What to expect from Dragon Con in Atlanta

Dragon Con is the largest pop culture convention in the U.S. that focuses on sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, comics, music, art and film. That’s quite the boiler plate copy, but it’s true. Dragon Con is more than a place to catch presentations from the cast of Arrow. There are literally hundreds of break- out sessions that are geared to exactly what interests you in the pop culture world.  And the cosplay-wow, it’s not required that you come in costume, but thousands of people wear them and they’re really something to marvel. The parade on Saturday morning is one of the highlights of the weekend.

Dragon Con 2015 is from September 4-7 in Atlanta. The best way to figure out what to do is to download the app.  The app is incredibly thorough and replaces a small book that would otherwise be required to list all of the happenings going on. You can sort things by days, meeting rooms, sessions, hotels, vendors, maps

It’s crowded

We state the obvious, but it’s worth driving this point home. Dragon Con will have 65,000 people there over the course of the weekend. Most of them will be in the area when the parade happens on Saturday.  Even in the hotels, walk ways and sidewalks it will be very crowded. Bring your patience, be cool and have fun.

However, do not let the crowds dissuade you from going anywhere. Last year I saw a massive line several city blocks long.  It was to see Terry Gilliam and while I’m a big Monty Python fan the line put me off from waiting.  But then I saw the room that the major presenters speak in. These rooms are massive and able to accommodate thousands of people. Plus they project the presentations on several screens so that even people in the back of the room can see the stars.

It might be hot

While the season says it is late summer, it is still hot. The Earth has tiled a little bit and the sun’s rays are more brilliant and produce more heat to people in Atlanta this time of year. Pack a water bottle or two, especially if you’re coming down for the parade.

There will be lines to eat

Pack a snack or two and try to eat outside of the traditional meal times. There are hundreds of places to eat in downtown Atlanta, plus all manner of portable food vendors, but every one of them will still have lines of people at noon and 5 in the afternoon.  Again, just be cool, eat early, pack a snack and you’re stomach will be fine and full.

The people are really cool

Despite the massive crowds every person that I’ve met at Dragon Con was approachable and helpful. The volunteer staff helps you out if you have a question with directions or anything else that you can’t figure out.

You can’t do it all

Think of Dragon Con like a time-sensitive Disney World. You can’t possibly attend all of the presentations, so use the app and plan your time accordingly. Also factor in walking time between hotels, relaxation and down time too. One great thing about Dragon Con is that it really is for the fans. You can’t reserve seats in the auditoriums. Once a speaker is done they clear the room and the queue for the next presentation starts to form. This helps prevent people from camping out in the major rooms just to hear the main presenters speak.

Dragon Con is loads of fun. If you’re just coming down for the parade consider walking around a bit. Just keep in mind that some of the hotels require that you show a Dragon Con attendance badge to enter the property. At first this sounded odd to me, but then I saw the scale of the event and it made perfect sense.  Also, download the app. That will answer most of your questions and allow you to plan your event so that you can get the most from it.

Is it OK for kids? Yes! But some of the costumes are frighteningly real, especially the horror or zombie ones. And the crowds might scare some of the smaller children, but if they’re OK with lots of people and mom or dad can assure them that the big scary puppet is a costume, then it’s all good.