[UPDATED With Comment From Anaheim Convention Center; Move Not Confirmed] WonderCon Moving To Anaheim

By Sahar Jahani Fri., Jul. 29 2011 at 7:53 PM

UPDATE: July 29, 2011, 7:50 p.m.: In a phone conversation today, Mindy Abel, the Senior Vice President of Convention Sales at the Anaheim Convention Center, clarified that nothing was confirmed regarding the change of venue for WonderCon. "We have been in discussion with Comic-Con International about the opportunity of moving to Anaheim ever since the inception of WonderCon," stated Abel. "Despite the rumors and blog posts however, nothing has been confirmed."

Original post: July 29, 2011, 10:40 a.m.: Get ready for an invasion of comic junkies dressed in Star Trek paraphernalia because WonderCon, an annual comic book, science fiction and motion picture convention under the umbrella of Comic Con International, is moving to the Anaheim Convention Center this April.

Bleeding Cool reported a change in venue for the annual event. Senior officials have confirmed that the move from the Moscone Center in San Francisco to Anaheim because of renovations. The San Francisco area has been home to the comic convention since 1987.

Over 50,000 people visited WonderCon this past year, but with the San Diego Comic Con just down the street (well, freeway, anyway), the question remains: Will these same fans be willing to make a longer trek to attend in 2012? Officials might want to think of moving the conventions a little farther apart, maybe even to different states.

Tags:

Anaheim, Wondercon

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Nemo Perez

I hope this move is not permanent. I used to live in OC, and Anaheim is a horrible area. I would not recommend anyone trek down there for it.

Topher Davila

Just a quick note: my fiancee works in the hotel industry in the Orange County area so be weary of any thing said by either the Anaheim CBV or people book the Anaheim convention center, um. let's just say they like the publicity of comic cons potential move and what they lead on instead of actually talking about what they are doing. When SDCC was possibly moving my fiancee knew the talk in the hospitality industry. The Anaheim CBV and the booking people at the Anaheim Convention Center was, not lying, but not quelching falsehoods and strategically not saying no to a lot of what they were asked.

In short The Anaheim CBV and the booking people for the Anaheim Convention Center are perhaps the worst source of solid information regarding any real facts.

Think of them like some woman that takes orders the most expnseive stuff on the menu during a date, picks the most expensive theater to see a movie at, and in general leads on in action and words to get as much out of a date as possible when they know they won't even kiss you good night.

Will Wonder Con end up in Anaheim. Probably. The Anaheim CBV worked hard to establish a good relationship with CCI and it'd be smart for CCI to use this opportunity to tests out how a convention will do in Ahaheim for one year. Just don't look towards the Anaheim CBV and the Anaheim Convention Center for any thing close to a solid bit of data. You'll be best off if you don't listen to them at all.

Billhaunt

Nice..First you make it damn near impossible to get tickets for SDCC now you want to take Wondercon from San Fransisco. Gee you didn't even buy us dinner before you F****ed us in the A***!

Evavanecek

Wondercon belongs in Sf. If it moves, especially to Anaheim, I would not go. SDCC is already down there.

Tomás Reyes

man... this sucks

Anasianskywalker

First off WonderCon started out in Oakland, California until Comi-Con International bought it and brought it to San Francisco's Moscone in around 2003. Secondly I doubt all 3 sections of Moscone - North, South, and West will be renovated at the same time.

And lastly Wizard World's Anheim Comic-Con also occurs in April.

So I'm basically trying to find the truth and logic to the move since there were enough holes in this story.

Evavanecek

I have also attended the Wizard con in Anaheim and it sucked. I would never go down there again. Wondercon belongs in SF.

Lela McKenna

This is some serious bullshit if this is a permanent move. I already can't afford to go to SDCC on a working person's wage when even a fucking Motel Six is $180 a night. Plus add to that the impossible, clusterfuck of trying to just get tickets to the damn thing.

Lela McKenna

If the Powers That Be are reading this. Please only make it a temporary, one time move. I won't be able to make it this year if this goes through. Plus, it's not like Moscone is the ONLY damned convention center in Nor Cal guys...

JIm Mourgos

Despite Ms. Jahani's article, the move is NOT a sure thing! I'm happy that all the comments so far are against this move and it might wake up the SDCC guys to reconsider. There are several convention centers in the SFO Bay Area that could accommodate Wondercon. And who wants to have a con in Dodgers territory? Go Giants!

Yami_hotaru

i wonder if people noticed that it says.... "the move from the Moscone Center in San Francisco to Anaheim because of renovations." so i assume its only temporary until the rennovations are complete...

Koke Momo

Oh, no I do realize this but it still bites.

I just hope it doesn't stay there, there is always that chance sadly.

FaceFaceFace

Really? That fuckin' SUCKS.

LTC America

You have got to be kidding me. WonderCon has been the only convention I've been able to go to for the past several years because it's the only one close to me (I'm still about 2 hours away) and it's the only one I can currently afford on a full-time student budget. Please bring it back to SF.