Kids and Dragon Con

Dragon Con 2012

Dragon Con is coming up at the end of this month, and 80K+ people will descend onto downtown Atlanta. And some of those people will be kids.

I, of course, am the mom of a child. And even though Emily is 9, she will not be joining us for Dragon Con this year. There are several reasons why we choose not to bring her. For one, Dragon Con is overwhelming for adults and I know that it can be for kids as well.

You see, Emily has been down at Dragon Con a couple of times. The first time, we brought her down for the parade when she was 11 months old. She was ok, until the Netherworld (a local haunted house) float rolled on by. She got scared and just started wailing, so we headed out.

The 2nd time was when she was 3, almost 4 years old. She came down to Dragon Con with us to march in the parade. She did really good but soon just got tired and cranky. Todd took her back to my aunt and uncle's after the parade and we decided then that she would have to be much older before she returned to Dragon Con.

In the years since, she's gone to quite a few smaller cons. Lexington Comic Con, SC Comicon and ConCarolinas just this year. And she does great there, but still we choose to leave her with the kind local relatives who watch her while we are at the con.

I personally don't think little kids belong at Dragon Con. It's just too much, and I'm sure that it's hard for the parents to juggle the things they want to do while taking care of their kids. I'm sure there are people out there who disagree with me. I'm also one of those people who would never bring a baby or toddler to Disney World.

If you choose to bring your kids, be warned. It's crowded, there is tons of walking you and your kids will have to do. There are going to be spots where it's going to be hard to get a stroller through, especially if it's a big one.

Other things to look out for are costumes that show a lot of skin and some costumes that could be scary to kids. Most cosplayers wait until after dark to wear their racier costumes, but there is still some that might not be entirely appropriate for kids during the day. Just depends on your parenting style and how sensitive your kids might be to scary stuff.

For parents who want to go to Dragon Con, but have to bring their kids, I'd recommend getting a room in one of the host hotels or someplace close. That way you have somewhere to go when your kids start getting overwhelmed and cranky. Otherwise, get familiar with the Kaleidoscope track that has lots of programming geared towards kids.

And next year, we will have the child in tow for Sunday only. I think she may be a teenager before she gets to come on Saturday, unless she wants to march in the parade with me. She wants to go, but she doesn't really understand the scope of what Dragon Con is. Especially the way her dad does Dragon Con - running around to get autographs and look at the dealers room all the while going fast without stopping for a lot of breaks.

Just things to consider if you are thinking about bringing your kids to Dragon Con!

Dragon Con 2017 - Friday!

This is the 2nd post in my Dragon Con 2017 recap! To start from the beginning, click here!

Friday dawned very rainy but I still put on my very white Princess Leia costume because I had a photoshoot. Todd and I headed down to Atlanta fairly early and got some breakfast at the food court.

While we were eating, I saw from several people I know on social media that the dealer's room was doing a soft opening several hours early. We headed over there, and we got soaked! Thankfully, I had some clothes underneath my costume so I wasn't indecent. Plus my dress dried quickly.

There was a soft opening of the dealer's room and we were let in not long after we got there. The place was so empty it was great! I found the BPAL booth and got all the things I had promised to pick up for people. It was a good thing I did because one of the Dragon Con exclusive hair glosses actually sold out within an hour of the scheduled opening of the dealer's room.

After shopping a bit more, I left Todd and headed over to the Westin for the Princess Leia photo shoot. Someone had the idea to have this photo shoot the day Carrie Fisher died, and it was a

wonderful time. I didn't end up staying the whole time though - the pictures ended up great!

I went back to the dealer's room for a bit and talked to some friends. Then I went to the Marriott  because I was on back to back panels for the Kaleidoscope Track. A massive panel was getting out the same time I was trying to get to my panel and it was wall to wall people. Finally I did make it to the Kaleidoscope Track room.

The first panel was Cut the Cable, which we did years ago. It was a fun panel! The 2nd was Beauty and the Beast - Animation vs. Live Action. The room was pretty full and we had a lot of audience participation too. I love doing panels for the Kaleidoscope Track - it's a lot of fun!

From there, I met up with Todd at the Walk of Fame. I got my picture with Josh Segarra who was the villain Prometheus who was super nice! After that, I waited for the Arrow panel, very thankful to have seat to wait in the disability section. The panel was great and I met with Todd at the food court once it was over.

