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Arts & Culture

UC San Diego to offer dorms for Comic-Con

An aerial view of the UC San Diego campus is shown in this undated photograph.
UCSD
An aerial view of the UC San Diego campus is shown in this undated photograph.

In addition to a string of Comic-Con-inspired programming on campus, UC San Diego is opening the doors to their on-campus housing during Comic-Con International.

Colleen Kollar Smith, the executive director of UCSD's Campus Performances and Events Office, said that this is new for the campus, and she hopes their housing will serve as a home base during Comic-Con — a respite when finding reasonable hotel rooms for the week is trickier than ever.

"We were looking at how can we be of service to not just our students and alumni but any UC alumni as well as any current UC, CSU or community college student. I don't think much has changed in terms of the fact that Comic-Con tends to have multiple young people sharing floors and couches, and certainly we wanted to be able to offer a housing option that was reasonable. They can make campus home base," Kollar Smith said. "It is, of course, dorms, but we have beautiful dorms."

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Comic-Con housing packages at UCSD:

Details and registration here. Comic-Con badges are not included.

The Enterprise Package: Housing only 

Open to UC affiliates and alumni, and students enrolled in any UC, CSU, or California community college.

  • $640 per package
  • Check in: Wednesday, July 24, 2024
  • Check out: Sunday, July 28, 2024
  • Four-night single-room stay (with shared common area/restrooms)
  • Free daily breakfast
  • MTS five-day transit pass, eligible for the Blue Line trolley
  • Access badge for public Park & Market events in downtown San Diego (July 24-July 28)

The Starfleet Package: Housing and "The Science of Story" programs

Open to the general public

  • $1,200 per package
  • Check in: Tuesday, July 23, 2024
  • Check out: Sunday, July 28, 2024
  • Five-night single-room stay (with shared common area/restrooms)
  • Free daily breakfast
  • MTS six-day transit pass, eligible for the Blue Line trolley
  • Clarion Writers Masterclass (Wednesday, July 24), with lunch and dinner included
  • Access badge for public Park & Market events in downtown San Diego (July 24-July 28)
  • Opening night reception at UCSD
  • VIP ticket for "A Tale of Two Sulus: An Evening with George Takei and John Cho" at Epstein Family Amphitheater (Tuesday, July 23)
  • VIP ticket for "Star Trek in Concert with the San Diego Symphony" at Epstein Family Amphitheater (Wednesday, July 24)
  • Ticket to "JAWS" screening at Epstein Family Amphitheater (Friday, July 26) 

The Holodeck Package offers "The Science of Story" programming only (no housing) to the general public for $425.

The "Enterprise" package is a housing- and transit-only option restricted to UC affiliates and alumni plus anyone currently enrolled in a UC, CSU or California Community College school.

Pricing starts at $640 for the Enterprise and includes four nights in a single-occupancy room with shared common spaces, a five-day transit pass, free breakfast, and access to downtown Park & Market events.

UC San Diego is situated on the trolley's Blue Line, which runs directly through downtown, with stops at the 12th and Imperial station near the Convention Center as well as at Park & Market and elsewhere downtown.

For the general public, the "Starfleet" package centers on enrollment in the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Masterclass, held Wednesday July 24. Clarion is an intensive science fiction and fantasy writing workshop.

There's also a special Star Trek event with George Takei and John Cho, "A Tale of Two Sulus," a live-score performance of "Star Trek (2009)" in concert with the San Diego Symphony, a "Jaws" screening, a cocktail reception and access to Park & Market events downtown. A six-day trolley pass is included. The Starfleet package is $1,200 for a five night stay in a single room with shared common spaces and free breakfast. No UC or college affiliation is required.

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The Starfleet options are available without housing for $425.

San Diego Comic-Con badges are not included in any package.

Booking a hotel stay during Comic-Con has become more complicated in recent years, according to Kerry Dixon, editor-in-chief of the San Diego Comic-Con Unofficial Blog.

"Comic-Con International and the San Diego Tourism Authority work very hard to ensure that hotels sign agreements to lock in rates for Comic-Con attendees, so that the hotels can't just charge $1,000 per night to everyone. So to get the best rate, you have to go through Comic-Con's system, which is through onPeak," Dixon said.

The current system involves two phases: an initial lottery in April, followed by a later launch of the remaining hotel inventory — but those rooms get snapped up quickly, according to Dixon. She added that hotel rooms will randomly become available on each hotel's website, night-by-night.

"For the last two years, though, it's very rare for there to be a hotel with the full week available. We've seen lots of attendees have to 'Frankenstein' together a hotel stay, where they might stay one night at this hotel, and then another at this, and another at this," Dixon said.

As of this writing, many hotels in the metro San Diego area are sold out for July 23-28. According to several hotel sites like hilton.com or hyatt.com, a few rooms are still available, ranging from $407 to $2,021 per night. OnPeak currently shows 11 rooms available starting at $256 per night.

UC San Diego housing packages go on sale the week of June 17.