by Jaimz Dillman
When there’s a slight break in the weather (and I mean slight) over Labor Day Weekend, thousands of fans of fandoms descend on downtown Atlanta, Georgia, for an annual celebration of all things movies, TV, anime, and more at Dragon Con, one of the largest multi-media pop culture conventions in the world. As we had our first visit last year, we came back this round a little more educated and ready for like-minded hordes seeking costumes, celebrities, panels, shopping, and so many other things to do!
Checking in Thursday was easy enough—even though we got someone else’s badge and, we assumed, he got ours, a quick trip to a neighboring hotel that makes up a trio of connected hosting locations, and we had credentials in hand! Even though festivities and the schedule don’t technically start until Thursday, the saying is "Tuesday is the new Thursday," with attendees arriving early to claim their much-sought-after rooms and places among the crowds.
Cosplays were already representing hard early out the gate. Fallout seemed to be the thing this year with every variable you can dream up. Of course, there were Deadpools at every turn. My favorites were groups with the organizational skills to get all the Wizard of Oz characters together and put a gender-bent twist, entire teams of fully suited-up superheroes, or the whole family of Bob's Burgers.
Now, I’m old school and understand many of the classics, even some comic book heroes and people from video games, but I had to rely on my teen to clarify who some people were dressed as. And sometimes, she didn’t even know. There’s just so much!!
We got into the ribbon trading game last year (self-adhesive ribbons to hang off your lanyard with pithy little sayings), so we came armed with our own to trade this year—yes, we bought a ribbon machine to make our own—we go hard! Skipping any trading events, we organically gained our count this year by collecting from other attendees and vendors through the weekend. While significantly less than if we had gone to the meetups, we did pretty ok with about 20-25 for each of us.
And half the fun is talking to people about why they had what they were giving out. Our ribbons included Cobra for our cosplays on Saturday, It’s Uzi Tome Baby for the Deadpool photo meetup on Sunday, and, of course—a Creepy Kingdom ribbon to spread the gospel! Staying about an hour offsite meant an early evening departure from the con, but we were back at it early each morning.
Friday was all about Harry Potter as we had a 21st birthday celebration in our party and, with four Harry Potter actors present, you better believe we got that group photo and autographs! Now, the photo ops are run like clockwork. Show up at your appointed time and place, and a volunteer will announce which group and celebrities are in which lane taped out on the floor. You line up, follow their strict instructions, scan in your prepaid QR code (very important to have in advance for efficiency), put bags down on the table, step up, quick hi, pose and smile, and click—you’re done!
There's almost not enough time to be nervous about meeting these amazing people you've admired from afar for so long. Almost. Our B-day girl was a bouncing bundle of excitement the whole time as we made our way through autographs from James and Oliver Phelps, who were fun and personable; Bonnie Wright, who was super sweet and loved talking to each guest, and Matthew Lewis, who joked with us about one of the Phelps’ positions in the photo before he signed.
It was a surreal experience and a pretty great birthday gift! And the volunteers run a tight ship. This group was so popular that their line ended up in another room for overflow. But everyone took it in stride, and the pacing was impressive.
Famous guests Alan Tudyk (Firefly, Knight's Tale) and Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) were just as popular outside the autograph room, with full winding maze-like lines. Atlanta traffic did us no favors by making them late for their signing, but once they arrived, things moved smoothly, and they were graciously welcoming to all.
A little further down the escalators and tucked away in a more private area, legendary actor John Cleese (Monty Python) had his own very private and serene autograph area. Those of us waiting enjoyed swapping stories in a more relaxed atmosphere. Volunteers still had things running well, but we got a little more time than the typical love-and-shove of the upstairs crowd.
It’s an impressive thing to see an actor’s career laid out in photos on a table. With a fun little quip and a quick handshake from the Black Knight himself, we exited, running into the very long line waiting for his panel, which was reportedly epic.
