I love going to SciFi/Fantasy/Pop Culture conventions. They are always an absolute blast. I also think I learn something every year I go. I'm going to break this down into categories to make it easier to browse through. The categories are hotel rooms, room mates, people, activities, food, cosplay, and my recommended packing list.
You need to decide if you want to stay in a host hotel or an overflow hotel. Overflow hotels tend to be a little further away from the action, but usually cost less. Host hotels are in the middle of everything and worth the extra price. Booking a host hotel can be a feat by itself. Many of the hotels do legacy booking. Legacy booking means that they offer the rooms to the people who stay with them from the previous convention first. The Marriott Marquis does not do legacy booking but has sold out in a matter of minutes the last few years. If you are planning on staying at a host hotel you will need to book a year in advance.
***A quick note about the elevators at the Marriott: The elevators can either be a huge headache or a fun time to meet people. They are always insanely crowded. The biggest etiquette rule for the elevators is that a person with a disability ALWAYS gets priority boarding. While climbing stairs to the 30th floor would be terrible, you are physically capable of doing so. The next rule for the Marriott elevators is you get on an elevator if there is a spot regardless of which direction it is going in. Finally, when first entering the elevator you will either want to load at the 3rd or 1st floor. Never try to wait on the second floor...you will not be able to get on the elevator. (Floors 1-3 are all lobby levels).***
People, people everywhere. Seriously. No matter where you go there are tons of people. The hotels are full. The restaurants are full. The panels are full. So how do you deal with all the people? You plan for it. Then once you have your plan in place, you throw it away because you ran into a heard of stampeding Deadpools (yes, this actually happened. Well, maybe not the stampede, but the largest congo line I've ever seen)
This is a pic of R2D2 being awesome, but on the outskirts you can see small masses of people. This picture was taken during an off time when the crowds were much smaller. If I remember correctly this picture was taken in the 5pm-8pm time period. This is the time when the crowd starts to change a lot. People go out for dinner and more of the PC crowd starts to dispehygtrse. DragonCon after dark is much different place than during the day.
Try to imagine thousands of fans wondering aimlessly in a confined space. The best analogy I can come up with is the scene from The Walking Dead when Rick rides his horse into Atlanta. He turns the corner and there is a just a writhing mass of zombies. It's like that, only the zombies aren't trying to eat you. Now try to imagine being the person who is trying to actual go somewhere among this large mass of people. It can be frustrating. Try to plan on leaving early to get anywhere. It also helps if you have a tiny friend. The tiny friend can move about easily. You can just grab on to their shirt and let them lead you. Works like a charm.
There are going to be bottle necks, but try not to be the person causing the bottle neck. Don't stop in the middle of a walkway. There may be something awesome you want see. If so, politely step out of the way of others to see it. Don't take pictures in crowded areas either. Step out of the way to snap a photo. The sky bridge between the Marriott, the Hilton, and the Hyatt is a wonderful thing. It enables you to move between the hotels without ever going outside. I love the sky bridge!
However, avoid the sky bridge if:
Celebrities
Remember, famous people are still people. You will probably meet some of your favorites while at DragonCon. You could meet them during photograph sessions, autograph sessions, or just out in the hallways. If the person seems busy, they are. Don't expect them to stop and chat with you for a long time. Also, don't touch them without permission. I can only imagine you would freak out if someone you didn't know walked up to you and started gushing about how much they loved you and then started touching, hugging, kissing, etc. I would probably call the cops. It's weird. Don't be weird. Fangirl/Fanboy all you want. Squee, tell them you are a fan, but don't be weird. I would guess that most celebrities expect this. Don't cross the line from from fangirl/fanboy to stalker/creep.
Etiquette
WEAR DEODORANT. People smell bad. I don't care how much you shower or how clean you are, when you get a huge mass of people together they smell bad. Wear deodorant and take showers. Don't go overboard though. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a crowded space with someone who wreaks of body spray/cologne (unless you are stuck with someone not wearing deodorant who hasn't showered for 3 days). In conclusion, wear deodorant, but not so much you cause headaches. (Remember the elevator picture? Think about how you would feel being in there with someone who isn't wearing deodorant or hasn't showered in days...in Georgia...in September. If you don't know the temperatures are well into the 90s still in Georgia in September).
