Sunday is always a little depressing at MegaCon, at least to me. It is the last day for another year. The crowds are a little smaller than on Saturday but still as big or bigger than the Friday crowds. I only had two panels I wanted to attend on Sunday so I spent some time in the showroom. This is the day I usually buy whatever I’m going to buy. I don’t typically spend a lot of money (the hotel and tickets are quite enough) and the videos I bring home are always my best souvenirs anyway. I always buy at least something though. This year it was a few X-Files and random other comics.
The first panel I attended was the Firefly panel with Summer Glau, Adam Baldwin and Alan Tudyk. This panel was awesome like all the other panels I attended this year. They talked some about Firefly but also a lot about other work they have been doing. Firefly is one of those series I have been meaning to rewatch. When I think of Adam Baldwin now I think of ‘Chuck’ more than anything.
The final panel of the day and of MegaCon for the year, at least for me, was the Doctor Who panel with Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston. Again, it was an awesome panel. I’m a relative newcomer to Doctor Who but I enjoy the show and these actors. You might find a possible semi-spoiler or two in this one…
And that’s it for MegaCon 2015. Next year MegaCon is moving to Memorial Day weekend and adding an extra day (Thursday). I certainly hope to be there!
Saturday is historically the busiest day at MegaCon and this year was no exception. Despite the record crowds (93,000+ this year vs. 80,000+ last year) however, there was far more space to move around in this year. The aisles in the showroom were wider this year which made a huge difference and being back in the usual convention center building with more space reserved in general helped a lot too. The ticket pickup/lobby area was noticeably more crowded but things still seemed to run smoothly. I didn’t have to wait in line Saturday so I don’t know how the wait times compared but I doubt it was much worse than Friday and it was certainly much better than last year.
I didn’t have any panels to attend in the morning so I spent some time looking around the showroom floor. Saturday is always the busiest day and it was certainly crowded but thanks to a larger showroom area and wider aisles it lacked the claustrophobic “help, we’re all going to die in a fire” feel of last year. Here’s a lengthy video walking up and down most of the aisles:
The first scheduled item of the day was the Universal Costume Contest. This contest includes categories such as Movie/TV Character, Super Hero/Villain, Star Wars, Video Game Character, etc. Pretty much everything except anime which has its own costume contest later in the day.
After the costume contest it was just about time to get in the line to see Michael Rooker. Michael Rooker has starred in Guardians of the Galaxy, The Walking Dead, Jumper and the list goes on. Most panels are taken up by audience member questions and answers. Typically lines of people interested in asking a question will form on each side of the stage and the host will alternate between the two lines. This panel was no exception. In most cases, time runs out before everyone that wanted to ask a question gets to. Michael Rooker solves this problem by doing a speed round when time is almost up. From a few comments I have seen here and there it seems some people think he is a jerk because the answers to the speed round questions are short, comedic, and often sarcastic, particularly when it is a long or open ended question that there is no short answer to. However, this is just a way for everyone to get to interact with him that wanted to. He’s really not a jerk (at least I didn’t get that impression).
The final panel of the day for me was the Flash Vs. Arrow panel with Robbie Amell, Danielle Panabaker and David Ramsey. This was a panel that was not originally scheduled but MegaCon managed to add as a replacement for some of the cancellations they had (Good job MegaCon!). This panel started almost immediately after the Michael Rooker panel so I was at the tail end of the line. If this had been last year I would have had no prayer of getting in but since they had much larger rooms available this year it was no problem. There was plenty of room for everyone even if I did have to sit in the nosebleed seats. Before this panel I actually had not watched Flash or Arrow but I have since binge watched season 1 of arrow and several episodes in season 2 with Flash still to be watched. Nevertheless, I still found the panel very entertaining but beware, there are a few spoilers here.
After this, I went back to the hotel room, had dinner, changed clothes and walked back to the convention center for the Geeks of Comedy show at 10pm. They have been doing a show at MegaCon for at least the last several years but this is the first time I have gone. It was definitely worth it and I recommend you go see them next year if you never have before (assuming they come back of course).
