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!

SC Comicon 2018

I was really excited to see that Cary Elwes was coming to a nearby con in Greenville, SC but since it was right after Lexington Comic Con I didn't think we'd be able to go. But my wonderful husband surprised me by buying a photo op with Cary Elwes at SC Comicon for my birthday.

Cary Elwes is an awesome actor. My favorite role he's done is Westley from The Princess Bride mostly because that is one of my all time favorite movies. He doesn't do a lot of conventions either so I really wanted to meet him.

Since I work on Saturdays, it was easy for me and Emily to go on Sunday (sadly Todd had to work). But my Sunday School teaching partner was out of town that weekend, so I had to teach Sunday

School first. Since I wanted to get down to the con as quickly as possible because Emily also had youth group that night, Em and I wore our costumes to church.

I was Anna from Frozen so it was just a fancier dress than I usually wear to church and Emily was clad in her Pikachu costume. The kids in Sunday School thought it was a little funny. But once Sunday School was done, we got in the car and headed to Greenville.

Once we got there, we went straight to Cary Elwes' booth. We had to get a ticket showing we had bought a photo op to get in line and his booth was completely closed off so no passerby's could see him.

We didn't have to wait too long, and finally we got inside for our picture. He talked to us for several minutes and was very sweet, especially to Emily, as we talked about The Princess Bride. 

After we got our picture, I ran into several people I knew and chatted with them. Emily spent the money she had brought on Pokemon cards, and then we got some pictures with cosplayers. Batman, Boba Fett and some Ghostbusters!

We took off after that, since Emily needed to change before youth group. But it was a fun afternoon!

Lexington Comic Con - Sunday & Final Thoughts!

This is the 3rd and last post in this series, click here to start at the beginning!
We got our stuff packed up and into the car before we headed back to the con for a bit on Sunday. We had a long drive home in front of us, but Todd wanted to get more autographs and Emily wanted to check out the game room.

We got to the con again before it opened and we got in line. We were much closer to the front of the line than we had been the day before. As soon as they let us in, Emily and I headed to the game room

A very nice young man asked us what game we wanted to play. Emily said "Munchkin" but that needs 3 or more players so he joined us for two games of Marvel Munchkin. It was a fun game though a little different than the normal Munchkin. We had a good time and once we finished up, Todd was waiting for us.

We did one more loop around the dealer's room and then headed out since we had a five hour drive back to NC.

It was a very fun con. The layout that resulted in the crowding could be better. It also was a really bad idea to put some vendor booths right in the middle of the autograph area. That help keep things crowded.

I'm glad that we left early on Saturday because reading the comments on their FB page, it got crazy busy in the afternoon.

But we had a wonderful time and it was well worth going. If they have a decent guest list next year, we will probably return!

ConCarolinas 2016!

This past Saturday, Emily and I made the trek to Concord, NC to attend ConCarolinas. It was the first time in years that we've gone and both of us were really excited.

I donned my Tightrope Girl costume and Emily in her Kairi costume and we made the two hour trek. Driving in a corset was interesting! We made it a little before 10 am and quickly got our badges. From there, Emily wanted to check out the dealer's room.

I tried to encourage her to look at everything before spending all of her money. She did ok but did end up buying a Beanie Baby Unicorn coin purse almost right away.

We saw my friend, Mikey, and bought one of his coloring books. We mostly wandered around after that until Emily declared she was going to die from hungry. We found that one of the food trucks was set up and we got a couple of hot dogs. We enjoyed our meal on a patio area and got to watch some SCA knights do battle.

After that, it was time for Live Action Hungry, Hungry Hippos. It was an activity for the kids but the parents had to get involved too! Emily thought this was great fun but it was hard for me! I was still in my corset and Emily isn't exactly a lightweight anymore. We did about five rounds until I basically said no more! She got a ring pop as a prize and she was very happy with that.

parents had to get involved too. We had to wheelbarrow the kids to the middle of the floor where the kids had to grab as many balls as they could then we dragged them back to their respective corners.

We did some wandering around after that. She got to spin the wheel at one table and I got to answer a trivia question. I answered it correctly and won Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Emily practically screamed with joy! She also gathered a lot of candy from the different tables - it was like geeky trick or treating.

After a trek in the blazing heat back to the car, I got changed into my 2nd costume. My Kaylee costume is still very geeky but it's much, much more comfortable to wear. It was nice to not be corseted anymore.

We went to a panel about the lack of Rey toys and female characters in general. I found it interesting but Emily got bored after a bit. She is apparently still a little too young for panels

I wanted to see the costume contest but Emily didn't really. I offered her a compromise - that we could sit in the very back and she could play with her new stuff while I watched the costume contest. She agreed and had fun quietly playing with her Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. There were a lot of amazing costumes to see!

