Pre-PAX Info

PAX is slowly creeping up on us, and I know I am more than excited. However, living 15min out of Seattle means an easy trip, which is a blessing and a curse. So I am here to give you all the info you need to know! If you have any questions ask away~ Your comments go stright to my e-mail so expect quick replies.

If you’re coming from out of state, or Canada, enchance your experience!

People have already begun organizing road trip caravans across the country. Each one works in its own way, so I’ll give you a little info on them all. It makes me sad to live so close cause I would have LOVED to do this. Think of all the funny videos!

The Cross Country Super Trip (Car – East coast, south, midwest):  If you’re willing to be in a car for quite some time, you might want to consider this. It’s their 4th annual trip, it works like this; there are set waypoints along the map. You grab some friends and pile into a car. You meet up with everyone road tripping at each waypoint and there is alloted time for rest. It’s a much safer way to go if you’re going to drive, and from the posts I read, it seems epic. You can click the link for full info.

The Pre-PAX Magical Mystery Tour 2 days before PAX, you will meet up with a bunch of people and tour around Seattle. They are currently taking requests for places to visit, so jump on it guys!

Canadian Supertrip (Car – Canada) It’s like the cross-country supertrip, but for Canada! Click for more info.

West Coast Train Trip (Train – West Coast) Everyone participating CA to OR to WA who wants to take the train, will get on the same one and ride together! There will be video games, movies, and more.

Prime Westward Avation Network Group (Plane – All US) If you’re going to fly by plane, why not fly with other PAX goers? Check out the list of flights or register your own!

Packing Check List

If this is your first year at PAX, you’ll want to check this list for sure. Even if it’s not, it’s a good reminder! Just remember, packing light will always save you so much trouble.

• Nintendo DS - Everyone brings them, it’s probably the most important handheld item you could have. Last year we broke the record for most DSs in once place. Remember to pop into pictochat.
• Mario Kart DS, Pokemon DS, Pokewalker, The World Ends With You, Tetris DS - I remember seeing people playing Mario Kart in the handheld lounge on a projector they brought themselves.
• Deoderant - If everyone brought this, the world would be a better place.
• Hand Sanitizer – With 75,000+ people… you’ll want it.
• Camera – Yeah, you will want pictures.
• Travel Papers & IDs – Passport, hotel info, PAX tickets, flight info.
• Bathroom supplies – Toothbrush, toothpaste, hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, monthly girly aid, razor, mouth wash, hotels don’t provide it all!
• Little first aid kit – Hello Kitty band-aids for all your cuts and bruises.
• Laptop – As long as you have somewhere to stay, you’ll probably want one, hotels generally provide free internet, and PAX has their own free network going for the convention.
• Sweater – Most likely the weather won’t be cold, but it can get cool. It’s rains a lot here too.
• Chargers for electronics – I forget at least one every convention, remember chargers for cameras too.

Once you’re in Seattle…

Here’s the map of downtown near the convention center, it’s been custom made by us for you marked with everywhere you want to go! [Click Here!]

Bus Tunnel

Tunnel hours: Monday – Saturday: 5:00 AM to 1:00 AM; Sunday: 6:00 AM – Midnight

Ride Free hours: 6:00 AM - 7:00 PM

The bus tunnel runs under Seattle and makes 5 stops. I have marked them on the map. Convention Center > Westlake > University > Pioneer > International Dist. During the hours above you can ride for free. I suggest not riding past any of these stops or else you’re going to end up very far away most likely. You’ll know you’ve gone too far when you’re not in the tunnel any more. If you do this then you should get off and back track. If you’re not sure if the bus is going where you want, you can ask the driver, they will always help you get where you need to go.

Food

There are a few places to eat that are marked on the map. I have been to them and they have very good food. Wann is one of my favorites. If you want a larger list, there is one located [Here] on the PAX Forums. Also we have Starbucks across the street from Starbucks in Seattle, it really is true. Just searching it in the downtown area on google maps brought up 788 results. You’ll never go without.

Shopping

Uwajimaya is worth a visit if you’ve never been to one. There are 3 in Washington and 1 in Oregon, so you wont find them anywhere else. It has a food court, attached Kinokuniya book store, ramune, pocky, candies, melon pan, meat buns, cakes, bubble tea and more. There is also a full bubble tea shop across the street. I know it doesn’t look like it from the map, but the bus tunnel station is right across the street from this.

On the bottom floor of Westlake mall, there is an asian store called Daiso. Most everything in there is $1.50 (some things a bit more) and they have a TON of stuff. If you need this and that for the convention you might wanna stop here, and see if you can save a little cash. You’ll find things like dishes, bento boxes, sewing stuff, home decor stuff, stockings, socks, bath supplies, umbrellas, scarfs, stationary, candy, drinks, pet supplies, beauty supplies, clothing protectors, clothing storage and even more. When I say they have everything, they nearly do.

Other useful info:

International travler’s info (passports, power adapters, ect): http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=117867

The Twitter connection – Here the tags that will be used for various things if you want to follow on twitter.

Recommended Twitter Apps
PC/Mac: Tweetdeck, Twhirl, Twitterfox, Tweetie (Mac OS X only), Seesmic Desktop, Destroy Twitter
iPhone/Touch: Tweetie (rebranded as the official Twitter app), Tweetdeck, Twinkle, Twitterific, TwitterFon
Blackberry: UberTwitter, Twitterberry
Android: TwitterDroid, trak, twidroid
Nintendo DS: DSTwitter

Hashtags are a community-driven convention for adding additional context and metadata to your tweets. Add these hash tags to the end of any tweets related to the subject.
#BYOC – Bring Your Own Computer LAN
#CCST10 – Cross-Country Supertrip 2010
#PAX – General PAX Prime related tweets
#PAX – General PAX East related tweets
#paxtrain – West Coast Train Trip 2010
#PPD10 – Pre-PAX Dinner 2010
#TWDT10 – Tri-Wizard Drinking Tournament 2010