I love seeing the social media posts for Dragon Con. It’s a fabulous way to learn about new things that we need to see, tracks that we want to learn more about and things that we didn’t see in person. Having said that, Dragon Con is a fire hose of activity and sights where you can’t possibly catch em all. It’s a fountain of overstimulation and unlike any Con you’ve frequented before. This was our ninth Dragon Con and it still proved to tell new stories; which isn’t an unreasonable thing to mention when you consider 75,000 people attended.
If you’re commuting into Atlanta for Dragon Con it’s the train ride that starts the stories. Just make eye contact and ask a question about their costume or why they’re attending and the canvas is set. Our family met a Spider-Man on the train into town. It was obvious his suit was high quality. This Spider-Man suit was layered, had ridges all over it and retained its vibrant colors. This cosplayer went on to describe how his suit was custom-made for him and that it cost around $2,000.
It was obvious that I didn’t expect a figure that high because they followed it up by telling us the costs of some of the other suits. Some of those people get them from costume designers in Hollywood or are lucky enough to be friends with them and simply acquire them at cost. They attend cons on most weekends in the spring, summer, and fall. It’s their jam, hobby, and way to entertain themselves. They’re an engineer, thus how they’re able to handle the costs of going to and fro to all these places.
Our family spent some time in the Skeptics Track, specifically, it was about the Mandela Effect that drew our attention. It was our 17-year-old son who first found it through the Dragon Con app and suggested we go there. Nobody in the family had any idea what the Mandela Effect is, but we’re all down for a little science or critical thinking.
You know that scene from Moonraker where Jaws is with his new girlfriend? He smiles, with his metal teeth, and then she smiles, who also now has metal teeth. The two are shown and the spinning space station crashes or does whatever. Jaws’ girlfriend didn’t have metal teeth. When a large group of people misremembers the same fact, it’s called the Mandela Effect. Fun fact: the Mandela Effect was created at Dragon Con in 2010. A guest that year was chatting with a security guard and the two erroneously remembered the same thing. Nelson Mandela did not die in prison in the 1980s. The correct pronunciation and spelling of of The Berenstain Bears is another example. I spelled it wrong three times. I’m looking at how it’s spelled now and it feels funny, but it’s correct.
It was then that our family decided to go to more talks that were part of the Skeptic Track next year. I showed my wife how to navigate the Dragon Con app and gravity took over. This app is easy to use. It’s also the most efficient way to discover what’s happening now, what’s happening at certain times for various tracks and where you are in the five hotel scheme of the event. This event sprawls over five different hotels. Those logistics need to be factored into the crowd size, divided by the specific group audience you want to hear. TLDR: plan ahead when you are moving around.
We met loads of people who were there for the first time. They had heard about ‘it’ for years, but finally jumped into the water. Most of those people were simply looking for fun as they cosplayed to a pink version of some Star Wars character.
In line to get coffee I met a college professor from Tennessee. I mentioned something about education and he told us that this was his 30th time attending Dragon Con. He didn’t say it in a gloating manner, just more in a matter-of-fact way as he listed off things to look out for. High up on his list was the Con Suite, a must visit if you want a quick snack or need a reprieve from the manic-ness that is Dragon Con.
Dragon Con is unique to other cons and science-fiction or pop culture gatherings, in that it’s not driven by this year’s hot intellectual property or tent pole movie. If you attend Dragon Con expecting endless tables of swag or are not willing to accept being in a crowded space, it might not be for you. Does the idea of collecting seemingly random and pointless stickers get you jazzed up? You’re off to a good start. Do you seek small, minute, 3-D printed toys or bags of dice in random places? Are you the kind of person who is curious about someone else’s passion?
If you answered yes, or were curious about any of the above questions then Dragon Con is a good fit for you. There aren’t any dragons. There’s a shirt that a couple of attendees wear during the weekend that say, “Where are the dragons?”. It’s funny, because it’s true. There are everything but dragons, and having said that; there are hundreds of people who live in the middle Earth or “knight realm”, that are tangential to them.
Spider-Man had never been to Dragon Con. He was going to take walk in the parade, which is the crowning jewel for most participants that weekend. It’s a 45-minute parade where horror, pop culture, superheroes, science, the Cult of the Carpet and more. There were approximately 75 different versions of Spidey in the parade. Some of them were versions of the IP, others were twisted versions, a mash-up of the character, but they all had the DNA of a web slinger. Thanks to our conversation on the train; we knew that some of the suits cost as much affordable cars. There were other suits that didn’t have a comma in their retail price, but had their heart and passion on its sleeve.
If you find yourself getting frustrated at Dragon Con, it could be due to the crowds or a line to get in someplace. When this happens, explore a track that you otherwise might not consider. There still might be a line, don’t panic. Just because it’s not your first choice doesn’t mean that it’s going to be empty. Relax, sit back and enjoy the conversation from resources you know very little about, but are almost certainly guaranteed to enjoy. In our second year, we discovered the science track and have never looked back. There are some of the larger, marquee panels we still attend, but they’re planned around with loads of time to get there, with wait times factored in.
Dragon Con is held every year over Labor Day Weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.
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