Day two of Comic Con began much different than day one. First, I arrived in the morning, instead of later in the day. Second, the crowds. I thought Friday seemed busy but it was a ghost town compared to Saturday. When I got off the train, it was like cattle being herded. It seemed that every person at Market East was heading to the convention center. Upon arriving, volunteers were yelling directions for those ready to enter and other people that needed to first register. I already had my bracelet from Friday so I was set to walk directly in.
As I walked with the crowds, I noticed that booths that were crowded yesterday were actually blocked off due to over-popularity today. For example, Norton had a great exhibit about X-Men while subtlety advertising their technology. Yesterday I could walk in and take a picture with the cardboard cutouts as a X-Men, but today the tent was so full that they had to wait for it to empty before allowing the next group of people in. Other areas had similar problems.
While yesterday I just wore a Mario themed t-shirt, today I thought I'd brave a little cosplay. I didn't want to dye my hair though so people didn't really get it. If I said something first, then I would get "oh, I see it now." While others didn't get it, I thought my River Song looked great in the Tardis.
Yesterday I walked around and got the lay of the land, today I decided to take in some panel discussions. I went to Sean Astin, Whoopi Goldberg, David Boreanaz, and Jason David Frank. The first three were in the ballroom, while Jason David Frank was in a smaller room. I also saw panels for Christopher Lloyd and Nathan Fillion listed but there was too much to do and some times overlapped.
Each panel had microphones set up for fans to ask questions. After a brief introduction, the moderator would point to a microphone for you to ask a question. I only asked a question to David Boreanaz. Sorry for the shaky filming but it was hard to keep the camera steady and bend down to the microphone at the same time.
After the panels, I went back to the main floor to walk around again before leaving. My first Comic Con was a great experience and I learned tons of stuff. First, avoid Saturday if possible. It seems that everyone goes on Saturday. Even people that paid for pictures and autographs had to wait twice as long. The celebrities are there the entire weekend, unless specifically noted. You're better going on Friday or Sunday when the crowd is smaller. Second, cosplay is not important. It's fun to see all the costumes but it doesn't make the convention. The final thing I learned was bring cash. While some vendors have credit card readers on their phones, many of the vendors didn't take plastic. I only bought one thing, but the guy's credit card reader broke and he became cash only.
Although the convention is continuing on Sunday, I decided to skip the final day. There were a few more interesting panels but there was another event this weekend here in Philadelphia that I decided to check out. So Sunday I will be at the Manyuank Art's Festival.
If you want to see more photos from Wizard World Philadelphia, check out the
Making Cents of It Facebook Page. I've created an album with the pictures that came out decent.
Following the convention, I will be writing a full post on how to attend Comic Cons for cheap, possibly free. Keep an eye out because with ticket prices starting at $45 for a single day's admission, and autographs costing another $50, Comic Con can quickly add up to a huge expense.
Cori is a 29 year old living in Philadelphia. Making Cents of It stems from Cori's experiences as a young professional living on an entry level salary. Her goal is to help other 20-somethings enjoy life without going broke.