A few weeks ago, at the end of May, I attended MegaCon 2017 in Orlando. I’ve been going to MegaCon every year for the past 18 years with the exception of 2007 when it happened to correspond to the due date of my second daughter. MegaCon has certainly had its ups and downs over the years.
Every year I have attended except the first in 1999 it has been held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. This year and one other year I attended it was in the North/South building (as opposed to the West building where it has been most of the time). I was a little nervous about this because I don’t think that building is laid out as well and the last time MegaCon was there it was a disaster as far as organization. However, I was pleasantly surprised.
Despite the crowds, everything seemed very well organized and I had no problems getting in to the panels I wanted to see as they were in very large rooms. I believe the last time it was held in this building they only used one side of it so they used double the space they did a few years ago. This experience is in contrast to Star Wars Celebration which was held at the OCCC the previous month. Their organization was terrible and it wasn’t good enough to stand in line for a panel once, you had to wait in line overnight for wristbands if you wanted a chance to have the privelege of standing in line again later. It also cost significantly more for far less content. Based on that experience I don’t think I would ever again attend a convention run by ReedPop.
MegaCon was an independent convention run by a couple of local people up until a couple of years ago when they were bought by Fan Expo. Shortly thereafter, MegaCon expanded to four days. Other than the price rising somewhat, I don’t have any real complaints about what Fan Expo has done. Thus far they have been well organized and have done a great job with the convention (unlike ReedPop with Star Wars Celebration).
I’ll be posting various videos and pictures from MegaCon 2017 as I get the chance. Until then, you can check out some of the pictures here: https://file.army/a/7ppfj and some of the video here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnrIreHW_5CYUHXs826p1Cez6boJOhFSA
