The MLP Arena

Pony Talk => Off Topic => Topic started by: SilverHorsey on June 18, 2018, 10:29:30 AM

Title: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: SilverHorsey on June 18, 2018, 10:29:30 AM
Hello!

I am attending Breyerfest for the first time this year and I am so excited already! This will be my first ever trip to America and that far from home.

I would love to hear good tips and tricks about Breyerfest. When is the best time to get there, when the lines are not too long yet? I have bought tickets in advance, do I have a separate line? They have explained the exclusives store line system pretty well, but any further tips or is there anything different in reality? Any other general tips about getting around?

If you will be selling ponies (especially G3s!) at the Clarion among model horses, post your room number below, I will most likely pay a visit! ;)
Title: Re: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: Breyer600 on June 18, 2018, 04:40:16 PM
When is the best time to get there, when the lines are not too long yet?

 :shocked: Not too long? :haha:  I think the lines get shorter in the late afternoon, but early lines are insanely long especially on Friday.  I think I got to the park around 6:45 AM or so last year and the store line was already all the way across the parking lot (the gates don't even open until 9:00 AM).   

This year there will be four lines for entering the park.  One will be for those picking up or buying tickets.  Another will be for those who have their tickets and have one of the first two time slots for the special items line or don't want to go immediately into one of the stores.  The last two are for the main store and pop-up stores which will have their own exclusives that are first come first served each day (plus the main store will have leftover special runs from previous Breyerfests, the clubs, and no telling what else).  The store lines are going to be separated this year so you'll have to pick which one you want to go to first and they'll hand out numbers to the first 300 people in each line.

They have a certain number of the store exclusives set aside for each day and have been putting them all out first thing in the morning.  The other items in the the store get periodically replenished throughout the day.

There's not much to add about the special items line that isn't covered by Breyer's info packet.  The past several years it's run very smoothly.  Make sure you know which models you you most want and which are your back-ups if those sell out.  Then when you get up to where they're handing them out keep an eye out down the line to see if the ones you want are still available.

You can pick up your Celebration model at any time so that not usually a very long line and it goes pretty fast. If you wait late enough there probably won't be a line at all for that.

You can't take bags into the stores and there have been thefts from the bag-check areas every year; so, you're best off having a friend hold them for you or taking them back to your car whenever possible and only checking them as a last resort. 

The weather is usually hot and muggy so plan your wardrobe accordingly and make sure you have sunscreen and plenty to drink with you. 

Shop around on the regular runs - you can usually find a better deal in the vendor's area or at the hotel than in the Breyer store.

At the hotel, have a notebook or something to write down where you see things and at what price - it gets very confusing very quickly otherwise.

Bring plenty of cash and budget it to last the weekend.  Breyer and the dealers can accept cards but only a few of the individual sellers at the hotel can although some will take PayPal.  There is an ATM at the hotel, but it has been known to run out of cash fairly early on.  Any number of times I've heard people comment on how they want to buy something but they're already out of cash sometimes as early as Thursday night.  Very few people will be staying open at the hotel on Sunday so you'll mostly have to consider what's available at the park if you want to shop that day.

I'll be in room 127 at the Clarion.  I do plan on bringing some pony stuff to sell though it's mostly merchandise, plush, blind bags/Ponyville, and some of the larger things that are expensive to ship.  I can certainly bring my regular G3s along though if there's enough interest.
Title: Re: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: SilverHorsey on June 19, 2018, 08:01:40 AM
Quote
When is the best time to get there, when the lines are not too long yet?

 :shocked: Not too long? :haha:  I think the lines get shorter in the late afternoon, but early lines are insanely long especially on Friday.  I think I got to the park around 6:45 AM or so last year and the store line was already all the way across the parking lot (the gates don't even open until 9:00 AM).   

This year there will be four lines for entering the park.  One will be for those picking up or buying tickets.  Another will be for those who have their tickets and have one of the first two time slots for the special items line or don't want to go immediately into one of the stores.  The last two are for the main store and pop-up stores which will have their own exclusives that are first come first served each day (plus the main store will have leftover special runs from previous Breyerfests, the clubs, and no telling what else).  The store lines are going to be separated this year so you'll have to pick which one you want to go to first and they'll hand out numbers to the first 300 people in each line.

They have a certain number of the store exclusives set aside for each day and have been putting them all out first thing in the morning.  The other items in the the store get periodically replenished throughout the day.

There's not much to add about the special items line that isn't covered by Breyer's info packet.  The past several years it's run very smoothly.  Make sure you know which models you you most want and which are your back-ups if those sell out.  Then when you get up to where they're handing them out keep an eye out down the line to see if the ones you want are still available.

You can pick up your Celebration model at any time so that not usually a very long line and it goes pretty fast. If you wait late enough there probably won't be a line at all for that.

You can't take bags into the stores and there have been thefts from the bag-check areas every year; so, you're best off having a friend hold them for you or taking them back to your car whenever possible and only checking them as a last resort. 

The weather is usually hot and muggy so plan your wardrobe accordingly and make sure you have sunscreen and plenty to drink with you. 

Shop around on the regular runs - you can usually find a better deal in the vendor's area or at the hotel than in the Breyer store.

At the hotel, have a notebook or something to write down where you see things and at what price - it gets very confusing very quickly otherwise.

