I had arrived in San Diego a day early this year, and picked up my badge, lanyard and bag on Tuesday. I had also walked around to check out the progress of the many activations and wraps going up around the Gaslamp.
This year I was staying at the Hilton Gaslamp again, and the elevators were wrapped to celebrate King of the Hill—it’s like a visit from old friends every time I head up to my room!
I woke up early on Wednesday to participate in the annual blood drive and get my free Marvel t-shirt for donating (this year was Fantastic Four themed). After enjoying some post-donation snacks with some new friends, I took another walk around the Gaslamp to see if there were any new things that had gone up overnight. While the Percy Jackson activation still didn’t show much progress, other things were starting to be constructed on the walkway behind the Omni, including a massive inflatable Frank Drebin Jr. (The Naked Dun) doing a split between two trees.
My first events for the night didn’t start until 4pm, so I just relaxed for a few hours. At one point, I saw a Twitter post for the Prize Mule nearby, and attempted to score a prize, but arrived just a few seconds late. Though they did give me a consolation prize of a Star Wars miniature.
The Paramount+ Lodge Activation Press Preview
My first official event of Preview Night was visiting the press preview for Paramount+’s annual The Lodge activation. They introduced this a couple years ago as a way to showcase many of the films and TV shows either on or coming to the streaming service, and it was back for the third time this year in the same location, but a bit bigger, and with an updated offering of activities that felt slightly more adult-focused this time around. There was no Spongebob or kid-focused properties this year.
Upon entering The Lodge, we were handed a clip-on badge. At the bottom were tear-off drink tickets, but no food ticket this time around. Thankfully, there was still quite a bit of free food being passed around. While waiting in line to get in, we got a tip from one of th women running the activation to head for Mission: Impossible first, so we did just that. As you walk down the hallway to the left half of the activation, you enter a massive Landman Patch bar, where you can get a themed specially drink in a nice MTex Oil mug to take home. There are also several photo opps for the series. But before checking that out, we first headed to Mission: Impossible where apparently no one else got the tip, because we were first in line. They put a vest on you, and attach a retractable cord to the back. Then, as the camera rolls, they have you walk forward. Afterwards, you get a video that looks like you’re recreating that iconic scene from the first film, with you as Ethan Hunt coming down from the ceiling to a computer keyboard.
Also in this half of the activation was a station for the upcoming series NCIS: Tony & Ziva. The outside looks like a French café, and we were handed macaroons as we walked in. But inside was some sort of secret hideaway safehouse for our former NCIS couple. There was a photo opp to add your face to a wanted posted with the two familiar (now) fugitives.
After this, we headed back to the main lobby to explore the right side of the activation, heading immediately for the Star Trek portion, which will likely be the other long line at this year’s Lodge. As you head over to the Star Trek section, you pass through a big open area with another bar, and various sports-themed games to play for CBS Sports. The line was already forming for Star Trek, so we just skipped those games. However, while waiting in line, there were people walking around offering different types of finger food—sliders, mini chicken sandwiches, and french fries.
For the Star Trek portion of The Lodge, first you enter a Strange New Worlds holodeck for a photo opp aboard the bridge of a ship. The next room is an Intergalactic Love Lounge where an alien bartender is making green, Orion Hurricane mocktails that have a pineapple taste, and a fun smoky topper to make them feel otherworldly. Upon leaving this room, you are handed a tote bag with “Starfleet Academy” imprinted on it.
Next we headed into the Dexter: Resurrection portion, which looks like a creepy opening in a brick facade. Inside it’s like a museum, with cases holding various things either Dexter or the serial killers he has dispatched have used to take out their victims. There’s even some Easter eggs as some of the things in this vault have not yet been seen on the series. Upon exiting the vault, we were handed a bloody Dexter towel.
The final portion of the activation was for Tubi’s Summer of Cinema. Upon entering the bright room, everything is yellow and popcorn-themed. There’s a booth on one side where you can get a video of yourself trying to catch floating “popcorn” in a cup (like one of those dollar bill booths). There’s also a bar where you can use one of your drink tickets to get a frozen lemonade drink. They also hand you a small box of popcorn.
After we left the activation we headed over to the station they had set up outside to pick up your virtual deed. It wasn’t clear where people actually provide their info to get a deed (name, dream vacation location, two favorite Paramount+ shows, and phone number to receive text alert when the deed is ready), but they took our info at that time, and later that day I received a text saying mine was ready.
