Preparing for BlizzCon: Reserve your lodging ASAP
by Robin Torres 
Jun 17th 2009 at 5:00PM
If you were lucky enough to get tickets to BlizzCon 2009, you've got over two months to prepare. But one of the very first things you should do is make your lodging arrangements as soon as possible. As with any popular convention, rooms closest to the venue are already filling up, so your options are closing with each passing day. Following are tips for choosing the location of your non-BlizzCon time:
- No charge to reserve now: In most cases, you need a valid credit card to guarantee your reservation, but your card is not charged until your stay. So make your reservations now to ensure you have a place to stay.
- You can cancel if things change: Check the cancellation policy of your hotel to be sure, but usually you are able to cancel 24 hours before your stay begins or even the same day.
- Let Mickey help you choose your hotel: BlizzCon is at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California which happens to be right across the street from Mickey's house. Disneyland has a list of Good Neighbor hotels that they recommend, but any hotel that advertises being near Disneyland will also be near the convention center.
- Your hotel should have access to the ART shuttle: For a nominal fee, there is a shuttle that travels to the Anaheim Convention Center, as well as Disneyland. There used to be a stop on the Disneyland tram (which is free) that was across the street from the convention center, but that doesn't seem to be there anymore.(Edited for accuracy. Thanks Burnt Toast!)
BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon, you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there are some great looking costumes.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Burnt Toast Jun 17th 2009 5:17PM
Your hotel should at least have a shuttle to Disneyland: Some hotels in the area have shuttles to the convention center, but a shuttle to Disneyland will get you there, too. The Disney tram is free and will take you to the parking lot that is a quick trip across the street from BlizzCon. I don't know what happy-juice they feed those wonderful Disney employees, but most will cheerily take you, even if the tram is empty. Note: the hotel shuttles may cost a nominal fee.
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If you are talking about the parking lot tram to the Timon Lot at Disney, that lot is now closed. There is no tram service to that lot anymore and the gateway into that lot from the Convention Center is also closed. People will have to walk all the way around the Resort property to get to and from the main entrances to the Parks and the hotel shuttle drop-off area in the East Esplanade.
Also, 99% of the major hotels/motels in the Anaheim Resort area is serviced by ART, which is subsidized by the city of Anaheim and it is a PAY service. $4 per day for an adult and a $1 a day for a child 3-9. All the ART shuttle routes though DO make a stop at Anaheim GardenWalk and the Convention Center though.
impurezero Jun 17th 2009 5:17PM
Can you put a hotel reservation on eBay? ;)
Burnt Toast Jun 17th 2009 5:21PM
http://www.rideart.org/images/routemap.png
That is the link for the ART shuttle routes and which hotels that they serve. Shuttles run approx. every 20 minutes.
lcrandall_98 Jun 17th 2009 5:35PM
ART shuttles are your friend - They run as far out as Katella (possibly further) and pull straight into Disneyland; the Convention Center is on the main route. Honestly, it's been a few years since I've been to Anaheim, but I don't think many hotels offer shuttles to Disneyland anymore.
Kar On E Jun 17th 2009 5:41PM
Anyone up for splitting the cost of a hotel room a few different ways during the con?
Rob Jun 17th 2009 6:03PM
Don't book on hotel.com (unless you like being charged for a trip months in advance), they charge the cc as soon as you make the reservation. If you cancel, good luck getting it back.
Catrille Jun 17th 2009 8:01PM
Yep, last year when I booked a room through Expedia my cc was charged immediately. I didn't care since I knew we were going, but it did catch me by surprise.
nate Jun 18th 2009 12:29PM
There is nothing suprising about this. Hotels.com, etc have to recoup their expense some way. The benefit to these services is that they often have low rates (not necessarily the best rates).
d503 Jun 17th 2009 6:49PM
Anyone who waited this long to reserve their hotel is gonna get a raw deal if they plan on staying anywhere remotely near the CC.
A well-placed and timed reservation (like, when they announced Blizzcon) to a hotel that allows for refunds was probably the best thing you could do...
Robin Torres Jun 17th 2009 6:52PM
There are still rooms available. I just got mine yesterday.
d503 Jun 17th 2009 7:01PM
Oh, no doubt there are rooms available...I just think you get a better deal the more time you book in advance...I think my buddies got the Hilton for $80 a night or something, but that was non-refundable.
silverdreams Jun 18th 2009 7:52AM
Heh, I reserved a room at the Marriott right next to the Convention Center before I even had my ticket. ;) I did it through the hotel's website, marriottanaheimhotel.com. I could have gotten a non-refundable deal for about $80 a night, but of course there was a good possibility that I would need to cancel the reservation if I couldn't get a ticket, so I went with the more expensive option.
I'll be flying in to LAX, what's the cheapest way to get from the airport to the hotel, and vice versa? Does anyone know if that Marriott has a shuttle service?
Burnt Toast Jun 18th 2009 10:00AM
Really no hotel in the Anaheim area offers free shuttle service to the airports. Your best option is SuperShuttle, which is $10 one way from SNA and $16 from LAX. Don't even need a reservation for it (only your return trip to the airport requires a reservation).
At SNA, just go to the ground transportation area across the front drive of the airport. It's across the middle of the airport on the third island out. The employees wear blue shirts and they use blue vans.
At LAX, just go under the ground transportation/hotel shuttles sign and there should be a SuperShuttle employee stationed out there. Just tell him where you need to go and he'll radio a van for you.