The state fair is just around the corner.  

We hear it all the time.  Even in January.  But as I write this on August 17, it is literally…right around the corner and starts this Thursday. 

The Minnesota State Fair is very popular.  In fact, the USA Today just named it the best State Fair in the entire country.  

Minnesotans are very proud of it.  It's a huge part of our culture. You can't leave your house this time of year without someone asking, "Have you been to the fair yet?"  

But not everyone enjoys it.  At risk of losing my Minnesota card, I'll admit that I'm not a big fan of the State Fair.  I liked it when I was a kid, but at some point, it seemed to lose its luster for me - the crowds, the lines, the parking.  I also find it mildly entertaining how offended some folks get if someone doesn't like the fair.  

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge foodie.  But standing in a block long line for some mini donuts isn’t what I envision as a “fun” activity.  My tolerance level for crowds and lines has become very low over time.  

As a matter of fact, when I went to the state fair in 2022 to promote my most recent book on the Star Tribune stage, I estimated that it was the first time I had been at the fair in well over 20 years.  That day was a bit of a nightmare trying to get there.  I was given a free parking pass by the Star Tribune, but that didn’t mean there were any open spots.  Luckily, I ended up getting the last spot in someone’s yard off Como Avenue and was able to make my interview on time.  That day was also early in our learning curve of our son’s recently diagnosed food allergy.  There are a few food spots for him at the Fair that are safe, but we literally had to bring most of his food and beverage with us. It was challenging for us. 

Fast forward to 2024.  My son and I decided we wanted to go to Comic Con in San Diego.  For me, it was a bucket list item.  It’s a pop culture mecca for movie and TV nerds like me.  For him, it was like Disney World of video games.  My wife, isn’t a big nerd like we are, but she tags along on our adventures because she’s an awesome mom.

I began looking into how to attend. The Comic Con folks have a badge sale. You have to go online and hope you get one. 

The sale was set for a Saturday in October.  I got online at the designated time, and was “in the queue” as they put it.  There was a countdown of how many badges there were left. I was in the Queue for almost 3 hours before a message popped up that said there was technical difficulties, and they were shutting down the sale for the day.  More info would follow later. 

That moment should have been a red flag.  I should have known right then, that what I was getting myself into would be a pain in the ass.  But I was a first timer, so I just assumed it was normal. 

A week later I got an email saying they were going to try the sale again in November.  Once again I got online at the designated time period and waited.  This time it gave you estimates of how much longer you had to wait.  After a few hours, I was able to log in and get Thursday and Friday passes for my wife and I.  My son was under their age requirement at that time so we were told his badge was free, we would just have to pick it up at the convention. 

So now we needed to book a hotel room.  Come to find out that all the hotels in that area block off their rooms because the Comic Con folks hold a hotel lottery.  In other words you aren’t even guaranteed to get a room near the convention. 

Luckily, we had stayed at a place on the harbor a few years back when we had previously visited San Diego.  I called them up and we were able to book there without any hassle. 

Next task was to figure out how we’d get there each day.  They do have shuttle buses that run all over San Diego.  But my first thought was concern for my son's food allergy.  What if we get down there and need to come back for some reason.  I thought it would be better to have our rental car nearby. 

Like the hotels, parking spots are distributed by a lottery.  So I entered the parking spot lottery.  Luckily, my name was chosen and I was able to secure a parking spot a few blocks from the convention center for each day.

Comic Con Day 1

Thursday July 24, 2025.

That Thursday, we got in the car and headed downtown to our parking spot.  Upon arrival to the address listed on the parking spot, I was told that it was not the correct location.  I was to go around the corner and there would be signs telling us which garage to pull into.  I went around the corner and there were no signs.  There were two different garages and I had no clue which one was correct.  I eventually found a guy in a yellow vest (he looked official) who told me to pull into the second ramp on the left and scan my parking pass.  I pulled into that garage but there was nowhere to scan my parking pass.

