Readers of the site may know that I lived in Japan for a few years. Thus, it would stand to reason that we really enjoy going to JapanFest each year. It’s being held September 17 and 18 at Gas South Convention Center in Duluth, Georgia. We were thinking the other day about people who don’t have an affinity for Japanese culture. Why would they want to come to JapanFest? What could they possibly get out of it?
“I’ve been taking my sons since here they were that age,” said the lady who checked us in when we arrived at Momocon. She went on to tell me that they now have a local hotel room so that they can enjoy Momocon to its fullest extent. I could relate to her on both levels. Our boys have been attending Momocon since the youngest was three and a hotel room to crash out for a bit would’ve been nice. On an entirely different level, it was great to attend a con again and to that end, Momocon 2022 did not disappoint.
The movies are back baby! Bit by bit, and with each new release seeming to beget a bigger slice of the ‘normal’ life that we all loved back in 2019. Space Jam: A New Legacy is coming to movie theaters on Friday, July 16. Daddy Mojo is pleased to give away 5 four-packs of tickets to the Atlanta sneak preview of Space Jam: A New Legacy when it airs for the first time on July 13.
This sneak preview of Space Jam: A New Legacy will be at 7:00 PM on July 13. Our giveaway for one of the 4-packs of tickets will end at 7:00 PM on July 9. All you have to do in order to enter is to leave a comment in this post. We love for things to be simple and nothing is easier than leaving a blurb in the comment section for this post.
Yeehaw, Movies are back, catch the sneak of Space Jam: A New Legacy in AtlantaIf you’ve been on our site for any number of years, A. thank you mom and B. you know that we love Monster Jam. Monster Jam is coming back to Atlanta at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 22 and 23. If you’ve been in Monster Jam before then you know how incredibly entertaining and absolutely family friendly it is. For our family, Monster Jam is one of the highlights for the year. It’s entertaining and is a sport that sucks you in from the get-go. It has all the energy of any huge sporting event that you’ve been to, but it’s paired with huge trucks jumping over dirt barriers.
The Monster Jam competition is simple to grasp once you’re there. Essentially the competition is broken up into two parts and any feasible question that you’d have about Monster Jam, including the famous Pit Party, can be answered here.
This giveaway is for a family 4-pack of tickets to the Saturday, February 22, 2020 show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The show starts at 7:00, but get there early, especially if you want to go to the Pit Party. The winner for this Monster Jam giveaway will be drawn on February 10, 2020 at 7:00 PM ET. To enter just leave a comment on this post or in the YouTube video:
I have an unofficial rule in that I don’t see biographies. If it’s the true story of someone’s life and I’ve heard about it, then there’s really no reason to see the film. I know how it ends and it’s probably just some actor’s hammy performance of how they think that this person did things. I sound like the bitter and jaded reporter in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. This is not a biopic, it’s not the story of Fred Rogers’ life and how he came to create & produce one of the most impactful shows ever on television.
“But we don’t dress up”, I need a button that says that when our neighbors ask us about Dragon Con. As a family, Dragon Con gets more and more entertaining every year we go. Dragon Con happens in Atlanta over Labor Day every year. It is also family friendly. Our neighbors give us a side-eye when we say that also. All one needs to do is walk around downtown Atlanta when Dragon Con is happening and you’ll see hundreds of children accompanying their parents. This is a massively fun time for kids and families who have the right mindset.
By the right mindset I mean, be OK with crowds. Over 85,000 people attended Dragon Con in 2019. It’s crowded everywhere you go. What’s amazing is that, despite its massive size and crowd the lines are constantly moving. Another mind boggling fact is that the vast majority of people you’ll encounter are chilled out.
A con to a kid can be a fabulous and our kid’s favorite one is MomoCon. They’ve been attending MomoCon since they were 4 and 6 years old. As each year has passed they’ve been more eloquently able to say, “When is the next MomoCon?” True to previous years, MomoCon 2019 is right near the end of their school year. I’m not sure if they’re more excited about the end of school or going to MomoCon.
MomoCon is held in Atlanta and is utterly family friendly. There is a massive amount of cosplay and unlike some other cons that you might have attended; these costumes are mostly family friendly. You won’t see any creepy clowns or costumes that don’t leave much to the imagination. Instead you’ll see cosplay that’s inspired from manga, video games and some classic anime characters.
From its parent’s guide, “MomoCon is intended to be an all-ages event”. The art dealers and vendors on the floor don’t sell adult material and the panels that might have language you don’t want kids to hear will be clearly labeled with a warning. Of course, kids won’t even notice these things. I mention them to you because you might have hesitation about taking a kid to a con, much less a huge con that will attract tens of thousands of people on a given day.
For our kids it’s all about the games and MomoCon has over 180,000 sq ft of open gaming. That amount of video game space is among the largest of any convention in the United States. When we go, it’s an area that we could easily spend hours in that space alone. This includes classic video games (hello Robotron!!!), pinball and the latest full size arcade games from Japan. It’s worth noting that all of these games are also OK for the kids, our boys, now 7 and 9 loved going from game to game and trying them out. Yes, all of these games were free, no quarters needed, just a little patience for those more popular games that might have a line.
We also enjoy the gaming area. There is a massive board game area where you can check out almost any board game you want to play. When we sat down I was unsure how to play the game that our boys had requested. I fumbled around for a moment when a MomoCon volunteer sat down beside us, set up the board game for us and played along so that we’d get the hang of it. There are also plenty of LARP events, D&D and other RPGS happening, plus any card game that people are collecting.
And those are just the games. For kids under 10 those things, plus simply walking around and enjoying the costumes will be their entertainment. If you’re a fan of things anime, nerdcore, cosplay, Japan, Disney, cartoons or more then there is a panel for you! These panels will vary as to when they are and younger audiences won’t have the patience to sit through them, but those middle school audiences who want a deeper dive into what interests them will love going to some of them. Obviously, that age will need to have an adult present with them, but those moms and dads can simply sit a couple rows back.
Factor in some cosplay, a photo shoot around every corner, cool people everywhere and you’ve got an amazing time out with the family. This is a con done right for the family. It does have some older elements, but they’re scheduled late at night, so the kids will be home long before then.
Ages 9 and younger are free to MomoCon and prices increase on May 9, so get your badges before that happens. Entrance will vary from $35-$80, depending upon when you order your tickets, how many days you want to go and so forth. It happens May 23-26 in Atlanta at Georgia World Congress Center.
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