There will be no shortage of activities to attend while you are at DragonCon. You have so many choices: Panels, Autograph/Photo Sessions, Gaming, Fan Tracks, People Watching, Parties, the list goes on. Because there is so much to do, there is no way you can do it all. Unfortunately this means you have to make choices about what is most important to you.
Panels
If there is a panel you are interested in seeing, get there early, and I mean really early. If the panel is in a main room then try to arrive 2 hours ahead of time. If there are a lot of very famous people in the panel then you may want to consider lining up 3 hours ahead of time. This may seem extreme, but I have been locked out of panels before because I showed up only an hour early. On the other hand if it is a panel from a fan track the line up time can be extremely varied. Some fan tracks don't require lines and some do. I don't have a good rule for how packed these might get, so make your best judgement call on these.
Autograph/Photograph Sessions
I have never done a photograph session before but I hear they assign you a time for those. If that is the case you probably don't have anything to worry about. You can just show up a few minutes before your turn.
Autograph sessions entirely depend on how famous the person is. I went to a Jim Butcher autograph session about an hour and a half early and the line was cut off probably 30 people behind me. I have also seen autograph sessions where people just trickle in and have no problems. As with all things...early is better.
Shopping
This is a tricky one. You can shop anytime the stores are open. The rooms are always insanely crowded. It is difficult to navigate and hard to browse. If you want the cool stuff you can buy at the con, however, it is worth making your way through the crowds. I do have a few tips to offer
Flexibility is key in your schedule too. I choose 1-2 things that are absolute musts for me each day and then I select a few more things that I would like to see but would be okay missing. The DragonCon app makes scheduling things so much easier!
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| This is me at DragonCon 2009. My first con and this is Day 2. |
First, I would like to say that if you do no prep work and just show up, you will still have a fantastic time.The first time I went was completely unplanned. I happened to have the weekend off and I called up a friend to see what he was doing that weekend. He casually remarked that he was going to DragonCon and invited me to go. I bought a one day ticket and after spending the day there I upgraded to a full weekend pass. I threw together a costume and fell in love with DragonCon. You will see the weird and the wonderful and will look forward to going every year.
Rooms
This section will cover booking a hotel room, and whether to use your credit card or not.
Booking a Hotel
You need to decide if you want to stay in a host hotel or an overflow hotel. Overflow hotels tend to be a little further away from the action, but usually cost less. Host hotels are in the middle of everything and worth the extra price. Booking a host hotel can be a feat by itself. Many of the hotels do legacy booking. Legacy booking means that they offer the rooms to the people who stay with them from the previous convention first. The Marriott Marquis does not do legacy booking but has sold out in a matter of minutes the last few years. If you are planning on staying at a host hotel you will need to book a year in advance.
If you decide that you don't want to deal with the hassle or commitment of booking a host hotel I strongly recommend booking a hotel that is within a half mile of the convention. The DragonCon website has overflow hotels listed, but the ones really close to the con will sale out quickly. Sometimes (albeit rarely) you can still book a hotel for the con after it has been listed as sold out. You will usually have to pay a higher premium for the room, however. Always check the hotel website and not just the link from the DragonCon web page if you are set on a particular hotel. Another useful tool for booking rooms is the facebook page, DragonCon Hotel Connection. They will make announcements when rooms unexpectedly become available. DragonCon Hotel Connection is not officially connected with DragonCon. It is a fan run page.
To use your credit card or not?
This is a very personal decision. No one knows your finances better than you. If you book the hotel with your credit card be prepared to pay the full room price. If you get room mates just know that you will pay more than anyone else no matter how fair you try to split it. A few of the pros of using your own card: 1) you get to decide which hotel to stay in 2) you get to decide who can stay in the room and who can't 3) you automatically get dibs on bed (but you should probably announce it anyway)
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| Elevator at the Marriott. Picture used from https://www.profferbrainchild.com/blog/process-improvement/elevators-and-escalators-study-bottlenecks |
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| Making friends by the elevators |
Room Mates
This section covers finding room mates and rules for living together.
The room mate decision can be a tough one. On one hand the more roomies you have the cheaper the room is. On the other hand the fewer roomies you have the more space and autonomy you get for the convention. I have done the con both with and without room mates, and personally, I prefer to have room mates. I may not sleep as well with all the snoring, but having the extra company is a lot of fun.
