the last meetings we attended offered us a trip to San Francisco with a paid flight and hotel stay. The deal was set and we were excited for our mini-getaway. However, I soon discovered that the flight and the hotel that was booked for us were so inconvenient that it would have only given us one day in San Francisco. So arrangements were made with the agency and they transferred our stay to San Diego instead. This deal was much worse in price, but it was stress free. We were equally excited for this trip since my brother recently made me a private client for Chase Bank, giving me cheap to free deals to all Southern California museums, zoos, and attractions.

We stayed at La Quinta for the weekend and spent our first day in Old Town San Diego where we walked around and dined in one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. The next day was spent at the San Diego Zoo exploring the animals and dining next to a jungle :). The weekend went by extremely fast. We need more of these little getaways, but with no more timeshare meetings.