In its first iteration at San Diego Comic-Con 2023, the Paramount+ Lodge was a rousing success, boasting multiple elements crucial to making or breaking an offsite: reservations (with an ample 50-minute length), solid capacity, free food and drinks, swag, and an ideal location (Happy Does Bar on 340 5th Avenue, two blocks north of the Gaslamp Quarter arch). Additionally, it departed from most offsite norms by opening on Preview Night AND staying open after the Exhibit Hall had closed for the day (open until 10pm from Wednesday-Saturday, and 7pm on Sunday).

So what does every business do when coming off a successful first version? Why, run it back with a sequel, of course.

SDCC 2024 attendees knew well in advance The Lodge was returning, with the announcement coming all the way back in January. As with most Part Two’s, it brought back every core element listed above, with some slight tweaks to attempt to freshen up the presentation. Were they able to recapture the magic of 2023? Let’s walk through the experience working counter-clockwise from the entrance to the exit. (Full disclosure: this review stems from my attendance during The Lodge’s two-hour press preview block on Wednesday afternoon, giving me more time to complete activities without feeling rushed.)

First, getting inside. Reservations were released two weeks out and were quickly snapped up. Unlike last year’s 8-ticket max, reservations were limited to 2 tickets per session per account, which proved to be a mixed bag (good for letting more groups get a chance, bad for any families/groups who had to pick and choose who could go). Like last year, a standby line was provided, but seemed much more of a mountain to conquer than last year: we witnessed the standby line stretching the entirety of the block on multiple days.

Processing those with reservations seemed to go as smoothly as last year. Even showing up right before the top of the hour still seemed to get you inside no later than 15 minutes into the session, based on feedback I received throughout the week. On the other hand, having to turn over to a new set of reservations every hour meant all attendees had to exit at :50 after the hour, regardless of when they entered in the first place. This proved highly disadvantageous to those in the standby line who were allowed in at the tail end of a session and had as little as 5 minutes before being booted.

Upon checking in, attendees were given a Lodge “Ski Pass” with two free drinks and a pizza slice (21+; kiddos were given a similar badge for a lemonade and pizza). The back of the pass provided a QR code for a complimentary 3-month Walmart+ subscription.

Immediately to the right of the Lodge’s front desk was this year’s most popular station: the Star Trek custom shirts. The successor to last year’s Star Trek caricature station, fans were able to choose one of two design orientations (horizontal across the chest or vertical down the side) and select three of 12 different Star Trek icons to apply (doing multiples of the same icon were allowed), along with one of seven iconic phrases to be printed on the back.

Wednesday’s shirt lines proved to be chaotic due to its first-come, first-serve nature, particularly due to its placement immediately to the right of the entrance, making it impossible to overlook. They moved to a ticketing process later in this week to handle the massive lines and prevent attendees from having to spend their entire session waiting in the shirt line, although I cannot speak to how effective this change in procedure was. While a solid and practical piece of swag, I definitely preferred the unique nature of last year’s caricatures, in which every participant went home with an original, 1-of-1 art piece.

Continuing with the counter-clockwise movement brings us to the Ink Master temporary tattoo station, which is exactly like it sounds. While I didn’t partake myself, there were reports that selecting the Dodo design resulted in receiving a secret, unannounced Dodo plushie giveaway.

Following that was the SpongeBob Squarepants Jellyfish Fields, where fans had 30 seconds to scoop up as many paper jellyfish as they could. Every participant who did the activation received a branded bottle of bubbles, while scooping up at least 15 jellyfish (we heard that this was lowered to 10 later in the week) earned a bonus pair of SpongeBob sunglasses. While fun – who doesn’t love SpongeBob? – I found last year’s Yellowjackets experience in the same spot to be more immersive and with more unique swag (playing cards and a jar of honey).

Next up was the Turtle Power Pizza station, where you could redeem a drink ticket for a lemonade along with your pizza (pepperoni or cheese) ticket, as well as play the classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game. Compared to last year’s Good Burger slider, the pizza was definitely a step down in terms of tastiness and also required waiting in line, whereas staff walked around last year with sliders on a tray). The line was frequently capped, so not every attendee was able to get a slice of pizza.

That was just the right side of The Lodge! Making the short walk to the left/bar area of The Lodge started us off with an If photo op experience. This was followed by a visit to the Ghosts Olfactory Altelier, where guests were invited to sample different perfumes and given a sample to take home, and a Criminal Minds: Evolution evidence board.

If we’re being honest, these three activities (none of which required a significant time investment) were merely backdrops for the Tulsa King bar, where 21+ attendees could redeem their drink tickets for adult beverages, as well as receive coins to play the Tulsa King themed slot machines. Obviously, 10/10 and no notes on free drinks, but the slot machine activity could have been so much more as there was no swag to be had: the staffer I talked to said prizes were originally going to be awarded but had to be nixed as it could be considered gambling.

All in all, The Lodge was once again a welcome offsite to the SDCC campus in 2024. If we grade on the curve of the 2023 version of The Lodge being a 10/10, I’d call 2024’s version an 8/10. It was a solid sequel and worth your time but the original definitely set a high bar. To summarize:

• Reservations were efficiently handled (including clearing out the space between sessions). I can’t comment on whether waiting to get in through standby was worth it – to each their own on how much their time in line is worth – but it was definitely ~50 minutes well spent if you had a reservation and could bypass standby.
• FREE FOOD AND DRINKS (though 2024 TMNT pizza < 2023 Good Burger slider).
• While the nature of highlighting multiple properties means The Lodge will never be as immersive as single property offsites, there was still plenty to see and do; attendees likely needed two visits to get through everything, including the shirt (an efficient attendee could likely clear all non-shirt stations in one visit).
• The potential freebies from this year (shirt, Dodo plush, bubbles, sunglasses, perfume sample) were all a slight step down from 2023 in terms of creativity(caricature, playing cards, honey jar, root beer). There was also a secret Star Trek pin hunt last year that didn’t appear to be replicated.
• Finally, I will once again beat the drum on hoping for more offsites to follow The Lodge’s lead of being open on Wednesday AND after the Exhibit Hall closes.

In conclusion, we are so glad that Paramount+ has been so all-in on their SDCC presence the past two years in away that no other streamer or studio has been. The Lodge is a core piece of that strategy, and we hope to see The Lodge again at SDCC 2025.