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| One of my friends hanging out in the Marriott. ** Not one of the aforementioned snore-ers** |
It is best to stick within your friend group or extended friend group when choosing roommates. I have never roomed with a complete stranger. At least one of my friends in the room could always vouch for the person.If you are lucky enough to hand select your roomies (see using your credit card above), then do it. Even if you do select your room mates, be prepared for some craziness. You will have a blast with your room mates, but sometimes things get weird. I try to stick with friends and friends of friends for several reasons. 1) You or someone you know can vouch for the person. 2) You know enough about the person to know if you can live in a tiny space with them for 3-5 days. 3) Sleeping in the bed with a complete stranger would be weird. and 4) It makes the money situation way easier
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| Another friend! She was also not a snore sleeper. |
The rooms have I stayed in have been standard size rooms with either two queen beds or one king bed and a sofa/chair. For the rooms with queen beds I don't do more than 6 people in the room and every one of the six people have to be willing to have a bed buddy. For the rooms with a king bed I won't do more than 4 people. In the king room, at least 3 of the 4 people should plan on sharing the bed. If you can afford a queen room with just 3-4 people that is the best, but a lot of times that isn't always doable.
A few general rules/tips
- Find a corner to put your stuff in and keep it there. Keep it as organized as possible. Sometimes as organized as possible just means keeping your stuff in a single pile.
- Decide what you want to share and what you don't. Anything you don't want to share put on the bottom of your pile.
- If you have props to costumes that are fragile make sure everyone in your room knows to be careful around it and try to place it in the most out of the way place.
- Your room is going to smell bad. Bring air freshener.
- You are going to run out of towels...quickly. The entire hotel will run out of towels. Bring your own and plan on re-using it.
- Sleeping is going to be difficult.
- Plan sleeping arrangements ahead of time. Some people are willing to pay a lot more if they can have a bed or even more to have their own bed. Ultimately this is up to the person who puts the room on their credit card.
- The person who uses their credit card for the room will inevitably pay more than anyone else. Be super nice to this person. You wouldn't have a room without them.
- If your roomies are sleeping try to be quiet.
- Don't plan on having any alone time in the room. You never know when someone may walk in. I wouldn't count on putting a sock on the door handle either....
- Finally, be flexible and keep an open mind. You will get to know these people very well.
People
This section talks about the crowds and some etiquette for being in large crowds. There is also a note on the sky bridge between three of the hotels.
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This is a pic of R2D2 being awesome, but on the outskirts you can see small masses of people. This picture was taken during an off time when the crowds were much smaller. If I remember correctly this picture was taken in the 5pm-8pm time period. This is the time when the crowd starts to change a lot. People go out for dinner and more of the PC crowd starts to dispehygtrse. DragonCon after dark is much different place than during the day.
Try to imagine thousands of fans wondering aimlessly in a confined space. The best analogy I can come up with is the scene from The Walking Dead when Rick rides his horse into Atlanta. He turns the corner and there is a just a writhing mass of zombies. It's like that, only the zombies aren't trying to eat you. Now try to imagine being the person who is trying to actual go somewhere among this large mass of people. It can be frustrating. Try to plan on leaving early to get anywhere. It also helps if you have a tiny friend. The tiny friend can move about easily. You can just grab on to their shirt and let them lead you. Works like a charm.
There are going to be bottle necks, but try not to be the person causing the bottle neck. Don't stop in the middle of a walkway. There may be something awesome you want see. If so, politely step out of the way of others to see it. Don't take pictures in crowded areas either. Step out of the way to snap a photo. The sky bridge between the Marriott, the Hilton, and the Hyatt is a wonderful thing. It enables you to move between the hotels without ever going outside. I love the sky bridge!
However, avoid the sky bridge if:
- You have large costume pieces. You won't fit. It will suck.
- It is raining. I know this one is tempting. I got stuck in the sky bridge for 45 minutes because I gave in to temptation.
- You are claustrophobic. It is an above ground tunnel full of people bumping into each other.
Celebrities
Remember, famous people are still people. You will probably meet some of your favorites while at DragonCon. You could meet them during photograph sessions, autograph sessions, or just out in the hallways. If the person seems busy, they are. Don't expect them to stop and chat with you for a long time. Also, don't touch them without permission. I can only imagine you would freak out if someone you didn't know walked up to you and started gushing about how much they loved you and then started touching, hugging, kissing, etc. I would probably call the cops. It's weird. Don't be weird. Fangirl/Fanboy all you want. Squee, tell them you are a fan, but don't be weird. I would guess that most celebrities expect this. Don't cross the line from from fangirl/fanboy to stalker/creep.
