ANOTHER LINE CON! --- THE DEETS: - Hello Kitty madness! - Best days, Thursday and Sunday - Best times, an hour before closing --- OVERALL: - Year One of Hello Kitty Con and I think it was a success! All the folks complaining about standing in lines all day and being stuck outside the venue obviously never been to a convention before and obviously never been to MOCA before. Having been a SDCC attendee in the past years has made me a convention pro. I've also attended events at MOCA before and just put 2 and 2 together. I know these things man! I knew that I wouldn't be able to get the LE items going into this thing and I knew that I might not get anything on the Saturday I attended. I just wanted to be part of something amazing, exciting and a little crazy. I was surprised I was able to get an LE item at the JapanLA booth, which was the only thing I really wanted. I also did not plan on being there all day. So very little stress for me. My sweet bf was standing in lines for me, but I told him that I wasn't going to stress over getting an item or a photo with an inanimate object. --- MORAL OF THE STORY: - Get real people! Be realistic in your expectations when attending a convention. If you hate standing in lines for something you're dying to have then you have two choices: a) Suck it up or b) Walk away. It was their first year for this convention, give the producers a break and just be thankful that they pulled such amazing resources to bring it together for you. Honestly, in my opinion the early stages of conventions are always the best. When they start regulating how tickets are being purchased and who can buy tickets when, that's when it gets ugly. Just be happy for the small things, that's what Hello Kitty would want. #475 read more

Tickets were sold out for sat but we got to go last minute for free (from a friend who left earlier and gave us her passes) We arrived around 3-4pm so less crowds, though it was still very packed. I can only imagine how horrible that would've been if we went earlier! We got the cute bags first before we entered. The line to get upstairs to the "exclusive items" was 4 hours long! We skipped that! Even the line to get a pressed penny was long. We had my son and family/friends/toddlers so we didn't want to bother with lines and just wanted to walk around to check everything out. The free real tattoo (by great ink artists) was booked (only 40 reservations per day) so I couldn't get one. They did a great job with art displays, large murals and details including HK planters shaped like her face, charging stations, photo ops like the coin purse, Hk in a teacup etc. Glass cases had cool vintage HK items throughout the years. Saw Yuko Yamaguchi (3rd hello kitty designer) I missed all the workshops etc. since we didn't anticipate going, but my bro in law got his son to color at the crafts table and just happened right time to have the designers signing posters! We got a ton of free items from buttons, stickers, day planner etc. Mega blocks had a booth where you can build something and take the blocks home. And gave free mini HK block. (son had fun here) Most of the stuff was won from the Target Carnival tent including socks, ipad case, pencils, boombox, dancing HK etc Of course many booths throughout to get some swag, including hello kitty simpsons tees. We spent 3-4hours seeing everything downstairs. There's plenty of places to eat around the convention and not far from arts district. unless you stay inside with several food trucks. Overall we had a great time but had we gone earlier I think I might've been annoyed or upset with the lines. But for $25 and a free pass to the Japanase museum the price is fair. read more

I went on the first day. Upon hearing that the event was sold out, I arrived an hour and a half early. As a result, I parked in the garage directly across from the event and was able to pay the early bird fee for parking. I was concerned that my kids (2 and 5) would get antsy but the girls working the event kept coming by, offering crowns and tattoos, so they were happy. Once inside, we were able to do all the crafts, get airbrush tattoos, visit the pumpkin patch, grab snacks, take pictures of everything inside, watch HK perform, return to the car for lunch, and visit the venue once again before leaving. We left at 1:00 pm. We did not get a chance to purchase merchandise. I wanted a bobble head so I was a little disappointed but I wasn't waiting 3 hours with two little kids! Everything else was awesome! Everyone was so kind and sweet to my kids, there was a true spirit of Hello Kitty family. Things could have been better but for a first time event, I thought it was great! I am going to be able to tell my grandkids that I attended the first ever Hello Kitty Convention! I got plenty of other goodies to commemorate my visit. I guess after attending Comic-Con each year, I know what to expect when something says, "sold out" and I know how to brace myself for unreasonable lines and crowds. These events are not for the faint of heart but as a hard-core fan, it was a pleasure and honor to be there. read more

