Dragoncon 2011 Report
This is going to be a very brief report because..well I didn't really do a whole lot nor do I remember a lot of it. But here we go.
Wednesday
Worked until 8. Went home and loaded up Ravage then drove to GreatSG's house in Hickory. Stayed there for the night so that we could leave really early the next morning. Stayed up until about 3AM watching MST3K while some last minute cosplay fixes were done.
Thursday
Was up and on the road around 7:30. Somehow managed to get 5 people's things + Ravage into the van. I had transformer all around me and a Decepticon Diaper in my lap LOL. The drive was fairly uneventful which was good and we got to Atlanta around noon. They dropped me off at my hotel where I met up with Morgan and got my stuff up to our room. The Westin was a really cool hotel. It was round so the hallways were circular. The room had a king bed and was kind of small but the view was crazy. We were on the 48th floor and the elevator went up to 72. Morgan went to her staffing meeting while I went to get in line for Pre-reg.
The view
Morgan in the room!
I never got a postcard so I was a little worried. It took 2 hours but that was an improvement over last year. When I got up to the window the girl couldn't find me in the computer. Turns out they had spelled my first name wrong. Well when she pulled it up it said "No file found" so she sent me over to Solutions to try and get it worked out. I had my payment receipt so I could prove that I had bought my badge but it wasn't really needed. They found me in the book and I got my badge and was off.
I went back to the hotel room and got a shower and changed clothes. Then I went to start checking out the other hotels and re-familiarize myself with the location. I met up with Autumn and we wandered around for awhile before heading back to the Westin and chatting about anime for about 2 hours. Around 8 Morgan got done with her staffing stuff and we all met up and went out to dinner at a bison restaurant. I had chicken LOL it was pretty good. After that we went back to the room for a few minutes before I decided to go to the con and check out some of the Thursday activities.
It was the busiest Thursday I have ever seen. I don't remember the hotels having that many people and that many cosplayers running around. I felt severely under dressed. After awhile I headed back to the hotel and settled in for the night.
Friday
Woke up early since I had a photoshoot in Ravage with Autumn. She wanted a few pics for her 100 characters thing. It took forever to get the the Hilton from the Westin because we had to travel through all 3 main con hotels to get there. As soon as we got to the Hyatt (the first of the hotels) I was stopped for pictures and a girl gave me a ribbon that says "Grade A Top Choice Meat Dragoncon 2011" LOL I was amused. I like my ribbon. Eventually we made it to the Hilton and she got her pictures. While we were outside a guy came up that was apparently taking pictures for a book. He got a few of Ravage and gave me his card..which I have apparently lost. So hopefully he emails me the pics.
Good kitty
As we were leaving to go back to the Westin, I was stopped outside the Hyatt for more pictures. Lyn was my handler at this point and I heard her talking to someone but I couldn't make out what was being said. Using the walkie talkie system I had installed she directed me to walk around a little and then finally I was told that it was a news program and they wanted to interview me. I wasn't sure how well that would work but I stood up and answered their questions. The microphone said "Channel 2" but I haven't had any luck finding the boardcast. GreatSG sent me a text the next day saying he had seen my Ravage on the local news so I am kind of sad I missed seeing it.
The real reason the Decepticons wanted the AllSpark
When we finally got back to the Westin I changed into Kotetsu for a little while. I wanted something comfortable before I had to be in Elizabeth. I wandered around for awhile and was actually recognized several times. I had some really awesome fan reactions to the costume that made me happy. I even had one girl run up and tell me to "Take care of Kaede!" In which I responded in character as much as I could XD. Then I met up with Autumn and she got a few shots of the costume for me before I had to change.
I got into Elizabeth around 4 so that I could be at the convention and the contest at 5:30. I got there around 5:20 and Star_Angel found me. She was competing too so I sat with her while the judging was going on. It was..really oddly run. They judged in order of division and apparently even if you weren't on time (which the rules clearly stated you needed to be) you were still able to get judged. They just did you after all the other contestants. I didn't end up getting judged until after 7PM. Then I texted Morgan because neither Star_Angel nor I had brought money or had eaten and the contest was supposed to start at 8:30. She was awesome and brought us money and got us pizza so that we wouldn't die. We literally had about 15 minutes after all the judging was done to relax. I have learned a few things. 1)Never do Dragoncon contest. 2)if I do..don't show up on time. 3)Print books of references and progress images. I mean, these people were intense. Bound reports of what they had done and references and...crazy.
