President Obama's second inauguration takes places on an auspicious occasion: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - Jan. 21.
Attendees will face far less daunting crowds than four years ago. In 2009, nearly two million people came to watch Obama's historic inauguration.
Police and inauguration planners say they expect between 600,000 and 800,000 people this year.
The numbers are only estimates, since no tickets are required to watch the swearing-in ceremony from the National Mall. The ticketed area close to the ceremony requires tickets distributed through Congressional offices. The official time for the swearing-in has not yet been released.
"Four years ago, hotels sold out months in advance for the event and visitors paid an average of $600 a night," said NBC. "At this point, very few hotels are sold out for the 2013 inauguration and some hotels still have half their rooms open. Many hotels may even drop their prices closer to the Jan. 21 date."
Revelers and supporters hoping to see President Obama in person at an inaugural ball may be out of luck, due to a glitch on Ticketmaster's part.
A relatively small number of tickets to one of the two inaugural balls that will be attended by the president and first lady were supposed to be available to the public online beginning Monday morning.
Interest was high, and people hoping to snag a ticket signed up for a mailing list.
But Ticketmaster accidentally sent out the link to purchase tickets to some mailing list members about 12 hours too early. The lucky few snatched up most of the tickets, so almost none remained by the time the official sales began.
The ticketing company wasn't very apologetic. "While an e-mail indicating that Inaugural event tickets were available was sent earlier than planned, tickets to Inaugural events were sold per usual Ticketmaster process on a first come first serve basis. Everyone who purchased tickets for the Inaugural Ball and the Inaugural parade will receive their tickets," Ticketmaster said in a statement.
"We understand the disappointment people feel if they were unable to obtain tickets, but like all other popular events, demand was much greater than supply," the statement reads. "Ticketmaster and PIC will continue to work closely to ensure everyone receives the latest ticketing information."
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