MegaCon hit Orlando hard February 1st – 4th, 2024 with high-profile guests, amazing artists, and impressive panels to entertain and educate conventioneers of all ages. This massive four-day con was the mecca for geeks from all walks of life. With an estimated 190,000 people in attendance, it was the not-to-be-missed event of the year so far.
The MegaCon Orlando Convention Experience
The convention was held in the West Concourse this year, which is a switch from the North/South side where it has been the past several years. I was afraid it would be a tight fit in the older space but was proven wrong by the spacing of the vendor floor, the plethora of panel rooms, and the moving of the cosplayers to their own wing of the con outside of the regular vendor/celeb floor. Despite the estimated 190,000 crowd, MegaCon Orlando was well spaced out and didn’t feel nearly as crowded as it was.
While everyone else was going gaga for Ewan McGregor and Tom Hiddleston, I was freaking out over three of my favorite content creators being in the same area. Jen Markham, The Panda Redd, and The Dapper Danielle were all in attendance in their own spaces at the con. Dapper Danielle was selling her art. Panda Redd was there as a guest for a comic book company. Jen Markham was a cosplay guest and had her husband Jeremy and Grogu at the table to help out with pictures and meeting fans (I regret not getting an autograph).
Favorite Parts Of MegaCon Orlando This Year
I’m not sure what it was about this year but I ran into more first-time MegaCon-goers than I have ever in previous years. It was a welcome change to see so many new faces and give tips and tricks to those who were a bit overwhelmed by all that was going on. Many of them had kids in tow.
My husband’s Beast from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (thank you Fun.com) was a hit on the first day of the convention and his Jedi Beast was a bigger hit. Matt Lanter from The Clone Wars saw him at the 501st Legion booth and threw out a few compliments for his cosplay. It’s suffice to say my husband’s day was made from that point on.
My husband barely managed to get into the Back to the Future reunion panel and the Stranger Things panels, but it was well worth the wait for both. He couldn’t stop talking about all he had learned and the excitement of hearing members of each cast talk about their experiences. He also got into The Clone Wars panel and as a thank you from the panelists, the entire audience got a lithograph with some beautiful art featuring the core characters.
As for me, I randomly ran into The Panda Redd and that was cool. I didn’t expect to see him at the con and it made me all giddy. I also got all starstruck over Jen Markham when I finally had the courage to go say hi. She was as nice and humble as in her videos.
While I did not get any celeb photo ops, I saw plenty of people who did and it was nice to see that all the ones I saw did not have that annoying plexiglass between the guest and the conventioneer.
Artist Alley was huge compared to previous years (it was almost the size of the vendor section) and showcased some impressive talent. I recognized a few people from previous years and it was nice to see an equal amount of newcomers.
The vendors were spaced out nicely for the crowd levels and there wasn’t a lot of one type of thing. There were just as many comic book vendors as Loungefly dealers and t-shirt vendors. MegaCon Orlando got a few bigger names like Enso rings and Gundham to show up as well. Gundham was probably the most popular of the booths. They had a few exclusives (including a Hello Kitty Gundham) and had a decent line each day of the event. I saw a lot of people with their bags in tow and when I found out how much you had to spend to get that bag, I realized they were the big money-making booth of the con.
Cosplay Abound
Cosplayers never fail to impress me at the conventions I attend and MegaCon Orlando is no different. The convention-goers brought their A-game each day and I enjoyed looking at the various levels of craftsmanship on display. My favorite was a simple cosplayer dressed as a yellow duck handing out free resin ducks to anyone who asked. I picked out a neon green duckie.
Click to view slideshow.Until 2005
MegaCon Orlando returns to the North/South side of the Orange County Convention Center February 6th – 9th 2025. I’m eager to see how they will top this year and compare it to how well it was set up and executed this year on the West Concourse. Despite the crowds growing every year (and parking prices going with it), I’m super excited to see how next year will go and this time, I’ll be dressing up myself for at least one day. The goal is for Jedi Beast to have his Belle. Stay tuned for a full build review as I get the pieces together and put my own twist on a “tale as old as time.”
Disclaimer: GeekDad was given a media pass into this event.
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