So then the contest happened and I was really confused by the runway style stage set up and my dress is kind of hard to show off by that format and I tripped a little on the stage. It was not pleasant and I was nervous and embarrassed and..never again >> After that I went off to the hotel to change because I was so tired of being in that dress and my hips hurt so bad from being in the hoop for about 7 hours.
I changed into Kotetsu because he is honestly the most fun and still fairly easy. I met up with Star_Angel again and we wandered around and went to a concert. I got stopped by fans a few more times, and someone came up while I was in the concert and told me they liked my Wild Tiger costume but the best part was when I was leaving the concert. A Spartan ran up to me and basically fanboyed like crazy. He did the whole "SKY HIGH!" motto and then Kotetsu's and just..spazzed. It was hilarious. Then he got a picture with me before heading off. Star_Angel and I just kind of laughed as we headed to the Marriott for the Voltaire concert. She was tired though and headed off to bed while I went on to the concert. It was great and I managed to stay for the whole thing..even though it started at 1:30 in the morning. I even had someone lean over the seats behind me and go "Great Wild Tiger costume." When I thanked them he was like "Whoa, you're a girl!" I just kind of laughed XD Then I headed off and collapsed into bed.
Saturday
Woke up and put on Rorschach for the parade. Luckily the weather was nice and not too terribly hot. I stayed with a Silhouette cosplayer, which was the only other Watchmen person in the parade. I wish I had brought my camera because I would have gone crazy taking pictures of the costumes I saw. After that I went to the Walk of Fame and got Christopher Lloyd to sign a "Back to the Future" picture for me. His expression and the comments of the helpers as they looked at my costume was hilarious.
After that I headed back to the hotel to change since I was hungry and kind of hot and wanted a shower. I got cleaned up and debated putting Rorschach back on but I wanted to be able to eat so I just got into Kotetsu again. I went off and enjoyed some food with Evenstar and John and Lyn. It was at this point that Evenstar and Lyn were going off to a panel. I was debating on what to do and we were talking about Ravage when John mentioned that one of these times I should let him wear it so I could watch the people. I think he was surprised when I told him we could do exactly that right now XD. So while they went to their panel we went off to the Westin so I could get John dressed.
Once he was comfortable in the outfit we walked to the Sheraton where he got to experience what it was like to be a transformer. I video taped the reactions of the crowd and it was actually really great for me to get to see it. At one pount about 4 small children started to play with him and through the walkie talkies I relayed some commands. They were having a ball and he even chased them around at one point. It was really hilarious. When he started to get tired after about an hour we made the trek back up the hill to the hotel. Once he was undressed he went off to meet Evenstar and Lyn and I did some transformer repairs before heading back to the con.
I met up with the group again in the Hyatt where I figured they were and met up with a bunch of familiar faces. Some hilarious times ensued as we went off to dinner. They taped a lot of it..and lets just say I was a bit too in character I think XD They were dressed as Ouran and as we were wandering around I accused Tamaki of being my replacement Bunny because of the attention he was getting.
My eye started to bother me around 9PM and I wasn't sure why. I thought my mask was a little low so I went and adjusted it. After the Ouran crew left I went in search of the Tron bike which was apparently in the vicinity. As I was walking around the bottom floor of the Marriott I saw several tron cosplayers, but no bike. Then as I rounded another corner I found Lionboogy with the bike pieces. I suddenly became the Tron rounder-uper XD I ran back to the Tron cosplayers which happened to be Rosabella and Bur Loire who were with LJinto. I told them where Lionboogy was and then we collected him and got situated in an area where already a large crowd was starting to gather. The Tron bike was really awesome and I even got a picture on it XD
MY RIDE IS COOLER, Bunny-chan! Who needs the passanger vehicle..
Seriously cool
Three Amigos!
