USA Anaheim holiday Day #2 - Pre-registration and parties

In the morning we went down to go look at the registration by daylight - to get a better look at the layout and get a pic when people weren't filling the place.

A few people were sitting around, clearly Blizzcon goers - some wearing Blizz related T-shirts, others talking about WoW stuff.  Grabbed a Starbucks - the Christmas drinks are out, so I could have a gingerbread latte - and then headed back to the hotel and decided to go shopping at South Coast Plaza for the day. Spent the ENTIRE afternoon shopping and eating.  We had lunch at Seasons 52, which prides themselves on serving seasonal fresh produce (and no dish is over 475 Calories - I wondered, is that so any meal would be ok for anyone doing the 5:2 diet?).

Grilled Garlic Pesto Chicken Flatbread

Dungeness Crab, Roasted Shrimp and Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms under Parmesan Panko crust

Cedar-plank roasted Pacific King Salmon and vegetables

Maple Glazed All Natural roasted half Chicken, autumn harvest vegetables, zesty chicken jus

Blackened Mahi Mahi, mashed Sweet potatoes, green vegies, red pepper salso

I spent a lot of time at Victoria's Secret and at the Lego shop.  I bought myself the Lego Red Five X-Wing and because I spent that much money we got to fill 2 boxes full of Lego bricks from the back wall.  HK got Tower of Orthanc and he got THREE boxes to fill for free.  That was fun!  Aunty S and her daughter B made it to the bus on time but B lost her purse so they had to go back and look for it, so the bus had to leave without them.  That meant that we had to line up for our tickets with the children.

By the time we got there, about 615pm, the queue was really long.  It stretched all the way out past the signs that told you where to line up and doubled back to the side of the Marriott, almost to the doors where you go into the convention centre to get your stuff.

Once you get past the doors and into the convention centre there was more lining up, but the line here went quite quickly.

We picked up our goody bags and our registration passes and were out of there! The poor kids had been lining up with us and were starving.  My son was very friendly with the people standing behind us, but they took it rather well.  It's actually really cool listening to people around you talking, and EVERYONE is talking about World of Warcraft.  My inner nerd was squealing! Then came the hard part.  There were two things I wanted to attend - the World of Podcasts thing, and the WoWInsider/Wowhead party.  I dropped into the World of Podcasts discussion panel just after 8pm (while we were waiting for a table at IHOP), missing out on my ticket and the prize draw, but I was happy to be there.  I said hi to Rho but couldn't get to Hasteur - you can see him there on the right side!

So after dinner with the kids, I headed out to the Annabella for the WoWinsider/WoWhead party, and it was packed to the rafters.   In the queue there was a guy in front of us who turned around and asked me and Lush if we were Aussies and we said we were.  He said he used to be in an Aussie guild - on Saurfang, no less!  How funny that he was from out server!  He said he now plays his tauren elemental shammy on Thrall. I should have asked him his toon name LOL.

We didn't stay long at the party, as I had some minor concerns with people drinking around a pool - I didn't really want to be a witness to any tragic drunken accidents, and Pel and Xar had already left the party and were having dinner.  I wanted to go back and see Hasteur, but by the time I got back to my hotel, the World of Podcasts thing was over, and Hasteur and Rho were gone.  I was a bit disappointed in myself for not committing myself fully to one thing or the other, as it felt like I had missed out on both things!  I didn't actually enjoy the WowInsider party - it wasn't particularly friendly and people seemed to be in their little groups - probably more fun for celebrities than for someone like myself.