/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

It's awesome.

The con is split into numerous "tracks", for example Trek Track (Star Trek), Anime and Manga Track, Apocalypse Rising (mostly zombie and post apocalyptic stuff), etc. Each track is designated to a certain area in a certain hotel, so its easy to know where you'll need to go for whatever events you wish to attend. The four host hotels are close together, so you can easily get where you need to go. Some of the hotels are connected to each other by a skywalk, which also helps. I have probably the world's worst sense of direction and I even (usually) manage to figure out where I'm going, though my bf is also helpful since he's better about that kind of thing and tall enough to see over everyone else, haha.

Official con panels/contests/parties/workshops/concerts/whatever start around 10 am and run into the early hours of the morning, and tons of events are happening at any given time. It's pretty much impossible to attend all the things you'll want to go to, but at the same time there's always something to do. When the pocket program guide comes out every year I highlight all the panels I want to go to, but usually end up attending only a few since half the fun of the con is just wandering around the halls, whether or not you're cosplaying.

The Peachtree Center food court is connected to some of the hotels by a skywalk and close to the others (a walk across the street from the Westin). There are a lot of different choices for food there, and thankfully its large enough that not all of the lines are abysmal. There's also a CVS in there now, which is super helpful for all those little things a person might need.

>>6995621
I don't know about stolen, but I've seen people lose them, and they've been stricter about badge checks the past two years. It's a lot of money to spend to have to rebuy a badge, is all. I'm just super paranoid about it.

As for tips, I'd say be prepared to face huge crowds, particularly in the Marriott. The elevators (also termed hellevators) are extremely crowded, so keep that in mind if you're going to cosplay something big or awkward. Two years ago I had a craft foam prop that got banged up pretty badly just travelling from one place to another (though to be fair, it was already pretty crappy looking anyway).

It also helps to know which panels you want to go to in advance. There's usually like two or three awesome things happening at once so if you don't get into one thing, there's bound to be something else you can go to, or you can always just watch some of the bigger panels on Dragon*Con TV if you're in a host hotel.

Also, eat the chicken at Farmer's Basket in the Peachtree Center. My BF and I joke that we get as excited about that as we do about the con itself.

Pic related: what I faced trying to get through the Marriott in 2011.