I stayed with them until after midnight and then they packed it up and went to go back to their room. By this time my eye was really irritated so I gave up and headed off to my own. When I saw my eye it was a really nasty red and I knew it was going to be bad in the morning, but I did what I could before heading to bed.
Sunday
Woke up and my eye was basically swollen shut. I spent several hours just putting drops in it and putting ice on it to try and get the swelling down. I didn't put a contact in it and got dressed as Scott Pilgrim (which I managed to get no pictures of so I will have to correct that later). I headed to the con sometime after 11 but walking in the light was absolute misery. I could barely keep my eyes open. Morgan found me and I told her about my misery. We headed off to get lunch, which her as my guide since I couldn't see walking through the walkways. We got some lunch and ate it in the dark marta entrance which made my eye feel a good bit better. Then she lead me back to the Marriott where I texted Evenstar to meet me outside of the dealer's room. I wanted to meet up with her and John while I could so that they would be ready when it was time to go off and do Transformer stuff.
We went back to the food court and I sat with them while they ate. I iced my eye again while Evenstar came up with the brilliant idea of putting me into the ciel costume that she brought but wasn't going to get to wear..because it has an eyepatch and would cover my eye. This actually sounded pretty good so I went with them back to their hotel and they got me dressed. Then we went to my hotel and collected the Ravage pieces to take and put in Lionboogy's room. We carried them to the bottom floor and I paid almost $20 to get them transported by van to the Marriott. We then hauled them up and left them in Lionboogy's room since he had given me one of his room keys. After that we went back downstairs to wander around a little.
Of course..a Bunny the one day I'm not wearing Kotetsu
We just happen to run into LIonboogy while we were wandering around and he voiced how bored he was. So the suggestion for Yip Yip times was made. And he agreed XD So we went back upstairs and pulled on the Yip Yip costumes. This was the most fun ever. We stayed in character the entire time. We photobombed photoshoots. Tormented random congoers. Wandered around and just were crazy aliens. It was amazing. Would do it again in a heartbeat XD
I was blue, Lyn as purple, Lionboogy was pink, Evenstar was green, and John was red
After a little over an hour we went upstairs to cool down a little before putting on transformers. We started pulling the stuff on and after waiting for what seemed liked like forever for an elevator to show up, we made it downstairs..and were immediately accosted for pictures. At some point another Autobot showed up and a bunch of NEST soldiers. So we had a huge group..not that I could see it XD I just did what I was told and moved where I needed to move. I was violated sexually by Bumblebee twice and random congoers half a dozen times. Word of warning: Never wear a costume that requires you to be bent over around drunken congoers..you will be violated.
It was a lot of fun though listening to the comments and seeing all the flashbulbs. I can't wait to see pictures of the group. I really wish I could do transformer times with Lionboogy more often.
Around midnight we had to leave though since Evenstar, Lyn and John were heading out that night. So we left before Lionboogy did and went up and changed. We carried the stuff to the hotel and then I went and hung out with them for alittle longer before heading back. Evenstar let me keep the Ciel costume for now since I was still very much in need of the eyepatch. I collapsed into bed shortly after.
Monday
This was a fairly low key day. I got dressed as Ciel and got everything packed up. It went down to the holding area to stay while I went to the convention. I wandered around for a little while, got some lunch and got to say goodbye to a few people. GreatSG texted to say that we were leaving around 3 so I headed back to the hotel and got changed around that time. We then loaded up the van and started for home. It rained like crazy the entire time.
Around 10 we got to GreatSG's house. The rain had stopped momentarily but I had a minor crises. I couldn't find my car keys. I ended up dumping out most of my bags before finally finding them in the front of my suitcase. After the minor heart failure I loaded up my car and headed home.
Overall..probably my favorite Dragoncon ever. Mostly thanks to the events of Saturday night and Sunday. I hung out with people more at this con then I did at the other two and I think it was because I knew more people this time or managed to run into them more often. It was nice to have people to talk to versus wandering aimlessly.
It really was a lot of fun though. I had debated about going back next year, but after the fun I had this year I think I will go ahead and do it. I'll buy my ticket as soon as I can afford to.