Where do I start?! So, I'm giving it 3 stars (and that's being generous) due to the fact there was some cool stuff there that, had the convention not happened, I would probably never have seen..such as the holy grail of hello kitty - the first ever product she was on!! I bought my ticket when they first went on sale, and had been so super excited ever since. My friend and I took days off of work and drove all the way down from San Francisco to attend. We got to LA the night before and walked to the convention on Saturday morning. We only had passes for the one day and had planned on spending all day there, and then hopefully have time to go to the exhibit at the Japanese museum. We admittedly left the hotel a little later than we had planned on, so didn't start heading down there till 8:45. By the time we got there at 9, the line to get in was wrapped around the building. We realized that even if we had left an hour earlier it wouldn't have made any difference - people must have been there for hours ahead of us. We went and got our passes (the shortest line of the entire day - took about 5 mins), then decided to go get a coffee and wait for the line to start moving. 10:15 and the line was moving, so we decided to join it...got in there around 10:45. Great, we're in the grounds. We went and got our free Hello Kitty bags - my friends broke by the time we had got back to where the line started. No surprise, they weren't giving replacements. There were already a lot of lines outside (even one for the stupid coin press machines!). There was a long line to be able to get your picture taken by the Hello Kitty mural outside - we got pictures of it on it's own so decided not to join the line. We also figured we would go the food trucks later. We got in the main building, and it was heaving already. We took a quick scan of the puroland posters and then headed in to the market hall. It was like black Friday. It was hard to get close to any of the vendors as there were so many people. We figured we would walk around and then go back if we needed to. A few vendors on, and we saw the autograph table. Awesome...I had brought my convention poster with me to get signed (hopefully from Yuko)...this was apparently not to be. Despite only being open less than an hour, when we got to the table we were informed that they were done signing for the day. I'm sorry what?! You're done signing after less than an hour at a convention?! Are you kidding me?! I was so disappointed by this. As for everything else...it was like being in a cattle market. Sooo many people in a really small space. And I'm sorry, I love kids and I appreciate that Hello Kitty appeals to all ages, but strollers are just not a good fit in a place like this. I had my foot ran over at least 5 times by strollers. There were some really cool unique things here, but due to the super long lines, I as a fan did not get to experience them...fine if lines are taken up by true fans, not fine when people take up spots in lines to buy unique stuff to then sell on ebay the same day for multiples times the price. I know this isn't the conventions fault so much, but it still adds to the frustration of the day. The best part - nothing to do with the convention - the exhibit at the Japanese museum is awesome! Well worth the visit just for that. And, considering that the exhibit is about her history more than what was on display at the convention, there was surprisingly hardly anybody at it! Hopefully, if they have the convention again, they learn from the huge mistakes that were made this year! And don't even get me started on the the hungry hunt...all I'll say is, if you saw the lines for the limited time these things were open, you were sure to actually go hungry! read more

Complete mess! Will probably attend again 5 years from now when they will probably get it together. Too many lines. Too many people in a venue to small. "No ins and outs!" Yet we were told to exit to get in a line to get back in for one of the venues where they held many events. Everything sold at this event was sold in stores and across the street in a Sanrio Store. Food trucks took 45 minutes to make fries, way understaffed, and unprepared! I could keep complaining but I won't because I AM So. Over. It. read more

This Con, for the most part, was awful. The lines were too long, and one of the staff members actually was yelling at the crowd, then told her co-workers how much she loved bossing people around. We were told some activities were "for kids only " (even though they have no signs). I waited in line to do sand art, then was turned away, then adults were doing the activity right after I was turned away! We barely did anything there besides stand in lines to be turned away by the time we got to the front. I will only go next time if we get there early and go for the whole weekend. Big disappointment! read more

