Question About Events

So are events like Comiccon tickets, where you have to be on the screen the second it opens and click as fast as you can? I was getting ready to play in the new event before heading to work and it said it was going to be ready at noon my local time, but when I got on at 12:02pm it said there was a 3 hour wait.

I checked their facebook to see if it was delayed, but say nothing about it, and in general, can't seem to find the answer anywhere.