Bring plenty of cash and budget it to last the weekend.  Breyer and the dealers can accept cards but only a few of the individual sellers at the hotel can although some will take PayPal.  There is an ATM at the hotel, but it has been known to run out of cash fairly early on.  Any number of times I've heard people comment on how they want to buy something but they're already out of cash sometimes as early as Thursday night.  Very few people will be staying open at the hotel on Sunday so you'll mostly have to consider what's available at the park if you want to shop that day.

I'll be in room 127 at the Clarion.  I do plan on bringing some pony stuff to sell though it's mostly merchandise, plush, blind bags/Ponyville, and some of the larger things that are expensive to ship.  I can certainly bring my regular G3s along though if there's enough interest.

Thanks for the advice! I have a time slot for the exclusives store for saturday 2 pm- 3 pm. When do you suggest me to go to the queue? As I understand I have to be there 15 minutes earlier, but like what happens if the first number called out is bigger than my number? Aaaahh so confusing :freak:
Title: Re: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: Breyer600 on June 19, 2018, 09:45:01 AM
They'll draw a number at 1:45 so aim to get there a couple minutes before that - there's no need to get there much earlier.  I'm not sure how many numbers they have per time slot now - I think it was at least 400 last year.  So, say they draw number 200.  The line starts with whoever has that number and everyone lines up according to their number after that. Once 400 (or whatever the last number is) is reached, whoever has number 1 gets in line and the process continues until the line ends with number 199.  In that example, if you had number 250 you'd be near the front of the line and should be able to get anything you want, but if you had number 150, you'd be near the back and would likely miss out on the most popular models. 

They have signs with numbers in increments of 50 they pass out to help figure out where you belong in line; so even if you get there after they've pulled the number you'll be able to find your place pretty quickly.  However, if you're late enough that your section of the line has already been sent into the store you'll have to go to the end of the line.

When they send you into the store, they'll check your ticket as you enter and put a mark on it showing it's been used.  Then as you go down the line, there are people sitting next to a sign and example of each available model (except for the surprise horse which will be sealed in a colored bag).  You hand your ticket to the person by whichever model you want and they'll mark your ticket and hand it and your model back to you.  You can choose two different models then you'll stay in the line and proceed directly through the checkout.  Once a model has sold out for that time slot, the person handing them out removes the sign and example from the table. 
Title: Re: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: SilverHorsey on June 19, 2018, 10:53:25 AM
They'll draw a number at 1:45 so aim to get there a couple minutes before that - there's no need to get there much earlier.  I'm not sure how many numbers they have per time slot now - I think it was at least 400 last year.  So, say they draw number 200.  The line starts with whoever has that number and everyone lines up according to their number after that. Once 400 (or whatever the last number is) is reached, whoever has number 1 gets in line and the process continues until the line ends with number 199.  In that example, if you had number 250 you'd be near the front of the line and should be able to get anything you want, but if you had number 150, you'd be near the back and would likely miss out on the most popular models. 

They have signs with numbers in increments of 50 they pass out to help figure out where you belong in line; so even if you get there after they've pulled the number you'll be able to find your place pretty quickly.  However, if you're late enough that your section of the line has already been sent into the store you'll have to go to the end of the line.

When they send you into the store, they'll check your ticket as you enter and put a mark on it showing it's been used.  Then as you go down the line, there are people sitting next to a sign and example of each available model (except for the surprise horse which will be sealed in a colored bag).  You hand your ticket to the person by whichever model you want and they'll mark your ticket and hand it and your model back to you.  You can choose two different models then you'll stay in the line and proceed directly through the checkout.  Once a model has sold out for that time slot, the person handing them out removes the sign and example from the table. 

Thank you so much for the clearance! I think I got it now :)
Title: Re: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: Zapper on June 20, 2018, 03:36:34 AM
I have no advise but I hope you have lots of fun and get all the models you want!  :biggrin:

Especially since Breyerfest is one of my "need to go to once in my lifetime" destinations in the US along with various themeparks :lol:
I think it's great you come all the way from Estonia just because of the model horse hobby.

If you don't mind sharing, when did you book your flight and how much was it? ( You can PM me anytime if you don't want to make it public). I'm in Germany so my trip there would be similar and all I ever find is tips and tricks for USians but some of these don't apply if you can't go there by car  :lol:

I'm also wondering about transport. Like, do you bring an extra suitcase just for the models? How do customs handle a bulk of modelhorses, with all the breaking and rubbing to be expected.
Title: Re: Help out a first time Breyerfester!
Post by: SilverHorsey on June 20, 2018, 11:14:38 AM
I have no advise but I hope you have lots of fun and get all the models you want!  :biggrin:

Especially since Breyerfest is one of my "need to go to once in my lifetime" destinations in the US along with various themeparks :lol:
I think it's great you come all the way from Estonia just because of the model horse hobby.

If you don't mind sharing, when did you book your flight and how much was it? ( You can PM me anytime if you don't want to make it public). I'm in Germany so my trip there would be similar and all I ever find is tips and tricks for USians but some of these don't apply if you can't go there by car  :lol:

I'm also wondering about transport. Like, do you bring an extra suitcase just for the models? How do customs handle a bulk of modelhorses, with all the breaking and rubbing to be expected.

Sent you a PM!
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