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Trust me! I’m a doctor.

MegaCon has been a family tradition for almost ten years now. As soon as the new year hits, all of my friends and I get really excited that it is only a few more months away. I mean, it comes at the perfect time of year. The people who planned this event over time knew what they were doing. It’s right in the middle of TAX season, so people might have a little more expendable income to plan a trip around it, as well as load up on sweet loot. The weather is PERFECT for Central Florida. Usually warm and breezy this time of year, which makes for perfect convention weather. As an added bonus for some, Disney is contained within Orlando also. But alas, this isn’t about Disney, this is about MegaCon 2013, so let’s get this story started.

Cross Play keeps getting more and more popular.

My group split up as the doors opened, with my wife and some friends going to see Harry Potter’s very own Weasley Twins, the Phelps brothers, which you will read about from Noel herself. As for me, I had a mission. This year I was going to buy stuff. I even had a list of very specific comics I was looking for. The thing is, I never buy stuff at MegaCon. I usually have this wacky guilt struggle and talk myself out of buying neat stuff, then regret it later. Con-Regret is the worst! This year was going to be different. I figured I would stick to my usual MegaCon strategy of walking the floor once without stopping at any one place for too long. That way I’d get a lay of the land. This comes in handy when you are looking for certain things. You can gauge the chances of finding what you want at that table. As I was walking, I stopped for a moment. Something was different. I looked around slowly until my eyes looked ahead of me. It had somehow gotten BIGGER. I felt electricity go through my body as I staggered a step backwards. I finally found my composure and started my quest again.

I spent way too much time looking at all these fantastic Jawas.

ARTICLE INVASION. Noel here, your very own robo-wifey. I had the distinct pleasure of sitting in on a Q&A panel with the charming Phelps brothers, more commonly known as the actors who portrayed the Weasley twins, Fred and George, in the Harry Potter films. Charming, indeed. They drew a pretty large crowd, which was predictable. Luckily, the panel was held in one of the bigger rooms at the Convention Center. Despite my grim spot near the end of the line, I ended up with front row seats. They were off to the side but I still had a very nice view. I gotta say, guys. The dude who was facilitating this panel was kiiiiiiiind of lame. He started out making jokes about the “Twilight Panel.” Har har har. He thought that joke was REALLY funny because he definitely used it between 2 and 4 times. He really put his foot in his mouth too, referring to the author as “J.K. Rollins” (the crowd was in an uproar) and by referring to the characters as the “Wesley twins.” Sigh. Aside from that, Oliver and James were British cuties. Very funny, super nice, maybe a tad shy, and alarmingly non-ginger. They told funny anecdotes about being on the set and even gave us a couple of “crazy fan girl” stories. It was more than worth an hour of my time. SEACREST OUT.

While that was going on, I was trying my best not to get distracted. At a convention, this is VERY difficult. There are costumes everywhere. All the booths are filled with awesome stuff you want to take home. There are famous people signing autographs and taking pictures. The artists are charismatic and try to engage in witty conversation with you. There are things you need to take pictures of. Most importantly, you have to check your 3DS every twenty minutes to clear out your street passes and get puzzle pieces. Conventions are GREAT for street passing. I believe the 3DS only holds up to 20 passes at once, so you have to clear them out to get more. It’s fun when you start tagging a few people multiple times. I really love the Nintendo 3DS…. Whoa, see, getting distracted. I look at my watch (Cell phone) and gasp. It was time for us to gather up and meet for the Voice Actors Gone Wild panel. I had only seen half of the floor. My quest for comics was going to be tough this year.

Well, It kind of makes sense if you think about it.

The line for Voice Actors Gone Wild was crazy long, but the wait was worth it. Picture if you will the following voice actors: Billy West, John DiMaggio, DC Douglas, and Christine Vee. These voice actors are going to be reading the Lord of the Rings script as several of their various characters. It was probably the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. I will never be able to watch Lord of the Rings because I want to see THIS version. Dr Zoidberg as Gollum, Tracy Morgan as Gandalf, Pikachu as Bilbo Baggins, Fry as Frodo, Bender and Jake the dog narrating at times. It was audio magic as they went in and out of different characters with ease and perfect comedic timing.

My Childhood’s voice.

Can’t mention the voice of Ren and Stimpy without Powdered Toast Man!

After the panel I had an important side quest. This quest was to eat lunch. We didn’t want to leave the convention hall so we decided to tackle CON FOOD. There were many options actually, all overpriced but that is expected at a convention, so why even complain? It’s the same for sporting events. The trick is to find a place that fills you up and doesn’t make your stomach upset. This came to mind when we saw the dreaded CON SUSHI stand. Now, to be fair I have not tried con sushi, but I have heard many tales. I figured I would steer clear of it for now. Nothing really struck my fancy so I settled for the BBQ brisket. It actually wasn’t bad for con food. They have definitely been working on their food choices, which is awesome. I remember when there was ONE Chinese place.

I was back on the hunt. I still had the distractions to battle. One of which was a damn good one. I ran into Careless from the band Random Encounter. I FINALLY bought a shirt and we chatted a bit. He is such a polite and cool person to talk to. Ok, enough chatter, I had stuff to buy. It took a couple of hours of searching but I found about two thirds of the things I was hunting for, as well as some extra goodies. My time was running out, as we had a very important date at 6:30.

OVER 9000!

Boobie Fett

It was time for the Star Trek: The Next Generation panel. It was the entire crew from Next Gen, including the infamous Q, all in the same place at the same time answering questions and telling stories. It was amazing. Noel is a HUGE fan of the series and got us the expensive first 5 rows seats. We were in the third. It was magical except for one thing. The only thing I can really complain about Megacon is this. The moderator for the Next Generation panel was super annoying. You probably remember what Noel said in her Weasley segment, but his douchbaggery carried over to this panel as well. While Sir Patrick Stewart was telling a gripping story, our dear moderator decided to play the “Harlem Shake.” Sir Patrick Stewart looked down right confused and annoyed. The rest of the cast looked even more puzzled and a bit terse. Sir Patrick Stewart then stopped telling his story and sat back down, essentially done for the night. Why in the world would you interrupt the Captain at all? We came to watch the crew talk about the show and the fans and stuff. We didn’t come to see them act out stupid internet memes. Wil Wheaton was super impressive too. He talked like one of us, a huge fan. When you hear him gush all over these other guys it’s like one of us fan boying all over them. Then you remember that he was actually on the show. It’s a little magical really. He’s a nerd like us and that is super cool.

This was probably the best MegaCon I’ve been to. Everything, besides that witless moderator was essentially perfect. I can’t imagine it getting any better, but I am sure it will.