If I could give it zero star, I would do so. I attend the first day on Thursday and it was horrible!!!! I still can't believe how disorganized this event was by such a big company - Sanrio!!! Before I attend the event, I really look forward to it. But it turned out to be a big disappointment! 1) Tickets/Venue: I totally agree with other reviewers, they oversold tickets for sure. Lines everywhere, and there's no sign to tell you where the lines start and what the lines were for. Hey, it's a convention, and you sold sooooooooooo much tickets, why did you choose this small venue? They should choose a much bigger venue!!! 2) Parking: It's located at Little Tokyo at DTLA area with no parking structure designed for the venue. They should totally pick a venue which offer parking structure!!! It was big hassle to find parking in the area, and you have to walk over to the venue!!! 3) Registration/Entrance: This is where the line started. Once you arrived, you had to line up around the building to pick up your badge. Thursday was such a hot sunny day. Waiting outside the building just to get the badge was not fun at all. Why can't you just mail the badges out before the event????? And after you picked up your badge, you had to wait in line to get in at the entrance area. 4) Staffs: Like what other reviewers said, staffs were RUDE!!!! I thought it is supposed to be a fun/friendly event for kids and adults since the theme was Hello Kitty, and you hired unfriendly staffs for the event? I saw the staffs arguing and complaining each other there and yes, they were not professional. I was upset because they were out of supplies for the sand art activities at 2pm (yes, 2pm!!! the event was supposed to last till 7pm and it was the first day!!!) and I was telling them the truth that this event was very disorganized, and the staff did not apologize but gave me a dirty look!!!! WTH??? 5) Restroom: only two restroom for 6000+ people? Ridiculous! 6) Food: They only had 4 food trucks....again for 6000+ people? Definitely not enough!!!! The line was forever!!! The hello kitty cafe truck only offered desserts and a bottle of water was $4!!!! expensive, and not to mention all the desserts were way toooooooooooo sweet!!!! Please improve your quality before you open the actual cafe in 2015!!! Or else, it will be another failure for sure. And one hello kitty truck???? I thought you are supposed to have more hello kitty themed food for a hello kitty con! The grill cheese truck was out of napkins, water, and soda by noon! awwwwwwww.....WTH? 7) Activities: There was not enough activities, space, and/or staffs. We lined up for the sand art activities at 2pm and was told they were out of hello kitty sticky board but they only had the trains left, and they also out of some color sands!! Are you kidding me? Who want to have non hello kitty stuffs from a hello kitty con?????????? and you were out of supplies at 2pm while the event last till 7pm? By the time the staff told us, we already wasted at least 20 minutes in line waiting, and ended up not able to do that. Ok, we then went to the marketplace, it was packed and products were not exclusive,you could just get them somewhere else, so what's the point???!!!!!! We then wanted to line up to get into the Sanrio store, and we couldn't find the line in the venue....you know what? because the line was super long and you had to line up outside the building. We started lining up at 4pm and was told by the staff there's 99% chance we would NOT be able to get in by the end of the event at 7pm, so they had to stop the line and asked us to leave! This was the biggest disappointment!! I really wanted to check out the Hello Kitty Con exclusive products, and now I missed it because of the stupid long line! We headed to the carnival and the same thing happened, they stopped the line!!!! I was so pissed because I paid $30 and ended up did not do anything!!!!! At the end, we just line up to take a picture with Hello Kitty. We were told the wait would be 20 minutes, but it turned out we waited over an hour!!! Just to take one picture with Hello Kitty!!!! Hey!!! Don't tell me you only have one person in the event to be Hello Kitty!!!! And that staff need over an hour break time??????????????? To sum up, I am very disappointed. I wanted to give Sanrio feedback in regards of this specific event, but it seems like there is no contact email available. Well, I really don't know if I will attend any event alike in the future because it was a total failure! read more