Next up..Anime Weekend Atlanta.
Wednesday
Worked until 8. Went home and loaded up Ravage then drove to GreatSG's house in Hickory. Stayed there for the night so that we could leave really early the next morning. Stayed up until about 3AM watching MST3K while some last minute cosplay fixes were done.
Thursday
Was up and on the road around 7:30. Somehow managed to get 5 people's things + Ravage into the van. I had transformer all around me and a Decepticon Diaper in my lap LOL. The drive was fairly uneventful which was good and we got to Atlanta around noon. They dropped me off at my hotel where I met up with Morgan and got my stuff up to our room. The Westin was a really cool hotel. It was round so the hallways were circular. The room had a king bed and was kind of small but the view was crazy. We were on the 48th floor and the elevator went up to 72. Morgan went to her staffing meeting while I went to get in line for Pre-reg.
The view
Morgan in the room!
I never got a postcard so I was a little worried. It took 2 hours but that was an improvement over last year. When I got up to the window the girl couldn't find me in the computer. Turns out they had spelled my first name wrong. Well when she pulled it up it said "No file found" so she sent me over to Solutions to try and get it worked out. I had my payment receipt so I could prove that I had bought my badge but it wasn't really needed. They found me in the book and I got my badge and was off.
I went back to the hotel room and got a shower and changed clothes. Then I went to start checking out the other hotels and re-familiarize myself with the location. I met up with Autumn and we wandered around for awhile before heading back to the Westin and chatting about anime for about 2 hours. Around 8 Morgan got done with her staffing stuff and we all met up and went out to dinner at a bison restaurant. I had chicken LOL it was pretty good. After that we went back to the room for a few minutes before I decided to go to the con and check out some of the Thursday activities.
It was the busiest Thursday I have ever seen. I don't remember the hotels having that many people and that many cosplayers running around. I felt severely under dressed. After awhile I headed back to the hotel and settled in for the night.
Friday
Woke up early since I had a photoshoot in Ravage with Autumn. She wanted a few pics for her 100 characters thing. It took forever to get the the Hilton from the Westin because we had to travel through all 3 main con hotels to get there. As soon as we got to the Hyatt (the first of the hotels) I was stopped for pictures and a girl gave me a ribbon that says "Grade A Top Choice Meat Dragoncon 2011" LOL I was amused. I like my ribbon. Eventually we made it to the Hilton and she got her pictures. While we were outside a guy came up that was apparently taking pictures for a book. He got a few of Ravage and gave me his card..which I have apparently lost. So hopefully he emails me the pics.
Good kitty
As we were leaving to go back to the Westin, I was stopped outside the Hyatt for more pictures. Lyn was my handler at this point and I heard her talking to someone but I couldn't make out what was being said. Using the walkie talkie system I had installed she directed me to walk around a little and then finally I was told that it was a news program and they wanted to interview me. I wasn't sure how well that would work but I stood up and answered their questions. The microphone said "Channel 2" but I haven't had any luck finding the boardcast. GreatSG sent me a text the next day saying he had seen my Ravage on the local news so I am kind of sad I missed seeing it.
The real reason the Decepticons wanted the AllSpark
When we finally got back to the Westin I changed into Kotetsu for a little while. I wanted something comfortable before I had to be in Elizabeth. I wandered around for awhile and was actually recognized several times. I had some really awesome fan reactions to the costume that made me happy. I even had one girl run up and tell me to "Take care of Kaede!" In which I responded in character as much as I could XD. Then I met up with Autumn and she got a few shots of the costume for me before I had to change.
I got into Elizabeth around 4 so that I could be at the convention and the contest at 5:30. I got there around 5:20 and Star_Angel found me. She was competing too so I sat with her while the judging was going on. It was..really oddly run. They judged in order of division and apparently even if you weren't on time (which the rules clearly stated you needed to be) you were still able to get judged. They just did you after all the other contestants. I didn't end up getting judged until after 7PM. Then I texted Morgan because neither Star_Angel nor I had brought money or had eaten and the contest was supposed to start at 8:30. She was awesome and brought us money and got us pizza so that we wouldn't die. We literally had about 15 minutes after all the judging was done to relax. I have learned a few things. 1)Never do Dragoncon contest. 2)if I do..don't show up on time. 3)Print books of references and progress images. I mean, these people were intense. Bound reports of what they had done and references and...crazy.
