Man i will have to do SDCC next year then they are so close! after all this is my first official BOtCON convintion! i have never gone to the pannels before ever or any convention for that matter! so this will be a exciting year!!!!!
I'd budget for last year's prices and maybe a little more. Go ahead and put back about $400 if you're getting the Primus package, and maybe another $250-$300 if you're trying to get a bagged version of the box set. I'd assume $600-$700 if you were thinking of going Golden Ticket (if they do that this year). And finally if you plan on buying all 3 souvenir sets, put back $110-$120 for each of those. Then, if you want bring cash for the dealer room and 3rd Party after sales. And of course, hotel cost (which there should be a link to the Botcon website for that). I went last year, drove because it was only 4 hours away, and between gas, food for me and a friend (for all 5 days, we also eat like giants), hotel (wasn't the Hyatt) 2x each souvenir set, the Primus package, bagged version of the box set, a shirt and dealer room spendings, I dropped about $4500. That was my first Botcon, and if I were you I'd definitely try to budget to splurge, it makes up for the years you can't go. I saved up for about 5 months, eating nothing but Ramen and going straight to work and back home . If you're flying and do plan on buying a bunch of stuff that won't fit, or you don't want to risk putting in your luggage, bring cash to FedEx it back to your home too