When you're driving in a strange city with a car that is not your own, this kind of stuff can be scary and intimidating.  I eventually got a hold of someone through the intercom at the entrance, they told me to simply take a ticket and they’d figure it out when I left the ramp.  Meanwhile the folks in line behind me were probably melting down at my holding them up.  I would have been doing so if I was in their place. 

Now parked, we started walking toward the convention center.  Remember, we had to get our son’s badge before we could enter.  There was very little signage directing us where to go.  Bless their hearts, there were many people along the way trying to direct us.  But not all of them had the correct information.  It seemed very disorganized.  We finally made our way to the correct place to get our son’s badge. 

Thankfully, they finally let our concourse into the convention area at 9:50 am.

Happy we were safe and finally getting in, but we just lost 20 minutes.  That part of the story will come into play shortly. 

By the time we got to the convention floor, it was already packed.  Dare I say, dangerously over crowded.  At one point my wife said, “Where is the Fire Marshall?”  There were so many people that I constantly had to make sure my son was near me or grab his hand to make sure we didn’t lose him.  Often times my wife and I got separated by the crowd, but one of us had his hand at all times.  If we did spot a small opening to stop and regroup, we were shouted at by convention workers that we needed to keep moving and we were not allowed to stand there.  

We decided, at that point, we needed to regroup and make a new plan.

In addition to the activities inside the convention center, there are activities outside and around the convention center that you do not need to have a badge to attend. The local radio stations advertise that and encourage even more people to come down to an overcrowded space. 

There was a video game event that my son was interested in called “Brawl Stars”.  Unfortunately, we did not get pre-registered.  In other words, we had to wait in the “stand by” line.  Meaning, you’re only getting in if they have an extra spot every half hour session.  We waited in that line for 2 hours and didn’t move.  At one point, I overheard a worker near us say, “This is a 5 hour line right here”.   

At one point my son said, “We aren’t even in line.  We're in the line ...to get into the line.”

As I stated earlier, I’m not a fan of lines. But if you're stuck in a line, the line is indeed moving, and you can see progress, it’s far more tolerable.  But at this point we hadn't moved at all… and we'd been there a few hours already.  It was time make some difficult decisions and I had to have a tough conversation with my son.  

We left that Brawl Stars line with a plan to get him lunch and go back to the Pokémon line.  But that line was capped... FOR THE REST OF THE DAY.  No more entry until Friday.

We walked around the convention floor a bit more, went to the Lego area and then the Disney area.  You'll be shocked to learn that Disney was out of their exclusive posters.  At that point my son and I had enough and were ready to give up. 

My wife however, had other plans.  She's a huge NCIS fan and wanted to try to get into a panel discussion with Tony and Ziva, two of the show's main characters played by Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo respectively.  We walked together to the ballroom where that was being held to check out the line.  We were a few shows too early.  But they let my wife in…and she could stay there until the Tony and Ziva event!

She decided she would hang out and wait for Tony and Ziva, and then take the shuttle back.  My son and I decided to go back to the hotel.  As we tried to exit the area, we were now going against the stream of people trying to get in to the convention area. In other words, more people were going into an already over-crowded space.

My wife was at the NCIS panel a few hours too soon for Tony and Ziva. But with every prior panel that ended, a group of people would leave, giving up their seats.  She kept moving farther up while getting closer to the stage.  When the NCIS panel started she was only a few rows back. She got to see Tony and Ziva up close, and they even gave out exclusive hats to those in attendance.

So to briefly summarize,…the one person who really wasn’t excited about going to Comic Con... got to see the one thing she wanted, and got exclusive merchandise!  The two nerds who really wanted to go to Comic Con …got nothing but frustration.  How does that work??

When she returned she told of how easy the shuttle bus was to use.  It literally dropped her off in front of our hotel.  It comes by every 10-15 minutes.  When I told this to one of my friends while recanting this story later, he quipped, “So they have a sufficient transportation system to conveniently get you downtown and into the lines.”

Comic Con Day 2

Friday July 25, 2025

We decided that for day 2, we would leave the car at the hotel and take the shuttle bus. We also decided we were going to pick one thing to do, get in line, and that would be it.  My son wanted to see the Phineas and Ferb panel.  He chose that, rather than trying to get back into the Brawl Stars line. 

