Recently, I attended my first ever con (GalaxyCon) and I’ll be honest, I had no idea what to expect really. I’m not a cosplayer and I had zero previous experience with anything con-related besides watching some YouTube videos. My decision to go was a last-minute decision, as I looked at the guest list and saw an actor from one of my favorite TV shows of all time was attending. Since it was last-minute, I didn’t really have anyone to go with and I’m at home during the summer from college, so I ended up asking my mom if she would attend with me. I mentioned to her that there were some cool Disney alumni attending and that sold her on her decision to come with me. We attended only on Saturday and spent a full 9 hours at the con meeting our favorite actors, looking through all the cool booths, and attending actor panels. We had a wonderful time at the event.
In total, we met 6 different actors. The number one reason I attended the con was really for Stephen Amell; Arrow was one of my favorite shows of all time and it was a goal of mine to meet him someday. I waited for about 45 minutes to meet him and it was very memorable and well worth it. Next, we met Jodi Benson, who was the original voice of Ariel in The Little Mermaid. This one wasn’t for me, rather it was for my mom who is a huge fan of the original movie.
The others I met were Kevin Conroy (more on that, in a future article), Christopher Sabat, and a few others. For any true Batman fan, Kevin Conroy is one of the most recognizable voices of the character. Christopher Sabat, who we met next, is a true anime legend. He was the voice of Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z, he currently voices All Might in the hit anime show My Hero Academia, and also voices Roronoa Zoro in the longtime anime show One Piece.
Other than meeting famous actors and voice artists, we spent a lot of time walking around the large convention floor. There were booths of comics, Funkos, posters, artwork, and other cool items as far as the eye could see. I’m a big fan of movie posters, so I spent a lot of time looking through hundreds of movie posters to add to my collection and ended up picking up 5 11×17 posters for myself. I added The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Lord of The Rings: Return of The King, Dexter, and Avengers: Endgame.
I also spent a lot of time checking out the vast amount of Funko booths. There were about 7-8 different Funko booths that had hundreds of different choices ranging across many, many, genres. There were even a few so-called “Grails” there that were worth up to 650$. For art collection fans, there were tons of beautiful art pieces that ranged across all types of movie and TV genres.
Finally, towards the end of the day was when most of the panels and Q&As took place. The panels we attended were Stephen Amell, Jodi Benson, parts of the My Hero Academia cast panel, and the American Pie cast panel. Hearing Stephen Amell talk about his time as the Green Arrow was really fun after watching Arrow for a matter of almost 6 years. Jodi Benson sang “Part of Your World” live which was a fun surprise for all fans in attendance. My Hero Academia’s was interesting as the entire room was packed with the craziest cosplay outfits I have ever seen.
Finally, the last panel of the night was the American Pie panel. Shannon Elizabeth, who played Nadia in the film, was one of the attendees and spoke a lot about her infamous scene in the first movie. Other cast members spoke about their hopes to start shooting a potential American Pie 5 next year. American Pie 5 has been rumored to be in the works for nearly 10 years now, so it was good to hear from the cast members themselves that it is still a possibility.
Overall, my first Galaxycon experience was a memorable one. I accomplished everything I wanted to do that day and met all the people I wanted to meet. I would highly suggest anyone who is interested in attending a con should go ahead and give it a try when you feel it is safe to do so. As you can see from the pictures I took, many people were wearing masks at this event. The GalaxyCon site states they work with the cities to determine when it might be safe to hold the events. It seems that precautions are being taken, but of course, we are still in a time of pandemic. Hopefully, we will all feel comfortable and safe attending cons and going to theaters again soon.
The great thing about cons is they take place all over the country and even internationally, so wherever you are there’s a chance you can attend a local con and meet some cool people. Anyone who’s attended a con before, leave a comment down below and share your most memorable experiences! More information about GalaxyCon events both local and virtual can be found via the website: GalaxyCon.com
