Question About Wednesday Early Registration

[Slideshow Bob]

Hey everyone,

I'm really looking forward to the con and am very glad that the event schedule is up now. But as I was looking over it, I noticed I a potential problem:

I registered for early arrival on Wednesday, and Early Registration on Wednesday is open from 20:00 to 22:00. Unfortunately, I am coming to CF from overseas and my plane is scheduled to land at Birmingham International at 21:50. Even assuming the plane isn't delayed, my luggage doesn't take forever and the taxi-ride to the con doesn't encounter heavy traffic, it's likely that I won't actually get to the hotel until about 23:15 or 23:30, well after Early Registration has closed. Now, I don't mind if that means having to wait until the next day to get my Sponsor goodies and whatnot; it'd be annoying but hardly the end of the world. There are, however, two things I don't know about this situation which have me worried.

- Most importantly: if I am unable to register with the convention because registration is closed, does that mean I also can't check into the hotel? I legitimately don't know how exactly those two are intertwined, and I really don't want to find out when I get there that I can't check in without registering with the con. I'd really hate it if I had to find another hotel for that one night or if any of the CF staff had to be dragged out of bed to handle my registration just because the only flight left on Wednesday was such a late one. So if any of the staff members or other people in the know can tell me how this could work please let me know.

- This is less of a big deal, but still not entirely clear to me, so here we go: assuming something can be arranged so that I can check into the hotel without registering with the con, am I still allowed to attend the breakfast buffet on Thursday morning? Is the buffet a service the hotel provides to all its guests or is it optional and included in the CF price? It's not a big deal if I have to wait until I'm registered to attend it, since Thursday registration opens at 10:30 and the buffet is open until 11:00, but I would like some clarity about this ahead of time.

Thank you very much in advance if you can help clarify any of this, and I hope to see you all on May 29th.

- James.

[Rwylin]

check in at the hotel and reg for the con are two separate things you need to do...... so even if u miss the early reg for the con you will still be able to get into your hotel room

[Slideshow Bob]

check in at the hotel and reg for the con are two separate things you need to do...... so even if u miss the early reg for the con you will still be able to get into your hotel room

Thanks for clearing that up, you put a lot of worries to rest 
I do think I'm gonna keep this thread up until I hear from con staff, though. I'm kinda paranoid about double-checking like that.

[Matt the Lion]

Hi there,

I can confirm that you do not need to have registered in order to either check into your room (just go direct to hotel reception) or to attend the breakfast serving (you just need to be checked into your room).

[Slideshow Bob]

Hi there,

I can confirm that you do not need to have registered in order to either check into your room (just go direct to hotel reception) or to attend the breakfast serving (you just need to be checked into your room).

Thank you very much! *gives cookie of thankfulness*

This had me worried for most of the day, but I'm glad to know I worried over nothing. Thanks once again.

[SouthPaw]

Just to expand on that a little, there's at least one member of staff at the hotel Reception desk 24/7. The main potential problem would be if you're sharing a room with someone and they've gone to bed and locked the door before you get there.

[aurora]

Just to expand on that a little, there's at least one member of staff at the hotel Reception desk 24/7. The main potential problem would be if you're sharing a room with someone and they've gone to bed and locked the door before you get there.

I didn't think it was possible to physically lock the doors as they use a magnetic card?

Do all parties sharing a room get a card to open the door or is there just one per room?

[Fermi]

Just to expand on that a little, there's at least one member of staff at the hotel Reception desk 24/7. The main potential problem would be if you're sharing a room with someone and they've gone to bed and locked the door before you get there.

I didn't think it was possible to physically lock the doors as they use a magnetic card?

Do all parties sharing a room get a card to open the door or is there just one per room?

There is a physical lock on the inside, which can be overridden from the inside, but not the outside.  You will be issued a room card each for every one of you who is in the room, so if two of you are in a room, you will receive 2 room cards.

[Slideshow Bob]

Just to expand on that a little, there's at least one member of staff at the hotel Reception desk 24/7. The main potential problem would be if you're sharing a room with someone and they've gone to bed and locked the door before you get there.

No worries of that happening: I'm a Wednesday arrival, but my roommate won't be there until Thursday. Thanks for your consideration, though. I legitimately appreciate it.