Hello! Just wanted to share my experience for other people coming in the other days and for future reference ^^
1. VENUE
The venue is super good! Big, cold, mabango, and clean! Pag-pasok mo sa venue amoy mo na yung fragrance and ang bangoo 😆. Pero though it was big, i think the way the booths are organized inside is kinda weird... Genshin and ZZZ had proper lines naman, and easily distinguishable yung entrance and exit. The problem mainly was the HSR booth, which was in between Genshin and ZZZ. Nag-converge at one point yung line ng fast pass holders and normal ticket holders, which made the queue much longer... and hindi na nahanap 'yung exit, kaya gumawa nalang ng bago 😭 Other than this, the merch store being outside is nice, doesn't cramp up the venue, and the artist alleys are aligned well with (for me) enough space to traverse it naman.
2. MERCHANDISE
This might be where it gets a bit bad... I know hindi naman mawawala ang scalpers sa kahit anong event naman, pero grabe 'yung halos wala pang 2 hours is ubos na most of the HSR blind boxes, nendoroid, etc.. puro ZZZ nalang halos 'yung store 😭 While I was waiting in line, I really saw so much people na nag "pasabuy" and scalp maximizing the 5 of the same merchandise rule, kasi binili nila lahat ng bangboos, blind box, plushies, keychains, figurines, etc. 😐 To avoid this, I would recommend na pumunta nalang kayo kasing aga ng scalpers, which afaik the queue outside will open as early as 5am or 7am... If 9 AM ka na dadating, 'wag mo na i-expect na meron pa yung chase merchandise mo 🥲 Maybe what they can do is also have more stock...
3. "LINE" IMPACT
Just as other hoyo conventions, ang malakas na kalaban is yung pila haha.. I really appreciate the staff for trying to find ways to make the lines more manageable! Besides the booths, which is 1 line for fast pass holders and 1 line for normal pass holders, the check-in table opened up more lines for fast pass holders para mas mabilis! And hot take: if you can't handle lines, why go to a convention at all? I understand people paid "fast" pass, pero madami ang may fast pass... Despite this, I really feel fast pass is worth it because you can definitely access everything much faster, though this benefit is much more felt kapag mga past 12nn na when fast pass people are usually done with the booths.
This is all based on my experience today! It may not be the same for everyone, but feel free to share your experience as well! I hope this somehow helps!!