We headed back to my aunt and uncle's house and my dad had arrived. He had come down for the weekend to spend it with Emily (mostly her, my aunt and uncle too since my uncle is his brother). We hung out for a bit before heading to bed.

Up Next - Dragon Con - Saturday!

Dragon Con 2014 - Sunday

Me and Katie Cassidy (Laurel from Arrow)

This is the last post of my Dragon Con recaps - you can click the links to read about Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Sunday I planned on sleeping in but that didn't happen. About 6:30 in the morning, I was woken up by Emily losing her tooth. This was the first tooth she lost normally and not in the dentist's office.

We made sure to find the tooth and I put it in a small box I had been using for safety pins. I was awake at this point so we just hung out in the back bedroom for a bit to let Todd sleep.

Once everyone else was up, I got Emily dressed to go to church and I donned my Tightrope Girl costume again. We got downtown right around the time everything was opening up.

We went to the Walk of Fame first. We got autographs from the one Arrow guest we needed and John Ratzenberger (had him sign a Toy Story poster for Emily since he's the voice of Hamm). Bill Farmer, the voice of Goofy and other Disney characters, wasn't there yet so we headed off to the dealer's room.

At this point in the day, I had a migraine. I didn't really think much of it because of my chronic pain, but we soldiered on. Our first stop was at the BPAL booth. Beth and I talked about loosing teeth because I told her about Emily. It was fun! And I got another bottle of BPAL.

We found an Applejack that Emily requested and I bought some mystery box figures as well. It was time to meet Goofy Bill, so we headed back to the Walk of Fame.

Bill Farmer was awesome! I got his autograph and we talked to him for a bit and he even did the Goofy voice for us. It was one of the best meetings we had all con.

But at this point, my migraine was really bad and I was feeling woozy. We headed to the food court to get some food. Even after eating, I felt horrible. Even though I was suppose to be on a Kaleidoscope panel later that afternoon, I opted to email the track director and head back to my aunt and uncle's house.

It was a sucky way to end the con. I knew I had overdid it but I had hoped I could push through to make it through my last panel. I ended up passing out and sleeping for several hours once we got back. And it kicked off a couple of weeks of illness - I ended up at the doctor's last Friday because I wasn't getting any better and it was the flu.

Next year, I think I may either skip the Geek Girls Run fun run or wait until Sunday to give blood. Either way, despite how it ended, I had a great Dragon Con this year!

Dragon Con 2014 - Saturday

Image: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30130379@N07/15122087795

This is the 3rd post of my Dragon Con 2014 recap series. Click the links to read about Thursday and Friday!

Saturday was another early day for us. I donned my newest costume, The Haunted Mansion's Tightrope Girl, and we headed downtown. Usually Todd will walk me to the parade staging area, but he had a panel he wanted to go to so I walked myself.

It was really easy to find the Disney group and I talked to several people as we waited to go. As we started to march, I decided to take off my glasses and slip them in my purse. My eyes are really bad but I could see where I was going. It made the parade a unique experience.

Once I was done with the parade, I donned my glasses again and went to the Kaleidoscope track room because I was on a panel at 11:30. It was the Disney Princesses & Heroes Panel and I had a lot of fun talking Disney with the other panelists and the audience for an hour.

After that, I hustled over to the Sheraton to meet up with Todd. We did a panel on the Paranormal track that showcased psychic fraud. The panelist were Aiden Sinclair, a paranormal magician, and Patrick Doyle, one of the paranormal investigators from the show Ghost Mine. It made for an interesting mix.

Once our panel was over, we went back to the Marriott to get to the food court. And that's where we got stuck. Below is an illustration I made to show the worst traffic jam in Dragon Con.

The big red X is where the jam ends up being. It's a junction to get to a lot of places so tons of people end up there. We were stuck there probably 10 minutes trying to get to the food court. At this point in time, someone brilliant decided to route a line through the hallway that leads to the food court into the Marriott. 

Finally we got out of the jam, grabbed the first two open seats we saw and got some lunch. After a long lunch, we headed back to the Sheraton.

We were planning on doing more panels at the paranormal track later in the day but we fled to the Sheraton to escape some of the madness and crowds.

The first panel we did that after was the ESP one. This was the least interesting panel to me the whole weekend - mostly because I have no ESP abilities. We left a little before the end of the panel to get in line for the next panel.

