Megacon 2023 Review

 

After a 3 year hiatus, the crew from Brothascomic was granted a press badge to Megacon Orlando this year and the show was the biggest and best Megacon I have attended( and I have attended 7 times).  My review; however is cut a bit short as I wound up getting sick on Friday and missing the last two days from being ill.  But as always, I have plenty of pictures and a review to share for those who could not attend.

Getting to the Convention Center

As Megacon has grown, so have the headaches of getting in, out, and around Orlando and the Convention Center before, during, and after the convention.  My suggestion is to get a hotel and Uber or shuttle back and forth.  I did not do the hotel this year and had to drive and pay in a parking lot that was off site and that was my mistake as I did not know they were selling parking spaces ahead of the con and all the onsite spaces had been purchased.  The off-site lots are fine and the shuttles run continously but if you buy merch or have smaller kids with you, getting in and off shuttles can be a challenge.  Again, rent the hotel!!

Badging

The badging process at cons can be.... alot.  It really depends on the size of the con and Megacon has grown and grown so the badging process has to.  And with the rise of forgers and counterfitters, Mega has taken measures to make sure those in attendance are those who should be in attendance.

I had two badges to pick up:  My press badge and my daughters badge.  The press process is easy.  The other process, not as easy so arrive early to avoid the lines.  Once you have your badge tho, that is only part 1.  You have to activate your badge and that can be a while as you have to do it on your phone by answering questions and putting in the code on the badge.  The wifi as the day goes on in the convention center is challenging so arrive early.

The Convention Floor

My friend Sandman once called Megacon- Vendor Con and it was not an insult.  If you want something related to the fields of comics, games, wrestling, steampunk, gaming, etc, you will be able to find it on the floor of Megacon.  I suggest if you find something you like, buy it then as you may not see that vendor again as you get deeper into the convention center.

When I say you can find anything on the vendor floor...

The Guests( Celebrties)

I have covered conventions all up the southeastern United States and Megacon is the only one who does thie best to go all out on their guest list and this year they topped it.  Again, you need to purchase things in advance or they will sell out. I know that seems unfair but its the reality of the situation.  If you wanted a picture with Hayden Christesen, you would have needed to pre purchase.  That went the same for many of the other celebrties there.  It was an amazing guest list and I am sorry I missed out from being sick to meet some of my favorites who were Saturday only.  Guest sets Megacon above so many other conventions.

The Guests( Comic creators)

Also a great list of creators this year.  I did not want to get anyone sick by interviewing them so I just got some pictures with some of my favorite creators.  This is a great part of the convention and a part that often gets overlooked with all of the celebrity guests.  But Megacon got some awesome creators thi year too

The Cosplay

One of the biggest reasons we have Brothascomics is our love of cosplay.  With me being sick I did not get a chance to interview anyone as I did not want to get them sick but I have plenty of pictures below so you can see how talented people are.  I will say the con was lacking some of the bigger name cosplayers they have had in the past but that is in no way an insult to the cosplay guests they had this year.

Food

Its a comic convention ya'll.  Bring snacks for yourself or be prepared to pay.  I cannot make that any more plain.  You are not exiting the con to get food and come back.  Back you a solid snack in your bag with chips, water, soda, Gatorade, etc and then when you get really hungry, you can get you a meal from the wide variety of food vendors.  And this year, at least for me, this is the first time Megacon served alcohol and I was mighty pleased by this!!

Overall

Again, I was gone for 3 years.  Two years my media badge was not approved and then 1 year for COVID.  I am super grateful for several reasons- the most obvious being that I love having Megacon back in my life.  This is a family affair for my daughter and I and we love being able to hang and geek out with "our people"  The convention is life for me and her and even though I had to bail early from illness, having been a part of it- even for such a short period of time was amazing. I cannot wait for next year- already book my hotel!!

The Producer