Dragon*Con 2011

Where's the one place that geeks and nerds can come together for four days every year and feel completely normal? Dragon*Con of course! Dragon*Con for the uninitiated is "the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the world" Yeah, yeah, Comic-Con is bigger but Dragon*Con is more diverse. Dragon*Con is held every year on Labor Day weekend. Which means...get your cosplay on and get down to Atlanta, GA because the party's about to start!! I can't really express the chaotic, crowded, sometimes drunken camaraderie that is Dragon*Con in words. There is so much to do; gaming, vendors, cosplay, contests, speaker panels, workshops, demos, concerts. You really just have to be there.

Here are just a few of the almost 400 Guests that will be there this year:

Terry Brooks
Laura Hickman
Tracy Hickman
William Shatner
Felicia Day (from The Guild)
Wil Wheaton
Nicholas Brendon (Xander from Buffy)
Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy)
Lou Ferrigno (Hulk)
Martin Landau
Peter Mayhew (played the Wookiee Chewbacca)
Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin in the Sci-Fi channel's hit series Battlestar Galactica)
Michael Hogan (Colonel Saul Tigh, Executive Officer of the Battlestar Galactica)
Lea Thompson (Lorraine Baines McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy)
Beau Bridges
Stan Lee
Boris Vallejo

If you can only afford to go one day things won't ramp up until Saturday, September 3, so I'd go then. I, unfortunately, won't be able to go at all this year; recession and all. Last time I went, my husband and I spent about $500, including hotel. If you stayed in one of the five host hotels, particularly the Hilton, and bought autographs you could easily spend over $1000 in 4 days.

Here are a few tips for saving money:

1. Stay outside the Downtown area. We stayed near the airport and rode the Marta Rail in. Yeah, it added 40 minutes travel time or so to our day but we saved something like $100/night on hotel. A Marta Pass for 4 days is $15. Plus, I liked riding the train.

2. Pack your own breakfast and lunch. We saved big money by only eating one meal/day at a restaurant.

3. Buy your tickets ahead of time. Little late for that now but maybe something to keep in mind for next year. Pre-registration 4-day passes tend to run about $75. Tickets at the door are always more expensive. Good thing is you can buy one day at a time if you so desire. Be prepared to wait in long ticket lines though. Go very early, first thing in the morning. Seriously.

Dragon*Con 2011 September 2 - 5 Memberships (aka tickets)
$120 Friday to Monday 4-day (available for purchase on Thursday and Friday only)
$90 Saturday to Monday 3-day (available for purchase on Saturday only)
$60 Sunday to Monday 2-day (available for purchase on Sunday only)
$40 Friday only (available for purchase on Friday only)
$50 Saturday only (available for purchase on Saturday only)
$40 Sunday only (available for purchase on Sunday only)
$30 Monday only (available for purchase on Monday only)

Registration hours are as follows:
Thu 9/1 - 10am - 10pm
Fri 9/2 - 8am - 10pm
Sat 9/3 - 8am - 10pm
Sun 9/4 - 8am - 10pm
Mon 9/5 - 8am - 5pm

4. Buy your souvenirs on Sunday or Monday. Vendors will often reduce their prices as the convention wears on so that they don't have to pack all that stuff back up.

If you've never been it's definitely something to look into, especially if you're into sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, and/or hot, barely clothed chicks. They used to allow non-convention people into the hotel lobbies to view the cosplay. Recently I've heard that they have locked up security a bit and no longer allow that. If you wanted to see the costumes though but don't want to pay for admission, definitely check out the parade on Saturday, September 3, at 10:00 AM. Just be aware that if it looks like rain the extravagant costumes won't be there.  I mean would you want to get your $2000 Darth Vader costume wet?  You can also view Dragon*Con TV, which is broadcast to all guest rooms in the host hotels, online.