We’ve been wondering for awhile if the Hall H wristbands would be back, and the answer… is yes! But there are some changes afoot. The biggest of which is that you can now only hold a spot for two other people.

CCI will once again be utilizing Hall H wristbands. For those that aren’t familiar, at a certain point the day before, CCI will begin handing out Hall H wristbands for the following day to the Next Day Line (NDL), behind the convention center (see the map below). This is the same place it’s been for several years now.

And here are the times for distribution:

Wednesday, July 19: Wristband distribution for Thursday panels in Hall H will begin at 8:00 PM in the general Hall H line in Plaza Park.

Thursday, July 20: Wristband distribution for Friday panels in Hall H will begin at 7:30 PM at the front of the Next Day Line.

Friday, July 21: Wristband distribution for Saturday panels in Hall H will begin at 7:30 PM at the front of the Next Day Line.

Wristband distribution will continue until 7:30AM, or until all wristbands have been given out, whichever comes first.

The wristbands will be broken up into color “zones”. You’ll need a wristband to be able to get into the first panel of the following day — and the name of the wristbands seems to have possibly changed from Toucan Trackers to “First Seating Wristband”.

Line Staff will first verify you have a badge for that day’s programming which you’re trying to get a wristband for, and then will scan your badge prior to you leaving the line. The scanning staff will verify that your wristband is secure and then scan your badge for the next morning’s first seating of Hall H. Then, when you enter Hall H the next morning, your badge will be scanned again. This should essentially stop anyone from camping out and then selling their wristband, or giving it to someone else. It sounds like a barcode will work in place of a badge if you haven’t received your badge yet.

The biggest change this year is that you can hold space for no more than two other people (and up to two additional children 12 years old or under with a Child badge). That means that if you’re a group of four adults, at least two people must be in line. Any additional people beyond those two will be asked to leave and may rejoin the end of the Next Day Line. Again, you’ll still all need to return by 7:30AM, or you forfeit your guarantee to make it into the panel.

Once you have your wristband, you have two choices – you and your group can either leave the line completely and go sleep in that bed you’ve paid an exorbitant amount of money for, knowing that you’ll make it into the panel the next day… or your whole group or at least one person in your group can stay. If you leave, you’ll still make it into the panel the next day so long as you return by 7:30AM – but if no one stays to “hold” your place in line, you’ll be heading to the end of the wristbanded section.

You can read all of this year’s rules on CCI’s site.