Anthrocon hotel reservations may be made starting February 2, 2010, at 9 AM EST
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UPDATE: All double rooms in the Westin are sold very nearly sold!(some got freed up after initial shuffling). Do NOT select a specific room type when you book -- the system will tell you what sort of rooms are available.
UPDATE: Tuesday, June 22 is sold out for the Westin. We can get no more rooms there that evening.
This is it! The moment you've been waiting for (and we've been dreading). All four hotel pages are open with links that will let you make reservations online and phone numbers if you want to do it like we did in the Modern Stone Age. This is something we have never tried before and we're as nervous as you are. We all are confident that both anthrocon.org and the individual hotel sites can handle the rush, but nonetheless, be prepared for a possible slowdown. We apologize in advance if it causes any inconvenience; unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to remedy it. Things will begin at our main hotel information page.
Very important reminder! No hotel can guarantee room type or amenities! We go through this every year but there is always someone who does not get the message. For about a hundred reasons there is always a small possibility that you may not get the room type you requested (double beds vs. a king, for example), and the hotel has a very limited number of extra amenities such as refrigerators, cots, and so forth. You must plan for that possibility, and if you absolutely-positively cannot do without something, bring it with you from home or have it shipped to the hotel ahead of time. Again, our host hotels bend over backwards to try to accommodate everyone, but the realities of the hotel business sometimes make it necessary for them to have to apologize for not being able to give you what you asked for.
You won't be the only one. I'll be waiting with my laptop and phone come 7am my time.
I think it's the only way to go. I'll be danged if I don't get a Westin room. I have friends with various disabilities. Getting a room in the Westin is key for them... and me too since I suit. 
Yep. I suit and so does my mate to a lesser extent because of the heat but we both want to try and get in at the Westin this year. Last year we were at the Courtyard which wasn't too much trouble but I think the Westin will be better.
I also like being close to the main event. 
If I go to the "Zoo" and finally feel sleep hitting me like a train at 2 am, I can easily get to an elevator and go back to my room. I do not think I'd want to walk downtown Pittsburgh that late at night / early in the morning. 
In the worst case scenario, I'll take consideration of the closest hotel to the convention centre. 
I don't want to think about it, though.
Um...actually, if you are talking about taking an elevator to your room, it is probably faster to have a room in the Courtyard. It's just across the street from the Westin and it has little to no elevator backup.
What gets out at 2 AM such that there'd be a line?? 
The dances.
I guess I better remember to stock up on energy drinks.
Please make sure you still follow The 6-2-1 Rule and get sufficient sleep.
Having folks fall over and snooze in the middle of a hallway (I've seen it happen before) just ain't fun. 
I had a quick question regarding the elevators. I know fursuiters (who are actually wearing their suit at the time) get priority at the elevators. Does this priority also extend to a handler as well or just the fursuiter?
It did last year. My girlfriend was my handler, and since I could not really get around without her, she was allowed to come with.
It extends so long as it is not abused. And the Dorsai over the past 9 years have gotten very good at spotting the difference between a handler and a tag-along.
So the Dorsai would probably get a little suspicious if a fursuiter came along with 4 or 5 handlers then, huh? ![The Knights who say "Ni!"](http://www.anthrocon.org/sites/all/modules/smileys/random_smileys/th_The_Knights_Who_Say_Ni_by_livius.gif "The Knights who say "Ni!"")
The general rule is 1 suiter, 1 handler.
I fear this year will be like the blind leading the blind. My gal's wearing herself a suit this time through. At least I have some experience in a suit now. I've picked up a few tricks for going up and down stairs, going through doors without bumping my muzzle and not catching my ears nor tail. Being in suit takes a lot of practice, patience, and water. Dear lord, does it take a lot of water! That's my biggest advice to people in suit: if you feel the slightest bit thirsty, drink some water; if you feel hungry grab a light snack like fruit and drink some water; if you feel tired, get to a headless lounge or your room, rest a while, and drink some water; oh, and did I make it clear to drink some water?
Darn, and I was hoping that i was the only one that was waking up 10 minutes early with the credit-card and laptop next to his bed so he could get early reservations at the Westin. 
EDIT: I too am not going to be "bombing" the page with refreshes, I'm simply a little paranoid about getting a room to the Westin.
Lionman
There's no need for folks to get up at all hours. The hotels have been instructed NOT to open the reservation systems prior to 9 AM, and I will not be making our pages live until that time. If there's a thousand people constantly clicking "refresh" at that time, it might even keep me from throwing the switch. We'll just have to see.
I won't be getting up early, I'll be staying up a little late since I am working nights. I'll be getting home about 7:30am EST from work. Just want to get my room reserved before going to bed.
I wasn't planning to be refresh bombing the page, so no worries. I was planning to get up early, set things up, and get the page loaded for 9am. Once the time comes, I'll then refresh the page and get the needed info to do my thing. I just like to have everything ready and right at my fingertips. It's just my form of organization.
I've other things to do before then, like getting laundry started and feeding myself.
Well, if I can't get Westin, I'll go for Courtyard. At this moment, I'd still rather Westin since it is cheaper.
That's my plan too really, its just across the road so its not a huge problem if for some reason the Westin fills up within the hour...
i told my parents that im going to the con, & now my dad wants to come along too! i told them they can if theyd like, maybe make it a little vacation. its just that, even tho i am 19yrs old, my dad doesnt feel comfortable with me going to a place i never been to before, & its an 8 hour trip to Pittsburgh from here. hes just like "i dont want you winding up in some place else or *lets leave this part out for the fishes*". so i am a bit nervous that they are coming, but im also happy if they are coming. plusifirunouttamoneytheyllbetheretopayforsomethings:>
then theyll find out that i am a furry (best place to find out right?), & if they see all of the good, fun & awsome things that go in the Con, they may think "...wow, this is fun!" or other things parents will think about attending a convention with costumes & fursuits.
im hopin for a Westin room, if not then the Omni is my next choice. then Courtyard then Doubletree.
