Blizzcon convention and DLR attendance?

[meggles]

Does anyone know if the huge Blizzcon conference has any real effect on attendance in the parks? It's in early November which is supposed to be a less busy time to go but a conference that takes over the whole convention center makes me nervous.

 

[Angrose]

I don't know about attendance in the parks, but it sure is affecting the hotel prices that weekend!

 

[figment_jii]

My guess is that it doesn't actually make that large of an impact on the crowds in DLR. BizzCon has been held at the Anaheim Convention Center for several years and I haven't really heard anyone talk about it here on the Disboards. Also, I don't recall reading that many reports mentioning unexpectedly large crowds in the park in early November (2013 or 2014), so my sense is that it impacts the local hotels/motels, but not necessarily the parks. Those 20,000+ people have to stay somewhere, but they may not be interested (or as interested) in going to DLR.

While not necessarily the most accurate, I did scan back at Touring Plans predicted versus observed crowd predication for November 7 and 8, 2014 (the dates of last year's BizzCon at the Convention Center) and it looks like the crowds were pretty much in line with non-peak season/not-quite-yet-the-holiday-season crowds.
http://blog.touringplans.com/2014/11/11/disneyland-resort-crowd-report-november-2-8-2014/

 

[offwithyourhead]

I doubt it'll affect the parks. DTD maybe, but I can't see thousands of people who have already had a jam-packed day going to the parks afterwards. The day before and after may see Blizzcon attendees trickling in. It depends where people are coming from, they may do Blizzcon and the parks in one trip if they're coming from farther away, but the days OF Blizzcon, I don't think you'll see any rise in people. You may even see a decline.

If I were going that weekend I'd be more concerned about hotel prices and making sure to make reservations for any out-of-park meals in advance, since hotels and restaurants are going to be packed.

 

[DaveNinja]

I didnt realize Blizzcon was happening this year. I'll have to remember to watch the keynote speech if they broadcast it for free like they have in the past

 

[figment_jii]

From what I could tell, BizzCon has been happening at the Anaheim Convention Center for several years (starting in 2005 and only missing 2006 and 2012). I was surprised when I scanned the Convention Center calendar and saw something that rented out the entire facility, but doesn't seem to get any mention here on the Disboard. Most large conventions are noticed (at least afterwards) because folks report unexpectedly large crowds in the parks and then someone says "oh there was a convention". In this case, that really hasn't happened, which makes me think that despite its size (20K attendees), they don't really go to the parks.

 

[mrkyyyle]

I've gone to Blizzcon several times over the past 9 or so years, and I'd say while it will definitely jack up the hotel rates (as noted) the increase in DLR traffic won't be too bad. The days you'd typically see the increase (if any) would be before or after the convention. The convention typically runs from about 10am until 9 or 10pm so not really a lot of time for them to go to DLR during the convention days!
It really is a huge convention, the tickets sell out within minutes of being posted!

I didnt realize Blizzcon was happening this year. I'll have to remember to watch the keynote speech if they broadcast it for free like they have in the past

I assume they will probably broadcast the keynote on twitch or another platform, I decided to buy the virtual ticket on DTV this year instead of going as paying $200 a ticket was getting a bit excessive IMO.

 

[DaveNinja]

I've bought the virtual ticket for the first few blizzcons. I havent played WoW in a couple years so the free streams are fine for me. I'm looking forward to Overwatch

 

[mrkyyyle]

I've bought the virtual ticket for the first few blizzcons. I havent played WoW in a couple years so the free streams are fine for me. I'm looking forward to Overwatch

Yea I used to be a hardcore WoW raider back from Alpha until about 2009 or so, now I just play HotS/D3/SC2 and looking forward to Overwatch. I was able to play Overwatch multiple times at Blizzcon last year and really looking forward to it finally going into beta (and an invite hopefully!)

 

[Cholula]

I went to Blizzcon in 2013 and my experience then was that the Friday and Saturday (the actual convention days) shouldn't affect attendance much. Even with the later weekend hours, it's not very likely that a lot of people will go into the parks for just a couple of hours after the convention. I did go that Sunday after Blizzcon and it was pretty busy, though. Part of that might have been that this was the weekend the holiday version of Small World opened plus RSR was re-opening after a short refurb.

 

[meggles]

Thanks for sharing your experiences!