Next up was the real story behind the Exorcism of Emily Rose which was extremely interesting because it ended up not being a real case of possession but mental illness on the part of the girl and a crazy ass priest who really wanted to exorcism someone.

We left that panel early too so we could get in line for Aiden Sinclair's show. We had gone to his show in 2013 and it was excellent. This  year's show had some similar things but some differences as well. I was picked to participate for his first trick. It was a lot of fun! 

I had a panel right afterwards in the Marriott and the show ended a little late. So Todd and I ran the several blocks in between. The crowds were still heavy even though it was now 8 pm but we didn't run into issues until we got to the big red X from my map above.

This time, two ladies were sitting side by side in wheelchairs. I'm all for people in wheelchairs to be able to come and enjoy the con, but they were in an area that has traffic jams regularly and isn't very wide. They were basically blocking the entire way and going slow.

Todd darted in front of them and almost got ran over. He was annoyed, I was annoyed and the dumb people causing the jam were annoyed and yelled at him. He basically ignored them and we got to my panel in time.

The panel was on Theme Park Travel but it ended up being all about Disney. My fellow panelists and I had a great time talking with a smaller audience about Disney Parks. Todd even offered his two cents in every once in a while.

Once we were done, it was 9:30 pm and had been at the con over 13 hours. It was the longest day we'd ever done (not counting the first couple of years when we stayed at the Marriott before Emily was born). It was a great day but way too long.

Next up - Sunday and the Crud

Dragon Con 2014 - Friday

Paul Blackthorne (Det. Lance from Arrow) and I

This is my 2nd post about Dragon Con 2014. You can start here with the Thursday post!

I'm going to preface this post by saying that I'm a sucky runner. I've been working on Couch to 5K for a couple of years now. Chronic pain is a bitch and when I get a flare, I can't run. But I'm slowly but surely getting better. But I run inside on my treadmill because I have a five year old and my husband works 2nd shift.

I've been following Geek Girls Run on social media for a while. One of my friends, Janine, is one of the founders of the group. I had wanted to do the fun run they did last year at Dragon Con but we ended up not having enough time because we ended up in the reg line of doom.

But this year, I was determined to do the run. I cosplayed as Kaylee from Firefly because it's my best costume for running in. And I opted to go with the run/walkers. This was a big mistake. 

I was ok until we got to the park and I just started lagging behind. And the hills were so hard - mostly because I run on a treadmill. I thought I was going to pass out during one huge uphill hill.

But I made it! I was the 2nd to last but I made it. Very proud by that, even though I did it, I think, contribute to my illness later in the weekend.

I found Todd who had my bag and my jacket. Because the run was in the morning we had some time

Me and Stephen Collins

to kill before the Walk of Fame would be open. So we got some lunch and hung out in the food court doing some people watching.

We did go over to the Marriott about a half hour before the Walk of Fame open. We got in line and waited. Once the doors opened, there was a mad rush but there was plenty of room for everyone once we got in there.

Friday is one of the best days to get autographs because it's not super crowded. I got both the Hobbit Guests, and we got three of the four Arrow guests. I also met Stephen Collins who I like best as the dad from 7th Heaven. Since we don't need two autographs from each person, I usually get pictures with celebs that Todd is getting the autograph for who are doing table pictures.

The longest line we waited in on Friday was for Karl Urban. We were told one time, but he was over an hour late. He had a panel and went to lunch afterwards. Once he got there, the line moved quite quickly. He was super nice too though he did say he was a little drunk. He was even more handsome in person than he is in the movies.

After that, we went to the dealer's room. First stop was the BPAL booth to do some sniffing and to talk to Beth and Ted. It was crowded but I got some sniffing in. I got one of the Peach atmo sprays and a bottle of Coraline for Emily.

We walked around the maze that is the dealer's room. Todd found a poster from Hellboy with a bunch of signatures on it and it was half price. They had a certificate of authenticity. We already had one of the autographs on it (Doug Jones) and it looked the same so we knew it was real. It was a must buy!

After that, we got some supper and waited for it to be time for my panel. The Kaleidoscope Track was kind enough to have me as a panelist for several panels. On Friday night, the panel I was on was called The Young Nerd Life. All the panelists were parents of geeklings of varying ages and we talked about their geeky likes and dislikes as well as how it is to be a geek parent raising a geek child. It was a lot of fun!