After the judging of the costume contest, we slipped out to get some dinner because now I was hungry. There were several other food trucks but one was wasn't open and the other was just a dessert one. So we opted to get hamburgers and chips. We went to the lounge area inside and had a nice little dinner.

It was getting to be closer to my friend Mikey's concert so we went to the room where it was going to be. We had an hour beforehand so we just stayed and watched the belly dance show that was happening right before the concert.

The belly dance show was very entertaining. The theme was Star War vs. Star Trek so all the dances were inspired from those shows / movies. By the end, Emily was trying to belly dance to the music herself!

After that, it took a few minutes for Mikey to set up and then his show got rolling. Emily, ironically, spent some time coloring in Mikey's coloring book while Mikey was singing. I enjoyed the concert a lot. I've only seen him live once before at the Browncoat Ball in 2014 but sadly I don't remember it because of my seizures. I pretty much sang along the whole concert!

After Mikey was done, we headed out. It was after seven and we had a two hour drive home. The drive home was uneventful and Emily slept most of the way. She says she wants to go the whole weekend next year.

ConCarolinas is a great con! Lots of great people, fun entertainment and lots of geeking out!

ConCarolinas and Me

ConCarolinas is a mid-sized con that takes place outside of Charlotte every year at the beginning of June. It's a great con because a lot of my friends go to it and it's like a mini Dragon Con without the massive crowds.

It's been a few years since I've been able to go to ConCarolinas, but on Saturday Emily and I are heading there for the day. I'm very excited to go for a lot of reasons. Emily's excited to show off her Kairi costume and go to Mommy's friend's concert (Mikey Mason!).

Emily was about 8 months old whens she went to her first ConCarolinas. It was her first con ever! But more important than that, ConCarolinas was instrumental in me realizing that I had Post Partum Depression. I wasn't excited for the con and I knew I ought to be. This caused me to finally get help and get back on a good track.

We went back the next year. I did some gaming while Todd chased around a mobile Emily. It was at this con that Emily had her first picture with a celebrity. Claudia Christian who played Susan Ivanova on Babylon Five thought Emily was so cute that she wanted a picture with her. Claudia Christian's husband sent Todd a copy of that picture. It's the first one in Emily's Hall of Fame Scrapbook.

I've had other great experiences at ConCarolinas and I'm sure this coming Saturday will be no exception. It's a great convention and everyone in the Carolinas should check it out!

Todd the Psychic

I will get to the Dragon Con recaps in the next couple of days. The con crud has been really kicking my butt hard the last few days. But I thought I'd share a little story that happened at the con.

Todd and I did quite a few panels on the Paranormal track. Most we were interested in, but we were also trying to avoid the crowds that were in the Marriott and the surrounding area on Saturday. The Paranormal track is in the Sheraton which is a little removed from the chaos.

The panel that ended up being the biggest bust for us was the ESP panel. It ended being an interactive panel and I learned that I'm not psychic at all. We had to try and guess what the pictures were in envelopes. At first, the lady leading the panel just held them up. But then she asked for volunteers to project the picture out to the audience with their minds.

I got nothing right on any of them - usually I was so far off that it was funny. Todd got a few things right on some of them, but mostly he struck out as well.

The next day, I had bought some mystery mini figures in the dealer's room. As a joke, Todd decided that he was going to use his ESP 'powers' to guess what figure I was going to get. The first two he got completely wrong, but on the Nightmare Before Christmas box he was right!

We were surprised but apparently Todd is a little psychic after all!

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.

Love the Dragon Con App!

https://play.google.com

I've been going to Dragon Con for many years. Traditionally, this would be the time of the year that the pocket program would be released. It would come in the form of a spreadsheet and would take a long time to pour over all the panels and events that were being offered.

Some people would print out their pdf pocket program and bring it to them to the con. I would always just use the copy provided when I would pick up my badge. It is always pretty flimsy and would start having major wear by the end of the first day. It would be falling apart usually by Sunday.

While it was organized in a way that it wasn't too hard to find out where you were going and wanted to do, it could be cumbersome at times. All of that changed last year with the release of the Dragon Con app.

The app is available for Android and Apple phones. It has all of the schedules for each of the tracks, maps, news, lists of vendors and more. It also has a great feature were you can add friends and then be able to see their schedule.

The full schedule is out now, and I was easily able to go to all my favorite tracks and add the panels that sound interesting to my schedule. Of course, there are some time periods were I’d need five more of me to do everything I’d want to do, but it’s easy to adjust the schedule in the app.

Now I can just pull out my phone and see what I want to do next at the con instead of flipping through the pocket program. It’s a wonderful app. The only real flaw that it has is that you have to generate a different friend code per person. That can get tedious when you have a large amount of friends. I’d love it if next year each person could get one friend code that is unique to them to give out to all their friends.

Otherwise, the app makes everything so much easier when trying to juggle the awesomeness of Dragon Con. I’d recommend it for any Dragon Con attendee with a smart phone.