Dragon Con, it’s much more than just a parade for children

When is a Con not a Con? That sounds like a trick question, but note the capitalization of ‘Con’. In this instance we’re colloquially speaking about the pop-culture gatherings that happen around the world, specifically, we’re talking about Dragon Con. Dragon Con is the annual tradition that’s held in Atlanta each Labor Day weekend. Tens of thousands of people gather in seemingly every hotel in downtown Atlanta and do something that’s close to their Con passion. Dragon Con also has a very large, passionate and entertaining track of break out meetings for children. I took the kids to some presentations and they were blown away, moved and some of them literally took the Oxygen out of a (small) room.

It’s worth noting that some families know Dragon Con because of the parade. And wow, what a parade it is. It’s a 45 minute parade with some of the best and most realistic cosplay you will ever see. Tens of thousands of people line the parade route early each Saturday over Labor Day weekend to see it. The Dragon Con Parade is amazing. The Dragon Con Parade is also just the tip of a massive entertainment iceberg that is entirely family friendly.

This year our kids were six and eight. They like pop culture, but haven’t latched onto a specific property that really lights their fire yet. Before going to Dragon Con I prepped them for what it was and what they might see. “Will they throw candy out during the parade”, the young one asked. No, it’s not that type of parade. While he was initially bummed out, he was curious about it all based on my photos from previous years.

On the train ride down the fun started as the young one sat beside a Steampunk Colonel Sanders. I assured him that it was OK and he gamely sat beside the Colonel and started peppering him with questions. The two continued to talk for the entire 30 min train ride! Cosplayers who get children are great people. Cosplayers are great, but some are there for the non-juvenile fun, while others might be parents or grandparents who have dressed up for ages. Steampunk Colonel Sanders was certainly in the latter category.

Once we arrived at one of the hotels the boys were in awe. It was the day before the parade and it was still largest crowd they had ever seen. They wanted to take photos with every superhero, speak to every Adventure Time person and touch everything. We did talk about the ‘you can’t touch everything’ rule-especially where the vendors are, but the kids still needed to be reminded of that.

They saw countless other children too, except they were in costume and I pointed out to them how much fun that could be next time. We went to the video game room where they saw dozens of full size games to play. “You mean we don’t need quarters”, the young one asked with dismay. His older brother was already on that train and playing pinball while I assured him that, yes he can play anything and it’s free.

They had multiple floors of pop culture things for sale. There was a huge exhibitor space from DC, dozens of steampunk vendors, leather craftsmen, Game of Thrones apparel people and more Whovian-esque vendors than could fit in a TARDIS. In short, anything pop culture could be found there. That one of a kind Uncle Scrooge t-shirt, it’s probably there somewhere. As a side bonus, both of our children realized they still want to trade Pokémon cards, with a side of stealing them when the other one is not in their room.

If you’re taking children to Dragon Con you’ll want to pay attention to the Kaleidoscope track. In theory, any of the events or presentations are OK for families, but they might not be kid friendly, nor do they represent themselves to be. For example John Barrowman, who is a fabulous presenter, might say something that’s blue or otherwise not a phrase that you’d want the kids to repeat.   However, at any of the Kaleidoscope events they’ll only be talking about fandom happenings that are fine for the family.

That could include a conversation about costuming, talking about comics, Star Wars, how to save money at Walt Disney World or any other topic that families, who also enjoy pop culture, can appreciate and relate to. I took the boys to several such topics, but their favorite was the science one with NASA stuff. That’s what our 8 year-old called it. The room had five stations that let kids get hands-on experience with science.

They rode a hover craft, built a helicopter, learned how to launch a rock and took the air of a room. It was a mini-dome where they could add or take the Oxygen out of the space. To see how each one impacted the interior of the dome they put a marshmallow in for one test and then a small jar of water. The boys were bug eyed as they saw the water boil-without any heat, simply by adding more Oxygen. Conversely, they saw a small jar of water go from room temperature to a boiling cauldron in the matter of 15 seconds, all by adding Oxygen to the airproof chamber. It was amazing the boys are still talking about it.

Dragon Con is a hoot. It’s much more than world-renowned cosplay, but it also so much of that. There is a large side of the festival that caters to families and family friendly entertainment. This side combines STEM education, Disney stuff, fan fiction, chances for you and the family to dress up and more. If you’ve dismissed Dragon Con as simply being for older kids you should look again because the results will surprise you.