It was getting late so we headed out to go back to my aunt and uncle's house to get some sleep. The next day was going to be a long day.

Up Next - The Very, Very Long Saturday

The Bad of Dragon Con 2014

Last year, I did a post about all the bad things about Dragon Con and I thought I'd do that again. While my con experiences were mostly positive, there were some negatives. I'll cover the good stuff in my daily recaps that I'll be posting in the next couple of days.

The biggest bad was the crowds. Friday felt more crowded than usual but it was still pretty easy to move around, especially early in the morning. Sunday was fine, crowd-wise, but we left early on Sunday because I got sick.

Saturday was awful though. The crowds were extremely thick. Saturday crowds have always been heavy in the eight years I've been attending Dragon Con, but it has gotten worse and worse the last few years.

We got stuck a couple of times in the same place. In the Marriott there is a junction where you can go right to go to the Hyatt, left to go to the food court or the women's bathroom and straight to go to the blood drive and some track rooms. First time we got stuck was around lunch time and we were trying to get to the food court. A line was being routed through there for some reason and once we got past the doors out of the Marriott the crowds thinned out.

Later that night we were trying to go straight to get to the Kaleidoscope track room because there was a panel I was on. Todd is good about bobbing and weaving through the crowds but we got stuck behind a pair of women who were in wheelchairs side by side!

I don't mind seeing wheelchairs and I try to give them space, but these women were causing a traffic jam because they didn't have enough sense to go single file in a highly congested area. Todd darted in front of them to try and get around, and one nearly ran him over! Luckily they didn't and we made it with a few minutes to spare to my panel.

I also had more issues this year than any other with people stopped at the top of escalators. Escalators keep moving but several people stopped and gawked at the top of them, nearly causing a pile up. This happened to me many times over the course of the weekend.

Lastly, the dealer's room in the America's Mart was a bad as well. They had it in the same place this year and it was still a hugely confusing maze. It also got very crowded and we didn't even try to go there on Saturday. At least this bad is hopefully going to be fixed - from what I've heard, they are moving it to another building in the America's Mart where it should be less of a maze.

All in all, the good did outweigh the bad and I'll go over the good in depth with my recaps of each day. But the crowding issues is something that Dragon Con is going to have to address sooner than later.

Dragon Con Schedule and Cosplay!

Image: www.dragoncon.org

I've been lucky enough to be a panelist for several Kaleidoscope Track panels over the last few years. I love being on panels and talking about things I'm passionate about - which has been often been Disney related.

This year, I'm on four panels and I'm very excited about it! Here's my schedule if any of you want to attend!

The Young Nerd Life - Fri, August 29, 7pm – 8pm

A708 Atlanta Marriott Marquis

There are many shows families watch together! Let's discuss those shows & how kids fit into the world of fandom.

Disney Princesses & Heroes Panel - Sat, August 30, 11:30am – 12:30pm

A708 Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Fan led discussion about all of your favorite Disney Princesses and Heroes. 

Theme Park Travel - Sat, August 30, 8:30pm – 9:30pm

A708 Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Share ideas and discuss how to make theme park visits fun for the entire family.

Phineas & Ferb Fan Panel - Sun, August 31, 4pm – 5pm

A601/A602 Atlanta Marriott Marquis

What are you doing today? Discussing what you love about Disney Channels hit show 

I'm also planning on bringing several costumes as well as marching in the parade.

Friday - Kaylee from Firefly

Saturday - Haunted Mansion Tightrope Girl

Sunday - I'm hoping to wear the Tightrope Girl again - but if it's too sweaty and icky, I'll be wearing American McGee's Alice

I'm looking forward to Dragon Con! Hope to see some of you there! I'll be live tweeting through the con as well!

Dragon Con 2013 - Friday

Me and Kathy Najimy

In year’s past, we would drive down early on Thursday so we’d be able to get our badges. But since I have been working from home, I don’t have any vacation time. So I worked on Thursday until 3:30 pm and we left after that.

Last year we did the same thing and made it through the pre-reg line in about ten minutes. We hoped for the same this year, especially since I was on a panel at 10 am.  We got in line about 8:30 am and it was wrapped all the way around the Sheraton. I was worried that we wouldn't make it through in time to get to my panel.

