What Are The Good Cons To Go To?

thorr97

New Member
Hello all!

What are the good cons to go to?

I'm looking for events that are good for cosplay, have a good sized crowd attending them, have a good programming track, are multi-day affairs, and are professionally run.

As a means of comparison, at the top of the list for the ones I'm already familiar with - and have attended - would be Comic-Con International San Diego. That's a HUGE event and has it all. It's also very hard to get into and can get crowded as all get-out.

In a similar vein there's WonderCon in Anaheim. It's just like San Diego Comic-Con but much more approachable and easier to attend as the tickets don't require any lottery process. It has cosplay aplenty, a big vendor area, and lots of programming going on. And it has lotsa cool guests attending.

I've been to Salt Lake City Comic-con previously and enjoyed that too. So much so, that I'm headed back this year. I've also been to a Dragon Con in Atlanta and plan on being back next year.

So, what else is out there?

What are the Cons in Texas like? What are the ones in Arizona like? Anything similar in Northern California? New York? Illinois?

Any ones to seek out? Any ones to avoid?

Do tell!
 
Megacon in Orlando, usually in May, is a pretty big event with a LOT of different stuff going on.
Haven't been there since 2018 after I moved from Florida. In 2014, they over advertised and it got really big and many more people showed up than they were expecting. Was pretty nuts. Other events were going on that day in other buildings around there. What would normally be a 35 to 40 mins drive for me was instead a 4 hour drive....BUT, the next few years they greatly improved things and it was much better.
So worth a look into if it sounds interesting to you.
 
It looks like you're in California.
I've been to WonderCon several times, and the one in Anaheim several times. That's overall a good con, but it's really limited to just the convention center - and as far as I know there wasn't a costume contest? The next door hotel had been very hospitable to us, offering a break room with free sodas and snacks. And the in-hotel bar stayed open as late as we were buying drinks.

BigWOW/Silicon Valley Comic Con/SiliCon is more of a professional comic con, totally lacking in night life, unless a local bar or pub decides to do something for us. But the costumes are great.

I'm not into anime at all, but Fanime in San Jose (same building as SiliCon) is a huge convention with lots of cosplay. I've gone nearly every year since 2013, and have done lots of photoshoots there. There's a heck of a nightlife with all of the younger attendees partying.
 
Aaron, LIT,

Yup, just outside of LA and near Long Beach. Been to WonderCon and thought it excellent. I've also been to Dragoncon and thought it excellent as well, I'll be back to WonderCon next year and will also be going back to DC for the first time since 2008.

I'm headed to Salt Lake City Comic-Con this coming weekend.

So, I'm looking for other such similar cons to go to. Is the All-Con in Dallas "the" one to go to or is it Fan-Expo in Dallas? Is the Official Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas worth it? Is St. Pete Comic-Con "it" or is Necronomicon? Fan-Expo Boston vs. Wicked Comic-Con? I've heard Rhode Island Comic-Con is good.

I'm asking as I know there's a huge variability here. I worked in Albuquerque for a while and they had their own "comic-con." It was a couple of adjoining meeting rooms in a local hotel. The "con" was on just one day and there was no real cosplay going on, certainly no costume masquerade or anything like that, and no programming or workshops. Which is fine, so long as you know that ahead of time.

I've also attended the LA Anime Expo - LAX - and it was a bigger event than what I found in Albuquerque but it lived up to its namesake. That is, the even was all about and only about anime subjects. My last experience with anime was watching bootlegged videos that had been mailed from contacts in Japan to a friend of a friend who was at the science fiction con I was at. He hooked up the hotel room's TV to his VCR and was playing the anime videos on it. All in Japanese, mind you. No subtitles. It was truly cool to watch. But the modern stuff is a mystery to me.
 
Rhode Island Comic Con is the only one I’ve attended outside of Dragon Con, so I don’t have a lot to compare it against, but for what it’s worth…

Pluses:
Despite its (obviously) much smaller size, I thought the number and variety of prominent guests – at least in 2018 – was pretty impressive. That was the main reason we went, and between the panel talks and the signing booths, I’d say that aspect fully delivered. The vendor offerings were decent all things considered; not particularly remarkable, but then again I’ve been massively spoiled by Dragon Con. Cosplay was similar; not as ubiquitous or take-your-breath-away, but still some interesting sightings.

Minuses:
Dedicated space for cosplaying outside of the event / vendor rooms and travel corridors was quite limited. Food options were surprisingly scant, even for the venue size, and security was ridiculously restrictive, with metal detectors making entry very slow-going and inconvenient. They wouldn’t even allow me to carry a tiny TSA-safe (no knife) keychain multitool. And if there’s any significant rain in the forecast, I’d think twice. Providence streets don’t so much have poor drainage as they have NO drainage – instant flooding.
 
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West Coast:
Enjoyed SDCC every time I went.
I didn't care for Wondercon that much.

East Coast:
One of the worst was Steel Con in Pittsburgh. It's a giant store with celebrities signing autographs, that's it. Waste of time.
Fan Expo in Boston was good, not great.
Rhode Island Comic con was a good deal of fun. What everyone here has said about it is true.
NYCCC is a good time but way overcrowded.

