My MEGACON Orlando 2023 Wrap Up

MEGACON Orlando took place from March 30 through April 2 at the Orange County Convention Center. My daughter and I were hosted for all four days. I’ve attended MEGACON twice in the past, but both times it was one day to meet a particular celebrity, and we didn’t really participate in the “whole MEGACON experience”.

I’ll start right off by saying it’s next to impossible to participate in the “whole MEGACON experience”. There was so much going on! Even after four days there were things that we didn’t do. Each time we walked through the show floor we saw something new.

MEGACON is a fan experience, which means that a good part of the convention is created by the fans. There were celebrities in attendance, but a lot of the panels were presented by fans.

Many of the celebrities did have panels as well. We attended two of them each day, and there were a few that I would have liked to have gone to but timing wouldn’t allow it. My favorite panel was with Steve Burns from Blue’s Clues. He was hilarious, and he has a great love for the fans. Blue’s Clues is perfect for something like this, because many of the people at the panel either grew up on the show or had children who did. Some attendees wore green striped shirts, just like Steve did on the show. This is the panel that we’re going to still be talking about months from now.

A special panel shoutout to Vivien Lyra Blair, who played young Princess Leia in Obi-Wan Kenobi. This girl is going places! She’s only ten years old and she can act with the best of them. During her panel she behaved like a pro but she was also very much a child who is living her dream. I enjoyed her panel, and I look forward to following her career.

The celebrities also had autograph and photo opportunities. One of the biggest celebrities was Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in two of the Star Wars prequels and also in Obi-Wan Kenobi. While most of the celebrities signed on the show floor, Christensen was in a separate room so that people who didn’t have an autograph or picture could see him. MEGACON referred to it as “the super secret Death Star”. As a Star Wars fan who has raised a Star Wars fan, I decided to splurge and buy the photo opportunity. It was run by Epic Photos, and I’ve had bad experiences with the company in the past. This was unorganized, our 6:00 photo wasn’t taken until 8:30, but I’m happy with the picture so I’m not going to complain too much. There were long lines for most of the other celebrities in the main area, and I’ve heard several complaints about how things were handled. If you attend a future convention and Epic Photos is involved, arrive on time but don’t expect to be called right away.

One of the best parts of MEGACON Orlando is the cosplay. There were so many people dressed up! The costumes ranged from themed t-shirts that resembled a character to full out setups that looked like they were directly out of a movie! I talked with a lot of cosplayers, and it’s a great group of people. Seeing all of the creativity is reason enough to go to MEGACON. Since MEGACON doesn’t cover just one area of fandom, you won’t see mostly Star Wars or mostly Disney. There’s a little bit of everything, and plenty that aren’t from any movie or show at all.

The show floor also had a little bit of everything. There were items for sale, Artist Alley featured artwork to purchase, and there was even an area to get a tattoo. There were also replicas of famous vehicles. My favorite part of the show floor (big surprise) was the Star Wars village, which I believe was sponsored by the 501st Legion. Not only were there great photo opportunities, but they were collecting money for Give Kids the World.

Saturday was packed. I don’t mean crowded, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in one place in my entire life. It took us 20 minutes just to cross from one end of the show floor to the other, which should have been a five minute walk. If you don’t like crowds but want to attend at future MEGACON, Thursday and Friday were much more manageable. Sunday was still crowded but not like Saturday.

There were a lot of questions in advance about parking. MEGACON sold parking passes ahead of time, and I’m glad that I bought mine the moment I knew I was going to attend. Close parking sold out in advance for the busier days. There were still spots available, but the lots were further out and required a shuttle ride. Some drivers didn’t know that the close lots were prepaid (even though there were signs that said so) and they really stressed out the staff. One poor guy told me on Sunday that he just wanted to go home. I know I don’t have to remind the Disney Over 50 readers, but always be nice to people. It wasn’t this man’s fault that people didn’t read the signs.

The major problem that we had at MEGACON Orlando was the food options at the Orange County Convention Center. This was not MEGACON’s fault, I noticed this when I attended the IAAPA Expo last November. Officially you were not allowed to bring food or beverages into MEGACON, but the food choices within the Orange County Convention Center stink. If you have any special dietary needs, bring something with you. My daughter and I are both vegetarian and she has a dairy allergy, and our choices were limited. One place that had options that we would eat ran out of tofu, limiting our choices even more. I heard plenty of complaints about the other food choices; everything from burnt pizza to food poisoning. I hope that there are either more options next time, or that MEGACON takes the rule about “no outside food” off of the website. I’m glad that security didn’t care and didn’t stop people from carrying food and water in.

All in all, we had a fantastic time at MEGACON Orlando. If you’re into any type of science fiction, fantasy, or anime fandom, I’d recommend checking it out next year. It will be held earlier, the 2024 dates are February 1-4. Tickets are already on sale, and they’re for the lowest price that you’ll find. Maybe I’ll see you there!