This is the first ever Hello Kitty Convention and I was super excited to go that I even bought my sister's ticket so I could have someone to go with. Unfortunately, this will also be my last visit because it was truly not worth wasting one's time standing for hours in long lines just to go into a store or to get food. There's even a line to take pictures by the building wall! How annoying. The poor planning for this convention was very apparent and some of the staff manning the lines were rude. The items also sold at the convention were eventually found online at Sanrio.com or elsewhere. The only bright side was the close proximity to the Japanese Village Plaza and that they had free entry to the Hello Kitty Exhibit at the Japanese American National Museum next door. Glad I went at least once just to say I attended a Hello Kitty Convention but never again. Two stars for the nostalgia but 2 huge thumbs down for the rest of the convention. read more

Sunday (Last Day): They said Hello Kitty Con was supposed to place where everyone is happy. In reality Hello Kitty brings out the worst in people - namely greediness, envy and materialism. There were people lining up multiple times to get bags (which you can find people selling on Ebay for $15). Those are the minority of the Hello Kitty fans and the ones that ruined the convention. Staff were friendly - always agreeing to take pictures and did all they could given the circumstances. But bottom line, gosh-darn-it I want my bag, I paid $30 for it!! Best part of the convention - surprisingly not the long lines for junky trinkets or the chance to purchase "limited edition" HK gear, but the speaker panels. read more

No stars if I could. So many people, greedily oversold. Bought my tix the first day they were in sale. Didn't matter. No crowd control, not enough vendors, DANGEROUS!! Fire marshall locked us out the exhibit hall. Was not able to see or purchase one single item or attraction and spent $130 on entrance for my family to get swag bags. I'd rather go to disneyland on xmas day and wait for every line than do this again. Thank your greedy corporate mass marketing for making me resent one of my favorite things. Get your act together, Sanrio and target! You've been to conventions before you should know how this ish works!!! So disappointed in this event. read more

Went on Sunday, and spent a large portion of the time I was there waiting in lines. 15m line to get my badge, 30m line to get in, 10m line to get into the building, 15m line to get into the shopping area (those were back-to-back). the staff had no idea what was going on, and were extremely rude. I also tried to wait in another line to get upstairs, but they cut off the line ahead of me after I had been waiting there for about 10m, and told the rest of us to disperse (no apology). This is not what I would expect of a paid event. I will not be back next year unless they book the LA Convention Center. read more

I was so disappointed. I brought my 2 daughters, thinking that I was sharing this wonderful "friendly" experience. After 3 hours (on Sunday, the last day), we left in tears, never having made it inside a building (save for badge pick-up, which took 1 hour). We made it only to the food court area, left with no other options than (1) stand in another line for 1/2-1 hour for food, or (2) stand in another line for 1/2-1 hour for the privilege of using the bathroom. Getting inside the MOCA or gift shop? No way! Too many people! How did Sanrio and/or the event promoter let this get so oversold? I want our $$ back! read more

I did not realize there was a place to post for this event, but I came across it from a friend and needed to add my review. This is mostly for my wife because she is one of the BIGGEST Hello Kitty fans in the world. We actually have a whole room dedicated to Hello Kitty only!!! We knew going in that since it was the first Hello Kitty Con that there would be issues, but this had to be one of the most unorganized conventions that I have ever gone to. Many of the staff were...just simply mean...even to little kids! I am not sure if any organizers actually read these reviews, but if they do maybe you should survey those who bought tickets and see where you went wrong...starting with your staff. Another major issue for most fans was that you pretty much closed the store around 1:30pm(thursday) even though the convention was over at 5pm?? So many fans were left out in the cold. The fans that were in line with us when they cut it off were from so many different places and countries. It was ridiculous that fans were not able to buy souvenirs, especially for those who traveled great distances. I know events like this or even Comic Con don't really care because people will come regardless and their events will sell out no matter what, but atleast for people who don't know about it, they will know what they are getting themselves into before they go and will not be disappointed like the 1000+ other fans that got sent away for over 4 hours that day. read more