With Comic-Con 2009 just days away as of this writing, I assert if there’s one thing I’ve learned from covering the event over the last two years, it’s to take the proceedings one day at a time. (Also, pack your own lunch instead of shelling out for skating-rink-style slices of pizza and knots of pretzels.) With this in mind, I offer a preview of what I’ll be focusing on this coming Thursday, the first full day of the Con.

Jacob Lautner in "New Moon"

Hollywood’s love of 3D technology almost takes center stage today — we’ll get to New Moon in a second — with a morning presentation from Disney on three of their upcoming showstoppers: A Christmas Carol, Tim Burton‘s Alice in Wonderland, and the as-yet-officially-titled Tron sequel. Disney’s been shelling out the marketing and publicity dollars for Christmas, but attendees are primed for Tim Burton’s first Comic-Con appearance, as well as any bits of info on the whereabouts of Kevin Flynn. But Jim Carrey‘s going to show up, right? I say yes, and I will bet my lock of Robert Pattinson‘s hair that Johnny Depp will create a frenzy on this day, first for Alice and then later in the afternoon for a look at Terry Gilliam‘s The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus.

Next, a clutch of studios offer a second 3D showcase: Sony’s so far underwhelming Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, The Final Destination‘s apparently final stop, and a look at Gremlins director Joe Dante‘s displaced-family thriller, The Hole, which “has yet to land a distributor” according to the production. I feel like we can expect a studio and release date to be announced on this day.

After this hodgepodge, I expect the air in Hall H to grow Northwest cool and damp, while the feeling of a sorta sexy evil begins to lick at the squealing crowd of 6,000+ fans. It’ll almost be time for an exclusive look at the Edward-Bella-Jacob love triangle in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. But first? Footage from Astro Boy (hmm, this year’s Speed Racer?) and Sorority Row (definitely this year’s Prom Night). I have to say I was at the Twilight panel last year, and though I don’t connect with the folklore, I love this phenomenon for many different reasons. Anything that gets people reading reawakens my inner librarian, and any creation that inspires people to go to the movies in groups — teens, their friends, and their parents — can’t be anything but true entertainment. And the whole phenomenon makes me realize how snooty and sexist many top websites are, as they dismiss Stephenie Meyer‘s work and its intergeneration of followers.

I’m also curious to see if Taylor Lautner surpasses Robert Pattinson in popularity, if only for a day?

If this first 24 hours isn’t all ready feverish enough, James Cameron will vie to become the King of the Con with an in-depth look at his December release, Avatar. Exactly how much material we’ll see is unknown, as is whether or not Cameron truly will connect with the amassed crowd. I suggest pulling a Jon Favreau and filming the audience with one of your creations, J.C. Undoubtedly, we’ll see the filmmaker’s cuddlier side when he and Peter Jackson discuss the future of 3D together.

The rest of the day hosts primo opportunities for a trio of cool-looking smaller films to generate some mainstream hype: Pandorum looks like the nastiest space nightmare since the Reavers sequences in Serenity; Kick-Ass reminds us all that Comic-Con (still) is all about comics; cult director Chan-wook Park just might achieve commercial success with his Focus Features-backed latest, Thirst.

Two awesome-sounding events happen this evening: a “zombie walk” Sony is curating to hype Zombieland, and a screening of Michael Dougherty‘s formerly hyped horror film, Trick R Treat, which is currently rocking a 9.4 rating on IMDb and still is only getting a DVD release this October.

Wait — crud — I just remembered that Thirst will also screen this evening. Jeez, I might vault my plus-sized self into a pedicab and have a surfer kid cycle me back to the hotel.