So then the contest happened and I was really confused by the runway style stage set up and my dress is kind of hard to show off by that format and I tripped a little on the stage. It was not pleasant and I was nervous and embarrassed and..never again >> After that I went off to the hotel to change because I was so tired of being in that dress and my hips hurt so bad from being in the hoop for about 7 hours.
I changed into Kotetsu because he is honestly the most fun and still fairly easy. I met up with Star_Angel again and we wandered around and went to a concert. I got stopped by fans a few more times, and someone came up while I was in the concert and told me they liked my Wild Tiger costume but the best part was when I was leaving the concert. A Spartan ran up to me and basically fanboyed like crazy. He did the whole "SKY HIGH!" motto and then Kotetsu's and just..spazzed. It was hilarious. Then he got a picture with me before heading off. Star_Angel and I just kind of laughed as we headed to the Marriott for the Voltaire concert. She was tired though and headed off to bed while I went on to the concert. It was great and I managed to stay for the whole thing..even though it started at 1:30 in the morning. I even had someone lean over the seats behind me and go "Great Wild Tiger costume." When I thanked them he was like "Whoa, you're a girl!" I just kind of laughed XD Then I headed off and collapsed into bed.
Saturday
Woke up and put on Rorschach for the parade. Luckily the weather was nice and not too terribly hot. I stayed with a Silhouette cosplayer, which was the only other Watchmen person in the parade. I wish I had brought my camera because I would have gone crazy taking pictures of the costumes I saw. After that I went to the Walk of Fame and got Christopher Lloyd to sign a "Back to the Future" picture for me. His expression and the comments of the helpers as they looked at my costume was hilarious.
After that I headed back to the hotel to change since I was hungry and kind of hot and wanted a shower. I got cleaned up and debated putting Rorschach back on but I wanted to be able to eat so I just got into Kotetsu again. I went off and enjoyed some food with Evenstar and John and Lyn. It was at this point that Evenstar and Lyn were going off to a panel. I was debating on what to do and we were talking about Ravage when John mentioned that one of these times I should let him wear it so I could watch the people. I think he was surprised when I told him we could do exactly that right now XD. So while they went to their panel we went off to the Westin so I could get John dressed.
Once he was comfortable in the outfit we walked to the Sheraton where he got to experience what it was like to be a transformer. I video taped the reactions of the crowd and it was actually really great for me to get to see it. At one pount about 4 small children started to play with him and through the walkie talkies I relayed some commands. They were having a ball and he even chased them around at one point. It was really hilarious. When he started to get tired after about an hour we made the trek back up the hill to the hotel. Once he was undressed he went off to meet Evenstar and Lyn and I did some transformer repairs before heading back to the con.
I met up with the group again in the Hyatt where I figured they were and met up with a bunch of familiar faces. Some hilarious times ensued as we went off to dinner. They taped a lot of it..and lets just say I was a bit too in character I think XD They were dressed as Ouran and as we were wandering around I accused Tamaki of being my replacement Bunny because of the attention he was getting.
My eye started to bother me around 9PM and I wasn't sure why. I thought my mask was a little low so I went and adjusted it. After the Ouran crew left I went in search of the Tron bike which was apparently in the vicinity. As I was walking around the bottom floor of the Marriott I saw several tron cosplayers, but no bike. Then as I rounded another corner I found Lionboogy with the bike pieces. I suddenly became the Tron rounder-uper XD I ran back to the Tron cosplayers which happened to be Rosabella and Bur Loire who were with LJinto. I told them where Lionboogy was and then we collected him and got situated in an area where already a large crowd was starting to gather. The Tron bike was really awesome and I even got a picture on it XD
MY RIDE IS COOLER, Bunny-chan! Who needs the passanger vehicle..
Seriously cool
Three Amigos!
