SDCC 2023: Paramount Plus’ “The Lodge” Takes You To The Peak Of Ben Lomond Mountain!
With the SAG/AFTRA and WGA strike in full swing and cancelled panels, signings, and appearances aplenty, there’s a ton of uncertainty circling around this year’s always-epic San Diego Comic-Con.
While the Hall H schedule is looking a little bare (I don’t expect to see many attendees waiting overnight this year) and some of your favourite booths (we’re still in our same old space at #3919) may not be around (it seems like for every company that pulled out, the Funko booth has grown even larger) nobody currently in San Diego really knows what the exhibit hall may look like over the next few days.
Walking around the Gaslamp District today, however, a couple of things became very clear — there are still like a billion people here (maybe more), and offsite activations appear to be back and in full swing.
We’ll be taking a look at many of this year’s offsite offerings over the next couple of days, but Shane (yep, Shane is back in San Diego for the first time since 2018) and I were lucky enough to check out Paramount’s ‘The Lodge’ in the hours before preview night officially kicked off.
The Lodge is located at the Happy Does bar (340 5th Ave), and its hours are as follows:
Wednesday, July 19 from 6pm-10pm
Thursday, July 20 – Saturday, July 23 from 12pm-10pm
Sunday, July 23 from 10am-7pm
Naturally, tickets went up awhile ago, and sold out for the entire weekend in just a few minutes — a standby line will be running through the weekend, and from some Twitter impressions a lot of people with reservations (at least for tonight) weren’t showing up so the standby line was moving at a decent pace.
The Lodge itself features a ton of small activations for a number of Paramount + offerings (small is a pretty key word here). Here’s a quick breakdown before we get into some thoughts:
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts: Visit Energon Station to replenish your energy and unleash your inner beast with some tantalizing PRIMAL BREW (cold brew) and AUTOBOT TEA (iced tea).
Good Burger 2: Munch on delicious tray pass sliders from the classic Good Burger counter.
Yellowjackets: Step inside Lottie’s serene compound, where there’s more than meets the eye. Guests will explore a path through the activation to the secrets inside, and those lucky enough to reveal the iconic antler queen will leave with their very own bespoke Yellowjackets playing cards.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Take a trip under the sea to Bikini Bottom and visit The Krusty Krab. While at the iconic restaurant, grab a seat at the boat set for an underwater selfie photo moment.
Special Ops: Lioness: Crime awaits in the CIA safe house, where guests will be asked a series of “tests” matching with one of the three female archetypes. Fans will then receive a card with a character-match write-up and tune-in info. For guests passing by, the space features a spycraft wall where consumers can discover secrets.
Star Trek: Returning by popular demand, Star Trek’s Caricature Studios welcomes guests to take a seat at one of three rock thrones where artists will sketch visitors as their own Trek character. While at each studio, guests can select from a menu of preset characteristics adding details like uniform weapons, specialty alien-race touches, skin tone, etc.
1923: Discover a hidden speakeasy where you’ll find yourself in the Silver Dollar Soda Shop. Step inside and order a glass bottled root beer or a specialty cocktail within the existing nook. With a tasty beverage in hand, guests can then take a seat in the 1923 portrait studio for a vintage-style photo moment.
CBS Sports: Reimagine the iconic CBS Sports desk with a winter twist celebrating all sports, all the time. While walking around, take a peek at the CBS Sports “Hall of Fame” memorabilia wall, including items from NFL, UEFA & NWSL (San Diego Wave FC), and play a friendly game of shuffleboard.
Ink Master: Experience a day in the classic Ink Master banquette booth while flipping through a book of airbrush tattoo options from your favorite Paramount+ shows. Stencil options from beloved Paramount+ shows include Beavis and But-Head, Spongebob, RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars, and more.
Pet Sematary: Modeled after the film’s themes, guests will be invited to the Pet Sematary portrait studio for a photo moment where aftereffects will be added to invoke the dead in a beautiful yet dying environment. Post-photo, digital versions will be available for consumers to share on social media.
I loved the styling of the offsite — from the outside it totally looked like a lodge you’d find at a ski resort (complete with snowed-up trees). I definitely wondered how they’d fit so many things into an area that didn’t seem all that large, and it turns out that to do so most of the offerings were pretty tiny.
The Transformers piece amounted to a stylized mural and a counter with the aforementioned Cold Brew and Iced Tea, while the Spongebob section had a Krabby Patty themed corner and an Instax-powered photo op where you were able to sit behind the counter (I think that there was a secret here too, but it wasn’t working during our session).
Pet Semetary had a great photo op, and 1923 had its own themed cocktail and photo op area too. There were Goodburgers servers walking around serving up some tasty burgers.
The Yellowjackets area reminded me that I really need to start season two of Yellowjackets, but it we walked away
The Star Trek caricature area looked to be one of the absolute coolest memories that you could take home from SDCC, but these things take time, and as such the lineup was really long. We jumped out of line after about half an hour (half an hour of not really moving) as it seemed like it would be ages before we’d finally get through (and despite taking place on top of a chilly mountain, it was hot as hell in the room).
The Special Ops: Lioness activation was a bit of a weird one for sure. Participants sit down and are taken through three timed ‘tests’ to see if you have what it takes to join the special ops. The first test seemed to be some simple-looking (but not actually simple) riddles. The second one basically amounted to the actor being like ‘assemble this’ without any context as to what you were supposed to be assembling, while the third was akin to the online videos you see of people trying to remove a bar of gold from a small box with a hole in it. I’m not sure if the swag differed depending on how well you did on the tests, but since I was only able to finish the third (and was unreasonably stressed out about the second), I was rewarded with… a business card sized ad for Lioness.
Some cool giveaways were available for attendees — upon entry, we were given a voucher for a (Goodburger) burger and two drink tickets, as well as a retractable belt clip perfect for your SDCC bagde, and a lift-ticket inspired tag complete with a code for a free month of Paramount Plus. Around the activations you could score (naturally), the afformentioned Spongebob, 1923, and Yellowjackets photos, but you could also obtain a small jar of themed honey and playing cards in the Yellowjackets activation. For the coolest swag, you’ll need to go further than the activation itself and complete the Paramount Scavenger hunt in eight locations across the convention area.
Take a look at some of our photos from the activation below, and let us know if you make it to The Lodge!
Pros:
+ Tasty snacks and sips (that 1923 cocktail was delish).
+ One location showing off a lot of fun properties.
+ The Yellowjackets swag felt very appropriate and is absolutely a keeper.
+ A few neat secrets around for those with an eye for detail.
+ If you’ve got the patience, the Star Trek caricature looked like an amazing take home.
+ A free month of Paramount Plus if you don’t already subscribe (and come on, Survivor is on there).
Cons:
– The Lioness activation was unclear and stressful and gave you a business card.
– Only the fastest and/or most patient fans are walking out with caricatures — timed slots have a 50 minute cap on the whole experience so it can be reset for the next group.
– If you’re a swag hunter, the best merch is locked away behind the Paramount Passport.
– If you’re a sports fan, the sports activation seemed to amount to some football helmets and a shuffleboard table.