Etiquette
WEAR DEODORANT. People smell bad. I don't care how much you shower or how clean you are, when you get a huge mass of people together they smell bad. Wear deodorant and take showers. Don't go overboard though. There is nothing worse than being stuck in a crowded space with someone who wreaks of body spray/cologne (unless you are stuck with someone not wearing deodorant who hasn't showered for 3 days). In conclusion, wear deodorant, but not so much you cause headaches. (Remember the elevator picture? Think about how you would feel being in there with someone who isn't wearing deodorant or hasn't showered in days...in Georgia...in September. If you don't know the temperatures are well into the 90s still in Georgia in September).
Activities
This section covers a small part of the activities that are available.There will be no shortage of activities to attend while you are at DragonCon. You have so many choices: Panels, Autograph/Photo Sessions, Gaming, Fan Tracks, People Watching, Parties, the list goes on. Because there is so much to do, there is no way you can do it all. Unfortunately this means you have to make choices about what is most important to you.
Panels
If there is a panel you are interested in seeing, get there early, and I mean really early. If the panel is in a main room then try to arrive 2 hours ahead of time. If there are a lot of very famous people in the panel then you may want to consider lining up 3 hours ahead of time. This may seem extreme, but I have been locked out of panels before because I showed up only an hour early. On the other hand if it is a panel from a fan track the line up time can be extremely varied. Some fan tracks don't require lines and some do. I don't have a good rule for how packed these might get, so make your best judgement call on these.
Autograph/Photograph Sessions
I have never done a photograph session before but I hear they assign you a time for those. If that is the case you probably don't have anything to worry about. You can just show up a few minutes before your turn.
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| Jim Butcher signing a book |
Shopping
This is a tricky one. You can shop anytime the stores are open. The rooms are always insanely crowded. It is difficult to navigate and hard to browse. If you want the cool stuff you can buy at the con, however, it is worth making your way through the crowds. I do have a few tips to offer
- If you go during a large event the rooms are less crowded. We went during the parade one year and it was heaven. We could tell as soon as the parade was over because the room started to fill back up.
- Be nice to the vendors. They are working while you get to play.
- I have heard that prices are cheaper on Monday when the con is about to end. I don't usually stay through Monday so I can't vouch for this.
Flexibility is key in your schedule too. I choose 1-2 things that are absolute musts for me each day and then I select a few more things that I would like to see but would be okay missing. The DragonCon app makes scheduling things so much easier!
Food
I don't have much to say on the food matter. You can eat out for every meal or you can bring room food. Some hotels have a mini fridge and some don't. Personally I bring snacks and a cooler, but still do a fair share of eating out. I try to budget about $100 for food and stick with fast food. We do usually go to Hooter's once while we are there. They are usually slammed and we end up waiting a couple of hours to eat, so don't go when you are super hungry.
Cosplay
Finally, to cosplay or not to cosplay? I have dressed up many times, and I have not dressed up many times. Cosplay is a ton of fun. It is always exciting when someone recognizes your character or admires your handy work. If you have a really good cosplay (or really bad) don't expect to get anywhere quickly. People will stop and ask you for photos. You do have the right to say no and no one will be offended if you decline. If they are offended then screw them!
Be respectful of cosplayers. They have put a lot of work into their costumes and want them be to admired, but you can and should admire without touching. Unless you have explicit permission don't touch people or props. This is a non-negotiable thing.
Conclusion
You should go and you should have a good time. Be open and flexible. If you skip everything else in this article, just remember it is all about fun. Enjoy the convention and help everyone else around you enjoy the convention. Follow the golden rule: Don't be a dick! (I don't think that is the real golden rule, but it works pretty well)
Packing List
- Comfy Clothes (Jeans, T-shirts, Shorts, sneakers) 2-3 days worth
- Cosplay Stuff
- Party Outfit
- Toiletries (Shampoo, Conditioner, Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Lotion, Deodorant, etc)
- Air Freshener (for the room)
- Towels (the hotels I have stayed in have run out almost every year)
- Sleep Mask
- Ear Plugs
- Small game--something to keep you entertained while you are waiting in line. Not just for kids anymore!
- Phone and Phone charger
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