Thankfully the line moved pretty fast and we made it inside after about 45 minutes. The line for pre-reg was really short and we just had to go through the queues. We made it out in plenty of time and hustled over to the Marriott for my panel.

I made it in time for the Princess, Fairies, and Pirates panel which was through the Kaleidoscope track. It was basically an all things Disney panel. I was one of the panelists and we all had a great time taking Disney with a packed room.

From there, Todd came with me to the Sheraton. I was supposed to take part in a Disney photo shoot since I was cosplaying as Snow White that day. I got my parade wristband while we were there, and then I started feeling really lightheaded. I hadn't eaten all day and I knew that I needed to get food.

We headed back to the food court and got lunch. It’s always fun to just sit and rest in the food court while people watching. By the time we were done, it was about an hour before the dealer’s room and Walk of Fame would be open. So I opted to give blood.

I have very small veins, so some years are more difficult than others to give blood. This year was one of the smoothest. The person got it in without any issues and it didn't take long for my bag o’ blood to fill up. I got my snack afterwards and my t-shirt (which I lost somewhere), and met up with Todd.

We headed to the Walk of Fame which is where all the celebrities do autographs and pictures. We did a walk through and figured out who was there and which autographs we wanted. My first autograph was Sylvester McCoy who was one of the Doctors in Doctor Who as well as being Radagast the Brown. He was very nice.

Todd got some autographs and we headed over to the dealer’s room. This was in a whole different building this year, now in the America’s Mart. I had hopes it would be less crowded, and in some ways it was, but the layout was really confusing. I found what I needed for my Kaylee costume right away and got to sniff some BPAL. I also got a few other things like a stuffed Luna for Emily. But we had some issues finding the exit when we were ready to leave.

We went back to the Walk of Fame and got the rest of our autographs. I got my picture with Kathy Najimy and the actor who plays Hershel on The Walking Dead. I got the rest of the Hobbit guests autograph my Hobbit poster. Todd got a couple of the Walking Dead guests and Adrian Paul. Everyone was very nice.

It was really crowded on Friday, more so than usual. So I opted not to do anymore panels. We got some supper in the food court and then headed back to my aunt and uncle’s house. I was pretty beat from all the running around and I had been woken up early by my small child. Plus we were going to have an early day with the parade on Saturday.

My Dragon Con Schedule

Dragon Con is coming up this weekend! I’m lucky enough to be a panelist for several panels for the Kaleidoscope track. I thought I’d post a schedule of those panels in case any of you wanted to check them out!

Friday, August 30

10:00am - Princess, Fairies, and Pirates – Marriott A708

A discussion of favorite Disney characters: Snow White to Merida, Prince Charming to Captain Jack Sparrow.

Sunday, September 1

4:00pm - Phineas & Ferb, Come to Danville - Marriott A601 - A602

Danville has everything from Fireside Girls to secret agents to evil scientists. Discuss your favorites.

I’ll also be marching in the parade with Whedonverse track on Saturday morning in my Kaylee costume.

If you see me, feel free to say hi and come by the panels if they interest you!

Dragon*Con Parts Ways With Accused Child Molester

Me and Ron Glass at my first Dragon*Con

I've been an attendee of Dragon*Con since 2007. It's one of my favorite weekends of the year. I've heard all about Ed Kramer in the past. For those of you who don't know, Ed Kramer is one of the founders of Dragon*Con. He's not be involved with the con for over 10 years, but he has gotten money from the con because of the way the corporation that puts on Dragon*Con is set up. Also, he's an accused child molester.

Even though he's never been convicted, many people find it upsetting that an accused child molester may be getting any money. Every year, right before the con, there would be calls for boycotts of Dragon*Con. Earlier this year, the boycott actually got some traction. I know a few people who said they would never attend Dragon*Con because of it.

I decided early on not to boycott. I knew that Dragon*Con didn't want to be associated with Kramer but there were legal obstructions that kept them from breaking ties. Today, the great news came out that Dragon*Con had restructured and Ed Kramer will no longer be receiving money from the con. There was a buyout, which I'm sure will still upset some people, but I think it's great that Dragon*Con has now gotten the child molester off of their back.

I'm already really looking forward to the con. I'll be part of several panels through my favorite track, the Kaleidoscope track. I'll also be marching in the parade and cosplaying everyday.

You can read more about Dragon*Con's restructuring at their Facebook page.