Canada:
Fan Expo Canada in Toronto is great and well worth it.

South: Dragoncon is a lot of fun.

Europe:
If you're into Star Wars, Celebration is going to be in London in April of next year and I'd go there over Celebration Anaheim/Orlando in a heartbeat. It's a much better vibe. If you're into meeting lead actors you're more likely to do so there as queues aren't as completely nuts as they are in the US. On top of that you get to be in an extremely interesting a place rich with thousands of years of history and culture. If the idea of giving money to Disney wasn't so repulsive I'd be going.

I like the cons that have events going on besides shopping and celebrities. Neither of those have ever held much interest for me. It seems like cons are becoming more and more consumerist which makes me less and less willing to bother.
 
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I'll add another vote for Celebration. I've been to the last two, and I've had a blast at both!

My family, who I would characterize as more casual fans, also enjoyed themselves.

Sean
 
My go to list of cons -

Comic book / sci fi related Cons

LA Comic Con
Wondercon
San Diego Comic Con (if you can get in)
Star Wars Celebration
D23 (getting better but still not amazing yet)
New York Comic Con
Dragoncon
C2E2
ACE Comic Con


Anime Cons

A-kon
Anime Weekend Atlanta
Fanime
Anime Expo (a little too corporate these days)
Sakura-con
Anime Los Angeles (been on the decline recently)
 
For horror… Monsterpalooza cons are pretty cool. Pasadena and Burbank.
And there is a bit of cross over stuff to make it fun if you are not into the horror as much.
 
Which one? Star Wars Celebration Anaheim? Star Wars Celebration Europe?
Any of them really! I went to the last cons in Anaheim and, before that, Chicago.

While I would love to go to next year’s con in London, just not in the cards for me, but if you can swing it - go for it!

Sean
 
Any of them really! I went to the last cons in Anaheim and, before that, Chicago.

While I would love to go to next year’s con in London, just not in the cards for me, but if you can swing it - go for it!

Sean

Cool. As it's closer to me, I'll give Anaheim's a try first.
 
Celebration hops around. No doubt it’ll return to Anaheim at some point, but I would guess the next one held in the States will be in Orlando since the last two were in Anaheim (2022) and Chicago (2019).

They’ll announce it at the end of the next Celebration, which is in April.

Sean
 
Celebration hops around. No doubt it’ll return to Anaheim at some point, but I would guess the next one held in the States will be in Orlando since the last two were in Anaheim (2022) and Chicago (2019).

They’ll announce it at the end of the next Celebration, which is in April.

Sean
Yeah, I would imagine it will be back in Anaheim 2025 or 2026 if things keep up the way they have been going. 2023 is London, 2024 would like be Orlando and then Anaheim in 2025. Possible that it could go to another european region before Anaheim but it seems they are likely going to be focusing on Anaheim, Orlando and London as the key locations from here on out.
 
Celebration at Orlando in 2010 was quite fun....can't believe that was over 12 years ago....

They liked my custom made shirt so much, they made a giant blow up display of it....
101.jpg


Friend and I met Ben Burtt, who was really nice and I was at the time making a video for my Dad's upcoming birthday, I asked if he would record a happy birthday message, and he did. Really awesome.
104.jpg


I also made these 2 videos from the day.


I probably haven't watched these videos since I uploaded them.....curious now how they look 12 years later....besides the low quality of the upload.
 
Hello all!

What are the good cons to go to?

I'm looking for events that are good for cosplay, have a good sized crowd attending them, have a good programming track, are multi-day affairs, and are professionally run.

As a means of comparison, at the top of the list for the ones I'm already familiar with - and have attended - would be Comic-Con International San Diego. That's a HUGE event and has it all. It's also very hard to get into and can get crowded as all get-out.

In a similar vein there's WonderCon in Anaheim. It's just like San Diego Comic-Con but much more approachable and easier to attend as the tickets don't require any lottery process. It has cosplay aplenty, a big vendor area, and lots of programming going on. And it has lotsa cool guests attending.

I've been to Salt Lake City Comic-con previously and enjoyed that too. So much so, that I'm headed back this year. I've also been to a Dragon Con in Atlanta and plan on being back next year.

So, what else is out there?

What are the Cons in Texas like? What are the ones in Arizona like? Anything similar in Northern California? New York? Illinois?

Any ones to seek out? Any ones to avoid?

Do tell!
Arizona congoer check!
Phoenix Fan fusion is pretty big, but historically not ran well. It’s held usually the hottest weekend of the year, and previous years they handled badge pickup extremely poorly. It’s been 2 hour badge pickup and bag check outside in 120 degree heat wrapped around the convention center. This year had a huge improvement, they made badge pickups in I believe north south East and west entrances which made going in and out a breeze. I’m definitely going 2023 and since 2022 was so enjoyable compared to previous years I’d recommend it for 2023. It has a great pop culture presence and plenty of fan run events as well big shows with the guest celebrities. First got to meet asavage pre covid and caught him in a Adam incognito costume that wasn’t recorded.
I will talk about another Arizona con in another post, but because of the size of Phoenix Fan Fusion, it’s able to host more popular con guests as well as more niche ones. It’s becoming too big in my opinion but that means now is a good era to go, especially if management continues to improve.
 

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