I stayed with them until after midnight and then they packed it up and went to go back to their room. By this time my eye was really irritated so I gave up and headed off to my own. When I saw my eye it was a really nasty red and I knew it was going to be bad in the morning, but I did what I could before heading to bed.
Sunday
Woke up and my eye was basically swollen shut. I spent several hours just putting drops in it and putting ice on it to try and get the swelling down. I didn't put a contact in it and got dressed as Scott Pilgrim (which I managed to get no pictures of so I will have to correct that later). I headed to the con sometime after 11 but walking in the light was absolute misery. I could barely keep my eyes open. Morgan found me and I told her about my misery. We headed off to get lunch, which her as my guide since I couldn't see walking through the walkways. We got some lunch and ate it in the dark marta entrance which made my eye feel a good bit better. Then she lead me back to the Marriott where I texted Evenstar to meet me outside of the dealer's room. I wanted to meet up with her and John while I could so that they would be ready when it was time to go off and do Transformer stuff.
We went back to the food court and I sat with them while they ate. I iced my eye again while Evenstar came up with the brilliant idea of putting me into the ciel costume that she brought but wasn't going to get to wear..because it has an eyepatch and would cover my eye. This actually sounded pretty good so I went with them back to their hotel and they got me dressed. Then we went to my hotel and collected the Ravage pieces to take and put in Lionboogy's room. We carried them to the bottom floor and I paid almost $20 to get them transported by van to the Marriott. We then hauled them up and left them in Lionboogy's room since he had given me one of his room keys. After that we went back downstairs to wander around a little.
Of course..a Bunny the one day I'm not wearing Kotetsu
We just happen to run into LIonboogy while we were wandering around and he voiced how bored he was. So the suggestion for Yip Yip times was made. And he agreed XD So we went back upstairs and pulled on the Yip Yip costumes. This was the most fun ever. We stayed in character the entire time. We photobombed photoshoots. Tormented random congoers. Wandered around and just were crazy aliens. It was amazing. Would do it again in a heartbeat XD
I was blue, Lyn as purple, Lionboogy was pink, Evenstar was green, and John was red
After a little over an hour we went upstairs to cool down a little before putting on transformers. We started pulling the stuff on and after waiting for what seemed liked like forever for an elevator to show up, we made it downstairs..and were immediately accosted for pictures. At some point another Autobot showed up and a bunch of NEST soldiers. So we had a huge group..not that I could see it XD I just did what I was told and moved where I needed to move. I was violated sexually by Bumblebee twice and random congoers half a dozen times. Word of warning: Never wear a costume that requires you to be bent over around drunken congoers..you will be violated.
It was a lot of fun though listening to the comments and seeing all the flashbulbs. I can't wait to see pictures of the group. I really wish I could do transformer times with Lionboogy more often.
Around midnight we had to leave though since Evenstar, Lyn and John were heading out that night. So we left before Lionboogy did and went up and changed. We carried the stuff to the hotel and then I went and hung out with them for alittle longer before heading back. Evenstar let me keep the Ciel costume for now since I was still very much in need of the eyepatch. I collapsed into bed shortly after.
Monday
This was a fairly low key day. I got dressed as Ciel and got everything packed up. It went down to the holding area to stay while I went to the convention. I wandered around for a little while, got some lunch and got to say goodbye to a few people. GreatSG texted to say that we were leaving around 3 so I headed back to the hotel and got changed around that time. We then loaded up the van and started for home. It rained like crazy the entire time.
Around 10 we got to GreatSG's house. The rain had stopped momentarily but I had a minor crises. I couldn't find my car keys. I ended up dumping out most of my bags before finally finding them in the front of my suitcase. After the minor heart failure I loaded up my car and headed home.
Overall..probably my favorite Dragoncon ever. Mostly thanks to the events of Saturday night and Sunday. I hung out with people more at this con then I did at the other two and I think it was because I knew more people this time or managed to run into them more often. It was nice to have people to talk to versus wandering aimlessly.
It really was a lot of fun though. I had debated about going back next year, but after the fun I had this year I think I will go ahead and do it. I'll buy my ticket as soon as I can afford to.
Next up..Anime Weekend Atlanta.