Saturday was the big parade through the streets of downtown, and the significant other and I donned our best villainous Cobra attire for our costume day. It took about an hour for all the representing factions to pass through the heavily lined streets with cheers for each person's favorite. We were even stopped a few times to pose for a camera here and there. It was his first time dressing up and my first time in body armor, so we had a blast taking pics and showing off his handy work. It's amazing what 3-D printing has done for the costuming world.
After cheering for every faction of pop culture and community, the rest of the day lent itself to exploration of four floors in AmericasMart for vendors and artists from all walks of life. Some treasures to be found, classic sought-after pieces, and even things you didn’t know you needed in your life could be acquired among the hundreds peddling their wares. Money was definitely spent. Highlights include seeing Orlando artist friends Jacob McAllister, Al Abazia, and Miss Linda of Deviant Dolls. Seeing familiar faces among the rows and rows of tables was nice.
Parties and gatherings of every kind and genre continued into the wee hours of the morning. With a minor among us, we haven't added the after-hours soiree to our scorecard, but there will be plenty of time for that in future visits. Until then, this crew shed all our cosplay pieces and rewarded ourselves with showers, comfy clothes, and Chinese takeout at home.
Sunday's plans were for our teen's mashup of Harley Quinn and Deadpool, complete with her first group photo meetup. Artist Alley at the Hilton was our first stop to take in more gorgeous art from every genre. The items here tend to be more fine art paintings and sculptures and less pop art or comic book-based like what you'll find in the vendor rooms, but some of that is here, too!
We knew we wanted to see at least one panel over the weekend, so we got into the Forensics on Fiction conversation, learning that not everything you see on TV is true. And no, Batman would definitely not be able to do what he does on the big screen in real life. For the kiddo wanting to go into that field of study, she appreciated the information from the panel of experts.
This year seemed to be a lot more crowded as the sky bridges connecting the Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott almost reached a standstill when so many bodies were trying to move through at once. We opted for lunch outside of the fray, and surrounding restaurants were super welcoming to the con crowds without much of a wait for a table, if any. It's quite nice to get a break from everything and sit down, take off a corset, eat a full meal, and not just backpack snacks.
Once again, we wandered over to the vendor and artist space to check out the lower floor where all the gaming was held. I've never been one to play tabletop D&D games, but I was in the minority in this space. Rooms and rows of players are set up with every kind of creation and story you can think of, including a whole area to paint miniatures and video game competitions! Again, serious fun being had all over.
As time was winding down for the photo meet-up, the girls joined all the other Mercs, leaving the two parental units to relax and people-watch for a while. We were lucky enough to score some lobby seats in the Marriott.
Another fun thing about conventions are trinkets! People bring or make small tokens or gifts to share or trade with others. You can sometimes find little baggies or pretty gauzy bags around the halls or on ledges, free to take. We had collected a few over the previous few days, plus some ribbons and stickers left over, so we spread our offerings on a table in front of us and made a crude "trades" sign on the top of our to-go lunch container.
Over the next hour, passersby would rifle through the items and offer to trade something of theirs, or we'd just let them take whatever caught their eye. A first-time thing for us that we already know we want to do more of next year in a bigger and better way. One thing about DragonCon is that you're already thinking about what to do for the next round before the weekend ends.
Updates came from the girls: a conga line was created from the group winding its way up and down escalators, sky bridges, food courts, and other con-goers. As the Deadpool tribe was leaving, they passed the inflatable dinosaur pack on their way to a picture appointment, and yes, this is quite literally the bizarre and wonderful thing you'll witness all weekend, day or night—at any time of day. Once we all were reunited again, we made the trek back to the car to close out day three.
Monday was way more casual, with comfy jeans and t-shirts for the crew. While it was a workday for one of us, the gals headed back downtown to spend Labor Day, returning to do more shopping in case we'd missed anything in our first round. This tends to be a much lighter crowd day as most packed their wigs, wings, weapons, and treasures to return to their "normal" lives.
With three floors covered once again, deals made, and goodies acquired, we closed out Dragon Con 2024 exhausted, loaded up with new art, books, shirts, and more, all the while planning and plotting more and bigger ideas for our 2025 return!
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