There are close to 300 people gathering at the Bellevue Square Mall in Washington for the Surface 2 midnight launch event.
Now, not every single person is there to pick up Microsoft’s newest tablet. Some are staying up on Monday night to participate in the Surface Challenge, a contest that will award one winner from 10 different Microsoft stores around the country with an all-expense paid VIP trip to Orlando.
Others may be there to see Seattle Seahawks star Richard Sherman. The first 150 people in line will snag an autograph from the All-Pro cornerback, who also helped Microsoft with the Halo 4 launch about a year ago.
We spy @RSherman_25 in Bellevue! #Countdown2Surface #Surface pic.twitter.com/WdlB1i3TRh
— Microsoft Surface (@surface) October 22, 2013
But some are certainly waiting to pick up their new Surface 2 or Surface Pro 2 and be the first to get their hands on Microsoft’s newest line of tablets.
If you didn’t pre-order, though, it may be difficult to take home a new device:
@Taylor_Soper That's the plan! We'll see though, I didn't preorder and they're claiming limited stock >.<
— Brandon (@7techgames) October 22, 2013
Others want to test out the devices and simply check them out. Twitter user @ultimatemakeup, for example, plans to try the Surface 2 in the store and then see what Apple announces on Tuesday with its new iPad.
@geekwire gonna play with it before I make my decision tomorrow (when the new iPad is announced).
— theultimatemakeup (@ultimatemakeup) October 22, 2013
Lines formed for both the Surface (October of last year) and Surface Pro (February 2013) launch at Seattle’s University Village.
Here are a few more photos from Bellevue:
So much energy in the room @MicrosoftStore for #Surface #FreshSurface pic.twitter.com/9GoFRSviAV
— Jess Estrada (@JessEstrada) October 22, 2013
Line is coming in one by one to play the @surface Challenge games! #FreshSurface pic.twitter.com/39ECCnBouy
— Jess Estrada (@JessEstrada) October 22, 2013
The #SurfaceChallenge is on at @MicrosoftStore in Bellevue! pic.twitter.com/sP0Qv1YL6O
— Microsoft Surface (@surface) October 22, 2013
Waiting for my Surface 2 in Bellevue; launch event just started, here's the line :) pic.twitter.com/x5etmIyXSH
— Brandon (@7techgames) October 22, 2013
Here’s what’s going on at the Microsoft Store in Austin (10 Microsoft stores are hosting midnight launch parties):
Austin Microsoft store right before midnight sale of Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 pic.twitter.com/BbVlvEI0ir
— Scott Garvey (@SGarveyTx) October 22, 2013
And the scene inside another store: