The biggest nerd convention just happened in Orlando. Megacon is an insanely popular event more; than 150,000 people go to a year! Megacon is a for-profit event, organized by Fan Expo HQ/Informa Connect. The convention was originally called Orlandocon held from 1974-1994. Currently, the convention takes place at the Orange County Convention Center. The anticipation was killing some people. Junior Maya Jones mentioned how the year before she was “looking forward to Chevy Chase,” while this year “Jason Lee’s coming” which means a lot since he’s from “My Name Is Earl and he’s Syndrome from the Incredibles,” Maya is very excited for this year. Megacon has developed from a comic convention to more of an anime convention. Mr.Houvouras talked about the slow growth, “I started with Megacon when it was science fiction and comics, and it’s just far away from that. So I’m always a little each year I’m little more disappointed at the lack of comics and comic-related merchandise there.” Anime has been a giant influence on Megacon over the years from the development of the con as well as people who dress up which tends to be more anime-based. Aqua Ramos dressed up as Zoro from One Piece which several people recognized and he had a personal connection with the character.
Many things excite people about Megacon. One is the cosplays, Reece Andrews claims, “ I’m doing Naruto the first day visits a sibling costume when my little brother wants to do it. I’m doing Overwatch as Tracer on the second day. On the third day, I’m doing a couples costume with my boyfriend and we’re going with Sam and Arthur from Red. The final day is free for all day and I decided to do Shira with me and my little sister so she’s going to dress up as Shira and I’m going to be glimmer.” People are beaming at the thought of meeting celebrities since several famous people were going (Tom Hiddleston, Ewan McGregor, and Michael J Fox) Maya Jones got to meet up with a few of them, “I met a lot of people! I took a picture with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, Fox was so nice he hugged me! I got his auto which was not the best experience. I try to be Zach Aguilar every year (he voices Tanjiro) and I did he’s always a sweetheart. I met other celebrities such as Cameron Monaghan AND David Wittenberg” There were several good costumes at the convention: Hammond from Jurassic Park, a watermelon fairy, Leon Kennedy from Resident Evil 4, and Jimbei from One Piece.
Something that seems to bother everyone is the cost. Not only is Megacon pricey but several things contribute to the hefty expense. Price is the thing stopping a lot of people from meeting celebrities since it can range from $60-200. The amount of people dressed up is almost always the majority. Reece Andrew mentions, “I think the cost is a little overpriced, but I also know that it’s a worldwide event. I do think that the price for the separate prices for tickets and the separate prices for parking and then the separate prices for like food and going to see people and having to pay to wait in lines is ridiculous so like how Disney when you buy usually can get if you are dressing up it just depends and why I’m dressing all four days.” While some things that bother people, are when you go into the event it’s mainly a “glorified flea market” (Reece Andrews) and not a lot of people want to spend tons of money to spend more money. However, everyone felt what they spent was more than worth it for the experience.
Megacon had several different events outside of the actual convention (meet and greets haunted mansions.) There were many booths that people didn’t expect to be there. Maya Jones mentioned, “There was one the Labyrinth booth, I feel like that movie is underrated and it was so surprising.” Mr.Houvouras mentioned the usual experience each year for him, “I just like going on for the whole experience. I mean, I’ll go listen to some writers. I mean, meet some artists, and then I walk around and take pictures with people who were doing cosplay so it’s just the whole it’s the whole kit and caboodle itself, man. It’s just the whole thing is awesome.”
Overall everyone’s expectations were met with this event. Houvouras proclaimed, “We had a blast. I always do. It’s fun seeing everybody getting dressed up. It’s fun seeing people queue up for hours waiting for their favorite celebrity, which is something I don’t do. So I mean, I don’t dress up either but because I don’t participate in those doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy seeing other people enjoy their participation. So I mean it’s just it’s all the good nerd things.” My expectations were met above and beyond, I had a blast spending time with my friends and buying amazing prints from self-owned businesses. Overall everyone I went with had a wonderful time and can’t wait for this event to happen next year.