The shuttles start running at 6 am.  So we got up early and got into the Phineas and Ferb line around 8 am.  Or should I say the Nick Toons line.  Many people were doing what my wife did the day before and going to the panels before the one you want to see, to make sure they had a spot.  Nick Toons was at 10.  Ferb was at 11. 

We weren’t at the front of the line, but we were near it.  This also wasn’t the line.  It was the line to get into the line inside. 

The line grew, and there was someone out there with a sign directing people to where the end of the line was. 

After a few hours, the line started to move. We got into the building and the into the line to get into the ballroom. Then past security and we were in! 

While we were in line outside, one of the Comic Con veterans told my son that if he wanted to ask a question we should sit by the microphone.  So that’s where we sat. 

The Nick Toons panel was a preview of some new cartoon shorts that would soon air on television.  The person hosting said, “Welcome to the Phineas and Ferb pre show.” The crowd laughed and appreciated the host’s awareness of the situation.  Having said that, we saw some really cool cartoons that we probably never would have seen otherwise. Hearing the artists talk about their creations really struck a chord with the wannabe writer in me. 

When the Phineas and Ferb voice actors came on stage, my son was pretty pumped.  I've never seen the show, but at that point I was just happy to see my kid happy.  During the question and answer session he got up and asked a question in front of the 2000+ people in the room.   

See video below.  He’s the one dressed like Dipper from Gravity Falls. The video should start right where he asks his question.  

That was technically our last "badged" day at Comic Con.  We were heading north to go to Universal Studios the next morning.  However, we came up with a plan to take one more shot at the Brawl Stars event.  They didn’t need badges because it was open to the public.  The plan was that they would get up early, take the shuttle and get into the “stand by” line. Meanwhile I could get the car packed and get checked out.  

I checked out at 11 am.  But they were still in line.  They didn’t get back to the hotel till 2:30 pm.  Apparently they finally got in to the event, but they waited in line for almost 5 hours.  He got his exclusive Brawl Stars bag and game codes, etc.  But there’s a reason Mother’s Day was invented.  Some heroes don’t wear capes.    

You might be thinking at this point that I’m just a crabby old man whining about waiting in lines.  

You’re right.  It’s absolutely true.  

I remember once being in a line at 3 am to get into College Gameday with my wife and bunch of kids budged in front of us.  As you can imagine I got very vocal about it with them.  I also remember thinking, “If college kids budging in line is going to bother you this much, you probably shouldn’t be in line with a bunch of college kids.” 

Therefore, I don't disagree with the "old man" argument. 

However, I would suggest viewing it through a 13 year old’s eyes.  The disappointment and frustration, especially on day one was a difficult pill to swallow.  There were so many things we were excited to do, see, and buy.  It was sad for him...and me.    

Someone in line with us showed us a recent picture of something called "Anime Con".  That event was even MORE packed.  

It's my opinion that the promoters want the long lines because they think it creates "buzz" and they oversell these events on purpose. Probably another old man take, but at what point does that many people become a safety hazard?  I don't know what Comic Con was like last year, pre-covid, or even back in the 70s when it started. But is this the experience people want?  

Just like the state fair, I know there are folks that go to Comic Con every year and they love it.  To each their own.  

Obviously, I won’t be going back to Comic Con.  But, I checked off a bucket list item and I got to do it with my family. 

If after reading this you still think making the trek to Comic Con sounds fun, here's my advice:

Pick one thing you want to do each day. (A panel, a toy exclusive, an experience).  Just one.  Get there early and be one of the first in line.  Hopefully you get in.  If you do, consider yourself lucky and also consider anything else you get to do that day as a bonus.

P.S. 

To be clear...this is not meant as a critique of San Diego.  This is meant only as a review of the Comic Con event.  We love San Diego and have been there a few times. 

Also, Comic Con was not the only part of our trip.  As mentioned, we did Universal Studios, but we also went to the SD Zoo, etc. It was a great family trip with lots of memories.  

Comic Con, however, was a bit of a disappointment.