MegaCon 2015 is over for another year. Anybody who went last year knows what a mess it was in terms of organization and crowd control. There were a few reasons for this. First, they were in the North/South building at the Orange County Convention Center instead of the East/West building where they have been every other year except one. That building does not have as much room and is not set up quite as well for such a large number of people. Second, there were significantly more attendees than they originally expected. Finally, there was at least one other major convention going on at the same time. At any rate, crowding was horrendous to the point that it was difficult moving around anywhere, especially on the showroom floor, and line control for the panels was virtually non existent. Many people waited for hours to see the Walking Dead panel and did not get in because people simply rushed the doors. It was not a pleasant experience.
I am happy to say that this year was significantly better and in fact one of the best MegaCon’s I have attended in the 16 years I have been going. MegaCon was back in the East/West building and more space was reserved. Line control was excellent for the panels with lines being set up in empty rooms and other empty spaces well ahead of time. The showroom floor had wider aisles and though it was crowded, especially on Saturday, it was never nearly as bad as last year and there was always room to move around.
This year was the first year I attended a full three days. The last couple of years I’ve been there Saturday and Sunday but only part of the day on Friday. Before that I usually only went Saturday and/or Sunday. Next year MegaCon has an extra day so I hope to go four full days.
On to the Highlights:
Unfortunately, we did not arrive early enough Thursday night in order to pick up tickets so I had to wait in line to pick up advance tickets on Friday morning at xam. The good news is that once they started distributing the tickets the line went very fast. I was only in line maybe 15 minutes and most of that was because the person in front of me was having issues of some sort. This was another massive improvement from last year.
After picking up tickets and hanging around the area for a little while taking pictures while waiting for the opening, we were off to the main entrance (to the showroom floor anyway):
Upon entering, the first place you come to is a sort of giant room used as a holding area until the showroom opens but even in here there are a few things including R2 builders, a lego display, GameStop, and some of the other Star Wars groups. I didn’t spend any time in showroom on Friday though. The main reason I go to MegaCon is for the panels and my panel schedule started early Friday.
12:15p-1:05p: Saturday Morning Cartoons
First up was the Saturday Morning Cartoons panel. This panel was hosted by Marc B. Lee, a long time host of panels at MegaCon, DragonCon and beyond and is always a part of what makes the panels so entertaining. This was basically a panel to reminisce on the time when Saturday morning cartoons existed with an emphasis on the early years. From the program:
“From Space Ghost to H.R. Pufnstuf, from Thunderbirds to Smurfs, The Great Grape Ape or Electra Woman and Dyna-Girl. We all remember and yet wish it was like that now. Relive your Saturday mornings with Marc B. Lee and his hindsight on what was classic.”
This was an awesome way to ease in to MegaCon for the weekend.
Almost immediately following the end of this panel came the Milo Ventimiglia panel.
1:20p-2:10p: Milo Ventimiglia
For those that don’t know who Milo is, he is probably best known for his role as Peter Petrelli on Heroes (at least he is by me) but he is quite a prolific actor and discussed much of the work he has done in this panel. He really seemed excited to interact with the fans. From the program: “Join Milo for a Q & A about his time on Heroes and his new role as Ogre the arch villain on Gotham.”
After the Milo panel I took a little break and got something to eat. I think it was an $8 pretzel dog. Serves me right for not bringing food. Anyway, afterwards I went and got in line for the Cary Elwes panel, the one I was most looking forward to on Friday.
4:00p-5:00p: Cary Elwes
Cary Elwes was originally scheduled, then cancelled, then MegaCon fortunately got him back some how. Cary Elwes told some great stories about Andre and working on The Princess Bride as well as many of the other projects he has done. My favorite panel of the day!
After the Cary Elwes panel I finally got a chance to walk around on the showroom floor for a few minutes. Didn’t really shop around much or stay very long…that would come later in the weekend.
Finally, Friday night, after having a swim at the hotel and eating dinner, I attended the Super Strip Burlesque.
9:00p-11:00p: Super Strip Burlesque
It was quite popular but I though it was a little dissappointing. Lots of scantily clad women which is always a plus (and a couple scantily clad men as well) but the show itself wasn’t that great. No cameras were allowed so you won’t say any pictures or videos here. From the program:
Pleasure Pixels Burlesque are a prominent nerdlesque troupe that have featured shows all across the Tampa Bay area. Some of these shows include: Sailor Moon, Pokemon, and Madoka Magica. Come be entertained by our Super Smash Brothers edition, and make sure you bring an ID – our show is 18+…”
