Okay, here's was my day, my first time, in DragonCon:
^^^^^
It all started early in the morning. In my guise of Dipper Pines, I was more than ready for this big day. It was a lovely morning ride in the car, heading to the Kingslington area of Metro Atlanta.
I then waited at a closed juvenile court, but my older sister forgot the meeting place! She and four of her friends were already at the parking lot of the MARTA station. My sister, dressed as Mabel Pines, was so happy to see me! With the initial picture-taking (TWINS!), my sis knew she feels like Mabel from being taller than me. And I know I'm more like Dipper because, according to my sis's boyfriend, I sneeze like a kitten. I was also carrying important essentials for today!
Down to the MARTA station, we saw other people ready to see the DragonCon. I've been on these kindsof passenger trains before, but these vehicles accelerate fast! The ride across Atlanta was also bumpy. The Westbound Blue Line goes as far as H.M. Holmes, but the boyfriend was sure the second stop after Five Points would give us an easier way to the Ticket Building.
But the station we left from was around the football stadium, surrounded by one or so tailgater at the time. It was a longer walk than what we should've taken, and the other handle of my bag broke along the way! (But the contents never got hurt at all!)
It was dreary cloudy outside, but grew brighter when we saw a line to the Ticket Building. I had put on sunscreen myself earlier, but it didn't help with the humid sweat. As the wait outside kept going on, I wanted the others of our group to play Guess the Costumes with me. (I think this should be a convention game, and high fives would be given to those who guess correctly!)
It took about 45 min. for us to get inside and find our lines to get the passes. However, nearly 45 min. more went to waiting in the Credit Card line! I knew I saved my money for this, so my sis and I went to the Cash line. Writing the forms took some time, but that line was faster to use. The cash was well worth it as we each got our Saturday badges!
We waited for the others in the hallway, getting much needed water and a sovenier book. We tried to figure out where the FR events were taking place when three more in our group got their badges. With all morning wasted in those lines, we agreed to get some lunch, except for the last badged person who went ahead to gather autographs.
*****
DragonCon is in 4 hotel buildings, all connected by skywalks in one level or another. In one hotel, we found several cafes we gathered food for lunch. An elf lady (forgot her name) was generous to share a small table for us to sit around.
After lunch, we had to catch up with our missing member at another hotel. There's a Hall of Fame where well-known people are to give autographs for the fanatics. Among those in the Hall were several generation one Power Rangers, Roger Bumpass, Star Trek actors, and two men we noticed, Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarke. The names together may not make sense...unless they be Pinky and the Brain! [This would be where Slackbot does a Squee!] My sis and I got so excited to see them, and Jackie sang the country song with them. I paid for each of their autographs on one picture, just to surprise my family!
I soon got word that a special FR question place would be at the Hyatt Hotel around 2:30. So my sis and I broke from the group and rested around the ballroom floor. It was great for us to be in matching costumes. My sis was worried we would be the only ones in Gravity Falls costumes. However, people did recognize the meaning of our guises, letting 5 cameras to take pics of us! Besides, we saw 5 more Dippers, and one of them was an old friend of ours we haven't seen in years!
*****
Once the line for the FR event began, I just had to get in! Though the long wait outside is beyond our understanding, we were lucky to be at the shady side of the Hyatt throughout the hour. But luckier for me still was that I got to meet up with you, Slackbot, for real!
When the line finally moved, we traveled up a flight of stairs and into the ballroom. There were lots of chairs, but my sis and I sat close to Slackbot and her friend with a mini-Boober puppet. It was amazing to see Michael Frith, Kathy Mullen, and Karen Prell taking the table; it had to be the third time in my life my jaw grew stiff!
[Second time was seeing Heather Henson!] They discussed how they first got into the Muppets, how working in FR changed their lives, and answered questions from the audience, which led to some awkward breakdowns of reality barriers!
For instance: You guys should've seen Red's face when she learns that Michael is married to Kathy!
FRITH: And don't get us started how Cotterpin Doozer fits into this!
My sis had no idea the two were married! I think I did, but I must've forgotten. Dog-gone it! Even my semi-insane brain has limitations!
Anyway, after that, I followed Slackbot making a B-Line to the next line. My sis and I managed to get into the Meet-&-Greet. We got to socialize with other while waiting to get in line, especially you, Slackbot! You and your Kathy friend got to photo-take before us, and, as I said in another thread, I witnessed the transfer of the postcards! My sis joined me with the free photo as her I-Phone was used for the picture. At this point, I personally asked Karen if I look like her. Another friend of mine pointed it out one time, and he maybe right, at least when Karen was younger, I think...(What do you think, Slackbot?) Left the momentous occasion by the receiving of a special poster design.
*****
My sis's friends were waiting for us when we reunited with them. Passing by the skekSil-costumed guy, it was already time to find dinner, and the boyfriend knew just the place down the street: a pub without smoking or waitresses. He found us a table and we all managed to get our dinner.
I didn't finish mine, but we went back to the Con to take one last look at the Hall of Fame. My sis got to see John Di'Maggio, a veteran in the voice acting field. He recognized our costumes right away, as he's the voice for Manly Dan, the lumberjack at GF! !I think this is gonna make the cartoon 100x more awesome for my sis!)
After seeing the guy who created The Walking Dead (I think), we returned to a big fountain to find two others who broke from us. With all 6 of us together, it was agreed we all head for home. The day went so long that the sky was already darkening with some thunderclouds later on. After a slight misdirection, (which I showed two young girls in a Subway my GF Bag!), one of us found a MARTA station and we went down to a North/South station by elevator. From there, we took Southbound to Five Points, a hub of Metro Atlanta's passenger railway, and then took the Blue Line Eastbound back to Kingslington, back to our cars, and journey on a long, relaxing way home.
^^^^^
And that's how it all happen, pretty much. Will I do something that plane crazy again? Maybe if something important comes up next year...
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