Dragon Con is Coming - Some Helpful Advice Before the Con!

Dragon Con is about a month away and since I'm in 10+ Dragon Con groups on Facebook, my feed has been all Dragon Con, all the time.

This is my 12th Dragon Con so I'm definitely a veteran congoer. So I thought I'd address some of the topics that keep coming up.

1) Sheraton and Legionnaire's Disease

The big news this year is that the Sheraton, one of Dragon Con's host hotels - the one everyone has to go to at least once because that's where badge pickup is - had confirmed cases of Legionnaire's disease. This is understandably freaking people out - especially people with hotel reservations there and disabled folks, since Sheraton is where Disability Services is usually located. 

I've seen the same news posts shared over a dozen times, and even in the last few days people are posting like it's new. This has been going on for a few weeks - if anyone scrolled in just about any of the Dragon Con groups they'd see a post about it.

Unfortunately all any of us can do is wait and see. Supposedly, they are cleaning it up as we speak and say that it should only be closed until August 11th. Freaking out isn't going to help anyone and posting the same information over and over is annoying.

2) Dragon Con Parade

I love the Dragon Con Parade! It's one of my all-time favorite things to do at Dragon Con. I sadly had to miss marching in the parade last year since I was recovering from kidney stone surgery. I was at the con, just not up to the parade.

Lots of newbies are apparently discovering the parade and wanting to join in. In years past, this was totally possible. Sadly this is no longer the case.

Parade signups opened on February 15th and the parade was completely full a few hours within signups being open. If you didn't make it in, you went on the wait list. Several months ago, the folks in charge closed the wait list because it was so darn long.

Lots of groups will sign up for spots, and if you miss out, finding a group that will work with your costume that has open spots is the only way to go right now. But as we get closer to the con, those groups will be giving their empty spots back to the parade officials so they can try to get more people off the wait list.

When I realized that I couldn't march last year, I made sure to let the head of the parade know so she could give someone my spot. 

But if you are new to Dragon Con, I highly recommend that you watch the parade at least once. I think it gives you a unique perspective before walking in it yourself. I watched the parade the first couple of years I went to Dragon Con and then I've walked in the parade for many years. I'll be in the Disney section this year cosplaying as Snow White.

3) Selling Badges

Like I said above, I've been going to Dragon Con a long time. In the olden days, you could sell and transfer your badge if there was a reason you couldn't come. But that policy was ended many years ago - I did a quick google search and it looks like 2012 was when they became nontransferable.

But in the last week or so, I've seen several posts in Dragon Con groups asking how to sell a badge because said person could no longer attend for whatever reason. Most of the reasons seem to be because said person couldn't afford it.

I've heard there are some extreme circumstances where Dragon Con let a person move their membership to the next year, but that's like natural disaster stuff. Not "I can't afford it" stuff.

There was one tonight who really didn't like the "you can't" answer that people were giving her. She even brought up the fact that Dragon Con will let you have someone else pick up your badge if they have a note and copy of your id. But that's for like people who have a late flight and can't get to badge pickup while they are open. If you did that and the person just kept the badge, it's a clear violation of Dragon Con's rules.

Dragon Con has made it very clear that anyone caught buying or selling badges will get a lifetime ban to the con. Yeah, it sucks being out of that money, but I certainly wouldn't want to risk being banned for life. This was also why I went to Dragon Con last year a week and a half after I had surgery. 

It's very clear on the terms and conditions that Dragon Con memberships are nontransferable and nonrefundable. If you can't go, I'd email Dragon Con to see if anything can be done. But be prepared to just eat the cost of the badge. Skirting the rules doesn't seem worth it to me.

Beyond these specific things, remember to shower at least once a day, eat a few real meals a day, get some sleep, shower and use deodorant! Drink lots of water because it's hot in Atlanta in August / September. Always follow Wheaton's Law (Don't Be A Dick!) and remember there is no earthly way to see everything Dragon Con has to offer. But have fun!

Dragon Con 2018 - Sunday!

This is the 3rd and final post of my Dragon Con 2018 recaps, to start at the beginning click here!

The Sunday of Dragon Con last year was a special one, because it was Emily's first full day at Dragon Con. She had been begging for several years to go, but because we tend to wait in line a lot at Dragon Con, Todd was hesitant to bring her. Since she was almost 10, we both felt it was time.

We started by getting me into the disability chairs for the Evangeline Lily autograph line. Then Todd and Emily made the trek to the Sheraton to get her badge. We had to wait a while for her to show up - thankfully we had the foresight to have Emily bring her tablet with her.

I was cosplaying as Anna from Frozen while Emily had her Pikachu costume on. She also had her Uma from Descendants shirt on because she wanted to wear it when she met the actress who played Uma.

Once Evangeline Lily arrived we were ushered back to meet her. We got to see Peter Capaldi (the 12th Doctor) since he was in the same area. Evangeline Lily was super sweet, especially to Emily. She had written a children's book and was giving the first one away with every autograph. We bought the 2nd one for Emily.

From there, we went up to the regular Walk of Fame so Emily and I could get our picture with Mandy to me. It was honestly the best celebrity interaction I've ever had!

Catherine Tate, who was awesome. She was super nice to Emily, gave her a free autograph and sang the song

After that, we went to the one place Emily had been dying to go to - the Dealer's Room! We stopped by the BPAL booth and Emily finally got to meet Beth and Ted's daughter, Lilith. Lilith is only a few months older than Emily is and they hit it off right away!

We wandered the dealer's room a while - I honestly don't remember what Emily bought but she got some things. Though the thing she still talks about is how another congoer actually gave her a Pokeball with a tiny stuffed Pikachu in it. She was amazed and very  happy about that!

We got in line for China Anne McClain, who plays Uma, and waited, and waited. After about 15 minutes, I was starting to fade so I asked a volunteer for a chair. They quickly got me one which helped a lot. In the end I think we waited over an hour for her because the time on her table was not correct.

We were about to leave when she finally showed up and we were so glad we stayed. Sadly she wasn't doing table pictures but we got her autograph. She loved Emily's Uma shirt and gave Em a hug and a fist bump. Emily was more than a little starstruck!

Emily and I went to wait in the disability corral for the Catherine Tate panel. She was again, hilarious! We were going to stay for Mikey Mason's concert but after the panel I was completely out of spoons so we headed back to my aunt and uncle's house.

I had a good time at Dragon Con 2018, and I was so grateful for disability services. I would not have made it without all the chairs. I wouldn't recommend having surgery right before con, but I'm glad it worked out in the end.

This year will be better. I'll be back in the parade and Emily will be coming with us on Sunday again!