Overall I had a good time at Dragoncon this year, but it was more of a 3.5 star due to the crazy crowds.
Somehow after living in Atlanta for 4 years, this was my FIRST Dragoncon experience. I decided to cosplay as Merle from Escaflowne and was pretty stoked people could recognize me (it's a pretty old anime, plus I am an extremely amateur cosplayer..). It's a convention focused on scifi, comics, superhero, anime, fantasy, games, zombies, etc. spanning Friday through Monday, basically open 24/7 through that time period. You can choose to go all 4 days or choose Saturday only or Sunday only. If you buy the 4 day passes a year in advance they are only $80!
We bought 1 day passes online in advance for $50 each and picked them up around 8:15 am Saturday AM. The line at the Sheraton was extremely long (out around the building and down the street to a Shell gas station) but it actually moved fairly quickly. I think we waited for 30-40 minutes.
For the Saturday morning parade that starts at 10 am, we showed up early and staked out a spot around 9 am near the end of the parade route. By that time there were a decent number of people. As 10 am drew nearer it got very packed around us, but the view was still very good.. then all of a sudden the police moved the barricades, allowing the latecomers to rush to the best spots while some of us were relegated to suboptimal views.. The parade was nice but I was kind of disappointed cause I had higher expectations. Then again, I didn't recognize a lot of costumes and we were at the end of the parade route (maybe it's more high energy near the beginning?), and this woman next to me kept encroaching more and more into my space that I finally got annoyed and left.
Panels we attended:
Five Amazing Middle-earth Celebrity Guests: Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - John Noble (Denethor, steward of Gondor), Peter Hambleton (Gloin, dwarf), Stephen Hunter (Bombur, dwarf), Sylvester McCoy (Radagast the Brown Wizard), Dean O' Gorman (Fili, dwarf); we walked in late to this panel and were in the very back of the ballroom. They use mic and speakers of course, but it was very difficult to hear what they were saying in the back.. ended up leaving early
Game of Thrones: Songs of Westeros: featuring Julian Glover (Grand Maester Pycelle), Finn Jones (Loras Tyrell), Kristian Nairn (Hodor). Arrived about an hour in advance. It was a long line but it was well organized. We got pretty good seats too, near the front middle. Entertaining panel, very much enjoyed it
Arrow: Loss Makes Us Stronger: Stephen Amell (Arrow), John Barrowman (Malcom Merlyn), Katie Cassidy (Laurel Lance), Matt Nable (Ra's al Ghul). This one was a must for me, and I'm so glad I stuck it out waiting for it because it was an awesome panel. They have really great chemistry together and it was very interesting and a comical time altogether. John Barrowman in particular is hilarious. Oh my goodness, the wait for this panel was out of control. We got there in about an hour in advance but there was no organized line (at least you couldn't tell if there was one since it a huge mass of people standing disorderedly in front of the ballroom doors). No one was moving at all. Finally after a while an employee came out and directed people to form a line and by the time that we got outside it stretched out of the building, down the steps of the Marriott, around the corner and onto the sidewalk. THANKFULLY there was enough room for us (we sat near the back of the huge ballroom) and it was plenty loud for us to hear. Two people who obviously had not been waiting in line, cut in line behind us right when we were about to enter the ballroom, and I definitely did not stay silent on that one. Fortunately, the detestable actions of a couple people weren't enough to bring down my parade.
Other stuff we did: waited in line for the Vendor area at the AmericasMart. That was also a very long line.. We only checked out the 2nd floor which had things like anime, swords & other weapons, jewelry, comic books, signed photos, cosplay items. We weren't planning on buying anything but just wanted to look around. It was extremely crowded, like elbow to elbow. Checked out a smaller Game of Thrones session discussing dark times of GoT. We left after a couple minutes after it was evident that they would be focusing on rape in GoT.
I think in general the people watching at the Dragoncon itself was much more fun and interesting than those at the parade. Almost everyone's cosplay was super impressive. It's fun to take pics of people in their masterpieces (IMO, always ask for permission).
Anyway, after the Arrow panel ended at 6:30 pm, my old broken body couldn't take it any longer and had to retreat home. I don't know how people do it for 4 days. Maybe they just take a lot of ibuprofen and 5 hour energy. Still, Dragoncon is a must do if you live in ATL or within a couple hours driving distance. Just be prepared for fun, exhaustion, & tests of your patience. read more