Overall, things ran very smoothly during this press preview, though I could easily see people not having enough time to do everything (we didn’t play any of the CBS Sports games) in a single 50 minute time slot. There definitely seemed to be less to do for those bringing younger kids, but I appreciated the nice swag, and the food seemed fairly easy to get. The Mission: Impossible and Star Trek will be the most time consuming due to lines, and the areas to head for first.
Adult Swim on the Green Press Preview
Next, we took a long walk to the back side of the convention center for the press preview of the Adult Swim on the Green activation, where oddness (and cats) was the theme. In the center of the space was a large mast for a pirate ship, and surrounding this were various rides, games and photo opps celebrating many of Adult Swim’s animated offerings. First was a cat jousting station where two competitors could each mount a giant cat and try to knock one another off with a flimsy jousting pole. Next up was the giant slide—as you slid down, the folks running the ride would toss a plush cat at you, along with a “rawr” to test your reflexes. Next to this was another cat-themed photo opp, and back again this year was the Primal photo opp, where you can take a photo of yourself riding a dinosaur.
Some of the stations had prizes for participating or achieving something, but they weren’t giving anything out on preview night. These included a big foam pit, a Rick & Morty Buttworld Bounce House (which is exactly what it sounds like, complete with fart sounds as you bounced on the butts), and a Haha You Clowns Football Toss, which was a lot like last year’s Smiling Friends bean bag toss, except this time, the characters would heckle you as you tried to toss your 5 footballs through their hands.
Next there was a DirecTV Face Painting station where they took a polaroid of you and gave you a swag bag with a water bottle—the face painting was not open on preview night. There was also a Smiling Friends break room photo opp, and an adopt a cat station where you could adorn small plush cats with various accessories.
Overall, it was a fun experience, with lots of activities, and those who watch a lot of Adult Swim shows should really enjoy it.
Convention Center Preview Night
Next I headed over to the Convention Center, where the floor was about to open in 10 minutes. The line was already quite long, and it took a while to make it in. I immediately headed for the Hulu/Disney booth where they were handing out poster tubes. Next to this was the Sony Television booth, which was set up to look like a diner. One wall alternated between making it look like a Vought Burger (Gen V), and an El Pollo Loco (Breaking Bad). They also had a claw machine, but you needed a token for that. So I quickly posted to Instagram, tagging Sony and got my token. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side.
I wandered around the floor and saw a Progressive/DC Superman photo opp where you could look like the cover of Action Comics #1, with you holding up the car like Superman. Afterwords, someone would hand you a copy of the comic. Next I came across the Shout! Studios booth where you could get your photo inserted into one of their iconic properties—I chose Pee-wee’s Playhouse. They also handed me some free buttons. After this I came across the Paramount+ booth where they had a giant claw machine. The line had already been capped and wasn’t really moving. After waiting a while I gave up, and decided to head to the small artists area to pick up some stuff that former TV Times Three podcast co-host Amrie had wanted from Christopher Uminga’s booth.
Then I headed back to my hotel to drop all of this off before heading to my final event.
Magic: The Gather’s Spider-Man Deck Preview Night
I was invited to a 3-hour event at the Hard Rock to celebrate the launch of Magic: The Gathering’s new Spider-Man themed deck. I had shown up about halfway through, but as I entered it was like I had just stepped into a rock concert. The crowd was roaring, phones were up in the air, and RUN DMC was performing! At first I wasn’t sure if it was just a cover band as I couldn’t really even see the stage, but it was actually Darryl McDaniels on the stage! Unfortunately I arrived just as the concert was winding down. But afterwards, Darryl happily shook hands and took photos with anyone and everyone who asked.
After that excitement was over, I checked out the rest of the activation. There were bars with themed drinks on either side of the room, a big food set-up in the middle, and many photo opps throughout. We were handed 2 blue drink tickets and a white ticket as we walked in. The white ticket I redeemed at what looked like a bagel shop for a free comic with a special Magic-themed cover. (I’m not sure exactly what folks going during regular timeslots need to do in order to get the comic.) Next to this was a photo opp that looked like the office belonging to The Daily Bugle editor J. Jonah Jameson. There were also photo opps to look like you were standing in front of a brick wall staring up at Spider-Man, and one to put you on a Magic card. There was a game store in the corner where you could get a free Spider-Man Magic deck and learn how to play. After grabbing some food and chatting with some fellow press friends, I decided to call it a night and headed back to my hotel to post some photos from the evening.
Next up is a really full first official day of SDCC 2025! Look for my Day 1 recap soon.
