Had the opportunity to go to the kickoff on Friday and had a good time. Drew was gone by the time I got there, but George, Alexis, and James were there the whole time I was there. Waited about an hour to get in, but you could see what was going on inside the exhibit. They gave everyone name tags and you needed to show your vaccine card in order to enter.
Once inside, you got to drop a Plinko chip down the board. If you got it in the 50, you got $50. Someone in the line mentioned it was for a comedy club, but I cannot confirm. I do know that they were giving out keychains for those that didn't get it in the center. After that, you got in line to spin the wheel. I was very impressed by how compact it was, and I think it was a smart way to transport it on this tour. There was a prize for getting $1 with a combination of one or two spins, though the amount escapes me at the moment. They also had a gif maker running that you could scan after your spins.
There was one more photo-op in front of Showcase podiums at the end and there you could scan a QR code to enter the $50,000 sweepstakes. There was a separate wall to take photos in front of as well, though the pier is very pretty already. There was a DJ playing music all day and there were people chatting. I saw several people ask the models for photos, and they were very kind about it.
They also did showcases throughout the day, from what I could tell it was the same showcase of a surfboard, skin care products and Ray-Bans all day. Repping Santa Monica, the ARP was $998. I was a little worried with bids of $1224 and $800, but the winner was such a nice lady. She even gave the surfboard to LA local, a very kind gesture.
Overall, I enjoyed this pop-up. It reminded me a lot of the kinds of setups I'd see outside Comic-Con and would fit right in. I don't know how different the other stops are going to be on this stop, but I would give it a recommendation based off of what I saw.
Here are some photos I took below:
