Monday, September 22, 2014

THE DRAGON*CON CHRONICLES 2014 - AUGUST 28,2014 - DAY 0

By. Samurai Millo's

 

It’s Dragon *Con’s time once more. An occasion when I tell my faithful readers all about my adventures known as the Dragon*Con Chronicles: a day by day account of one of the best conventions in the continental U.S. But first, for all those new to Dragon *Con, here’s a bit of history.

Dragon*Con is a U.S. based multi-genre convention. It was founded in 1987 and takes place once a year in Atlanta, Georgia, usually on Labor Day weekend. Due to the event’s growth over the years, the convention takes place in five hotels: the Hilton, the Hyatt Regency, the Marriott Marquis, Sheraton Hotel and the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel. In 2013 the dealer tables and exhibition booths were moved to The Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart adding yet another building to the event.

If you are a geek and you are an enthusiast of everything from comic books to cosplays, then Dragon*Con is the place for you. You will fit into a number of activities that will peak your interest. There is no doubt you will enjoy the 4 day convention. Let’s suppose you are going to Dragon*Con because you love comic books. You love them so much that you not only read them, but you also collect them, analyze their stories, and keep them in mind conditions. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to a convention that offered a series of comic book related events spread through its duration? Dragon*Con is that kind of convention.

Dragon *Con uses a system known as Fan Tracks which is used to refer to a whole set of activities with a theme in common. One of its well-known Fan Tracks is for comic books and it’s known as Comics and Pop Art Fan Track. Dragon*Con has about 42 Fan Tracks that cover the currently relevant fields of geek interest. That means hundreds of hours of different kinds of activities, all of them running simultaneously.

The same day I arrived home from Dragon*Con 2013, I bought my 4 day pass for this years. Unable to get a room at the Hyatt this year, I settled for the Omni Hotel. I also bought my plane ticket before 2013 ended. My plane ride to Atlanta was fast and without incident. Using the airline’s iPhone app to do my check-in during the day sped up everything. Once I had all my bags, I used the Airport Shuttle Service and saved myself about $70 in Taxi fare. The check-in at the Omni was quick too; I checked-in online the day before.

After getting cozy in my room, I went to the Sheraton to finish my pre-registration and get my 4 day badge. It was the fastest registration for a convention that I had ever done. The guy who gave me my badge warned me that if I lost it I had to pay full price ($150) for a replacement. I left the Sheraton hotel especially hungry seeing as I hadn’t eaten anything since 4:00 A.M., so I headed to The Mall at the Peachtree Center to grab a bite.

 At the Mall, I bumped into Meg Galacticat (whom I met last year) and her husband Christopher. Afterwards, I had my first taste of Chicken Swarma at Aviva by Kameel, a Mediterranean food restaurant. I was attended by Kameel himself. Let me just say he’s awesome.
With a pleased belly, I went on to take photos of some cosplayers and later headed to the CVS Pharmacy at the Mall to stock up on snacks for the weekend. Then I headed back to my hotel room for a shower, some rest, and quick change of clothes before heading to the  Hyatt. 

When I arrived, I ran into old and new friends; Janet Osburn and her husband Nate, the Hatcher sisters (Hailey & Anna), and JD Stretch and Jessica Paulding; they were all in “The Colonial Fleet” a Battlestar Galatica fan club. Around 7:30 P.M. we all headed to Max Lager’s Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery for dinner. The food was as great as the people with whom I shared it.

Around 9:00 P.M. I bid farewell to Max Lager’s and went back to the Hyatt and later to the Marriott where I crashed a Cosplay Playboy Bunny Party. I had loads of fun. It was great how everyone, even before Dragon *Con had officially started, was in the mood to cosplay; the main hotels were filled with people cosplaying left and right.




After taking a good amount of photos, I called it a night and headed back to my hotel room around 10: 30 P.M.. I needed a minimum of 5 hour of sleep if I wanted to be ready for Friday morning: the official beginning of Dragon*Con 2014.

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