SAN DIEGO - Get ready to beam up your computers. San Diego Comic-Con registration for returning badge holders is this month.
The annual convention of pop culture will begin registering fans who attended last year's Comic-Con on March 11 at 9 a.m. PT, before opening up registration for everyone else. SDCC will be held from July 19 - 23 at the San Diego Convention Center.
Emails were sent out to attendees of 2016's event Wednesday.
Beam us up Scotty! It’s time to announce the date for Returning Registration! Mark your calendars for March 11th #RETREG2017 #SDCCRR
— San Diego Comic-Con (@Comic_Con) March 2, 2017
Like previous years, SDCC will utilize a random, lottery system to select users in an online, registration waiting room to purchase single-day or multiple-day passes.
Hopeful attendees must have a San Diego Comic-Con Member ID account. Those users will receive a registration code and link at least 24 hours prior to registration. The waiting room will open at 8 a.m. PT, to allow users time to log-in and input their registration codes.
The system will begin selecting waiting room users at 9 a.m. to purchase passes for the event. Users will not be allowed access to the waiting room after 9 a.m.
Prices for passes this year are:
- Preview Night (July 19): $45.00 for adults, $23.00 for 12 yrs.-old and under, $23.00 for Military or seniors.
- Thursday (July 20): $60.00 for adults, $30.00 for 12 yrs.-old and under, $30.00 for Military or seniors.
- Friday (July 21): $60.00 for adults, $30.00 for 12 yrs.-old and under, $30.00 for Military or seniors.
- Saturday (July 22): $60.00 for adults, $30.00 for 12 yrs.-old and under, $30.00 for Military or seniors.
- Sunday (July 23): $40.00 for adults, $20.00 for 12 yrs.-old and under, $20.00 for Military or seniors.
Due to the amount of badges available, not everyone eligible for registration is guaranteed a badge, organizers said on their website.
Last year, badges to attend the event sold out within an hour when open registration was held. Prior to 2016's open registration, thousands of badges had already been sold during pre-registration in November 2015.
An estimated 135,000 people attend event at the San Diego Convention Center every year, not including the thousands of others who attend free events stationed throughout downtown, Petco Park and the Gaslamp District.
SDCC is contracted to return to San Diego through 2018. Recently, discussions on how to expand the convention center have drawn concern from attendees and organizers alike, hoping to continue holding the event in town but requiring more space to accommodate increasing demand.
For more registration information, visit SDCC's website.