& this is probably the biggest hotel booking race in the history of hotel booking...a giant race to get a room. 8D
Good luck with managing them, I would suggest you find stuff to occupy their time outside of the con so you get a bit of free time to yourself though, I'd also suggest to steer clear of the "Bad Dragon" stand in the Dealers Den if they're with you! (Not that you can see anything immediately when you pass by their stand but its best to be safe!)
they said if they do go, they may head somewhere else in Pittsburgh. but then again, they may wanna see what its like around in the con. theyll do their own things while i go around with a video camera & film everything in sight! XD
I understand your dad being concerned-if-not-scared. That's utterly reasonable on his part; an 8 hour trip is a fairly far one to make at your age. I'm sure he'll give you some reasonable time alone at the con as well, and he may want to visit some other locales in Pittsburgh; but it'll be a good thing to have him along, for you and him both. 
Hey! 
Way to go. Just remember, being a furry is about being a fan of these lovable cartoon crtiters. Focus on the positive, family-friendly aspects of the group, and don't even mention anything like CSI or MTV. Make correlation with the familiar like Bugs Bunny and Tiny Toons. There are people who grow up being inspired by characters like this, and that's what we are. We're artists, programmers, engineers, actors, puppeteers, tax filers, and every spectrum of normal, every-day society. For some of us, this is our once-a-year break to enjoy our inspiration, cut loose, and just act goofy! [Hyuck! Pardon the pun.]
Oh! Don't forget there's a seminar for first-timers and parents. I think it's something along the lines of 'What is 'Furry,' and Why did my Kid Drag Me along?'
Don't be to shocked if they go "Cool! Get lost, we want to have fun now, kid." 
I understand that at various times many Staff members have found their parents to be quite *entertained* by the whole thing.
Our beloved Chairman's own besainted Mother and Father are frequently in attendence.
GenCon (Indy) does this every year. They've got a system where you have to be registered for the con to even be able to book a room. They sold out 4 hotels in under 5 minutes using nothing but a web interface.
This is where I'm actually glad to be somewhere where the time zones mean that 9am EST is 6pm for me as it gives me time to finish work, get home and get it (hopefully) all sorted out! I'd hope that while there'd be a rush at first there would none the less be enough availability for everyone to book their rooms; would be a bit of a surprise if by 10am EST today all the hotels are full that would mean over 3,000 people would have made reservations in one hour...
Do we need to provide the Westin with any AC registration info when booking a room with them?
(I haven't registered yet, lol)
As far as I recall you only need registration to book a suite (i.e. the more expensive rooms), but those are already fully booked, regular room booking should be fine without registration though
This is correct. Due to the limited availability and special nature of suites, we require a 2010 Anthrocon registration in place to book them. For regular rooms, you may register for Anthrocon later (But Pre-reg prices go up on the 16th!)
--Chi
Ah I am not looking forward to the extra baggage charges from the UK ^^
should be a blast tho!
Ohhhh. I love a good feeding frenzy. *waits for 9 am with baited shark breath*
Sharky
*sits a work, looking out for patrolling bosses while preparing to murder the F5 key.
If only I could call and didn't had such slow networks down here. ;-;
...Being on the other side of the world doesn't help either.
The phone numbers will be posted on the individual hotel pages as well.
Well, I can't call international at work and from several other experiences, calling international with my cellphone results in static noise and an unintelligible mumbling on the other side. Yey for awkward english pronunciation due to having a weird-ish accent.
So yeah, internet rush and F5 abuse it is. :þ
Anybody else playing "Europe - The final Countdown" in the background right now?
I wasn't, but now I am!
UPDATE
Reservation confirmed. Very happy to be in attendance for another year. Hmm let's see...I've been attending every year since 2005, so this would be my sixth year in attendance then.
**EDIT**
Also, registered finally. Thought it would be a good idea to do that now before I forget.
My fiancée has been attending AnthroCon since it was a little sub-section of PhilCon. X3
Her first convention ever was a sci-fantasy con when she was 3 weeks old. *laughs*
So, I'm marrying into a con-going family. ( >w< )
...and done. That was painless.
Same here!
I thought it would be a cataclysmic event with servers exploding left and right, Internet service providers worldwide getting kicked off the net, cables and other connections creating unknown thermonuclear fusion and ignite several blocks before disintegrating entire cities, sattelites short-circuiting and crashing down to earth and... and... well, the whole thing went smooth and was done in less than three minutes.
Almost disappointing. :/
Took me 15 seconds, and no more, to reserve my room. I was worried that the amount of fur coming from us would clog the internet tubes.
I KNEW firewalls do more then just keep out viruses and the likes!
Actually, firewalls make the situation worse. Do you know how quick fur goes up in flames?
What does a furry say when he hits a firewall? "WOOF!" 
Yea, I got done with it myself in a similar fashion and time. I thought that the page would be sluggish and I might have to refresh.
No such problems, just my laptop battery dying But I got everything done before it conked out.
Lionman
First baby! Well, first to call in-house reservations at the actual time. She said she'd gotten a few calls before 9am.
I'm so anxious. I'm going to have both phone and computer ready beginning at 8 am tomorrow.
If the sites are slow, I'll call.
If the phones are busy, I'll register online.
Nintendo DS is charging and alarm is set. *crosses fingers and says prayers*
LOL. I'm sure it won't be that bad. I'm not a procrastinator when it comes to vacation planning, so all should be good.