Fandom conventions wouldn't be the same without cosplay. As thousands of fans visited the Orlando County Convention Center, MegaCon Orlando showed off epic cosplay from anime and comics to video games and movies. Whether you're dressing up and acting like your favorite character or cosplay-watching and admiring what other people will don, it is one of the best experiences you can have as a fan. You never know what you're going to see, but everything will amaze you. Below are some of the best and my favorite cosplays I discovered over the weekend. Which ones are your favorites?
MegaCon Orlando knows how to deliver geekdom to Orlando, Florida. Last year I had an opportunity to attend the exciting convention which brings in thousands of fans from all over to celebrate comics, gaming, sci-fi, anime, movies, and much more. The four day weekend is packed with fandom-tastic panels, vendors, and festivals, there is so much to see and do. This year I'm heading to the convention again and excited to see what the event has in store! From panels and celebrity appearances to indie artists, here are a few things I'm looking forward to at MegaCon Orlando!
Ask any Star Wars fan, especially of The Clone Wars, and they probably know the name of Ashley Eckstein and her voice for the popular character Ahsoka Tano. Same goes for female geeks of all ages who love the adorable and comfortable clothing line known as Her Universe. Having loved Her Universe and been following Eckstein on Instagram, I learned that she was going to be in Orlando for the launch of her book It's Your Universe: You Have the Power to Make It Happen. Though I prefer to stay inside my hut on Jakku, this wasn't an opportunity I was going to pass up! I hadn't even met her yet, and already she was pushing me out of my comfort zone.
It's not something I fangirl about a lot, but if I could, I'd give anything to go back to the golden age of Hollywood, just to walk the sets and see all of cinema's greatest stars up close and personal. Second best to fulfill that wish was Hollywood Studios. As one of five theme parks in Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, every vibe of that golden age comes alive there. The main streets are lined decked out in vintage decor and restaurants pay homage to legendary hang-outs like The Brown Derby. You feel like you're walking around the studio lots venturing from one shooting location to another.
As Disney revamps the site for larger Star Wars and Toy Story lands, those retro vibes are slowly changing. The most recent attraction going for a complete overhaul The Great Movie Ride. Built as a replication of Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, California, the ride takes guests literally into the movies.
The Man, the myth, the legend Stan Lee comes to MegaCon Orlando. The beloved comic book creator stopped by for an exclusive panel as part of his farewell tour for convention appearances. Sitting alongside Lee was his events co-ordinator Max, both of which took part in the panel to share stories of their adventures working together and answering fan questions.
His entrance into the conference room was electrifying. Everyone in attendance couldn't help but cheer the man who created so many of our favorite comic book characters. Afterwards, Max shares a brief story of Lee wanting to make a trip over to Universal Studios theme park Islands of Adventure, where there is a Marvel land featuring all of his creations, and the mishaps that went down. I apologize for the shakiness of the footage. It's hard to keep the camera steady when you're excited!
The panel was full of golden moments, and we almost never wanted it to end. He answered a lot of fan's questions (his favorite superhero is Spiderman) and what keeps him going in life at his age (breathing). Stan was as sharp as could be answering fans questions, which had us all in stitches. With the idea in mind that this debatable is one of his last appearance at a Florida convention, when an admirer asked what should fans do to uphold his legacy, Lee responded that he's never thought about it, doesn't matter to him, and sets the fans free to do what they want.
Lee starting out the panel with answering a fan's question, which ranged from what kind of advice Tony Stark would give at a college graduation ceremony to his love of movies and what inspired him to write. The chemistry and camaraderie between Lee and his manager Max kept the fans roaring with laughter to create a panel that will be as memorable as the Marvel creator's legacy.
Sometimes you attend a panel where you know you're going to attend it again and again. While MegaCon Orlando doled a lot of fantastic memories, I know I won't hesitate to attend a convention if Tom Wilson is on the b the ll for celebrity guest. He was simply put: fantastic.
Many fans will know him from the iconic Back to the Future, where he played three generations of Biff men in several different varieties from 1950s, to 2015, to 1800s.
He's responsible for a lot more than the love-to-hate villain of Robert Zemeckis's classic movie: he revolutionised the fast food industry. While talking about his earlier career in commercials before he made it as a huge star, starred in a commercial as a thirty and hungry construction worker who magically has a biscuit pop into his hands for lunch. Next time, you go to Wendys or Burger King, all hail Tom Wilson.
The panel started with Wilson giving the audience a stand-up routine instead of a normal or standard introduction of credits and how-are-yous. Singing a song and talking about his career, he told stories about acting, and mostly, the questions he often gets in panels to cut everything to the chase. Wilson had everyone in stitches. If you never believed in positive vibes, a Tom Wilson panel will do the trick. It's no wonder he looks exactly like Biff in 1988, just sporting a helmet of grey hair.
Release of Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast is right around the corner. And the studio is pulling out all the stops. While the cast is on a world press tour, an eight-minute exclusive sneak-peek with costumes on display are open to park guests at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios in Florida and Disneyland in California. At Disney's Hollywood Studios, costumes from the new movie are on display and I was able to catch a sneak peak of the first five minutes!
The prop on display at Hollywood Studios is the red rose under its glass dome. And the costume is Belle's golden dress, which she famously wears during her and Beasts' iconic ballroom dance in the 1991 original film.
At Disneyland Resort in California, the costumes on display includes Belle's village blue dress, a map, an enchanted mirror, and a rose under the bell jar. I would've loved to see these in person too!
One of my favorite things to do on magical trips to Wizarding World of Harry Potter Orlando is to collect chocolate frog cards - the snacks Harry and his friends enjoy on their trips to Hogwarts and Honeydukes.
Recently, I attended A Celebration of Harry Potter, where Universal Studios revealed new merchandise for their theme parks. One of the items I couldn't wait to get was the Gilderoy Lockhart chocolate frog card!
Despite being a massive geek, I was never really a Star Wars fan. Not that my mom and sister didn't try to influence my disinterest over the years by watching the films and going to the conventions, as I grew up with the first era of early 2000s installments. But the Disney and J.J. Abrams's reboot changed my enthusiasm. And I guess you could say Saturday Night Live played a big role too.
When Adam Driver hosted the weekly sketch-comedy show, there was one clip I was totally obsessed with: Undercover Boss. The skit has Darth Vader's grandson Kylo Ren posing undercover at Starkiller Base as Matt the Radar Technician. Certain lines like "Kylo Ren is a punk-bitch", as much as I thought it was creative and funny. The entire skit became a fandom of mine ever since it aired.
Immediately, the video inspired me to make this my Halloween costume. I'm not sure there's ever been another costume I was so determined to complete as much as possible.
Attractions may seem like an odd thing to lament over. If you ever visit a coffee shop or pizzeria or library that's apart of your weekly or every day hangouts, and suddenly it's just gone or you're given the news it's going to close forever, you might know where I'm coming from.
Theme parks and their rides or shops were a big part of my life growing up, having either visited them every year as a family vacation or lived close enough to be able to visit them all the time.
One of my places to visit has been Universal Studios Orlando. Last year though it's been difficult to say goodbye to some of my favorite attractions. Two of which closed forever. The first was Twister, for which I was really lucky to be apart of it's last operation day.
The other was a tribute to Lucille Ball, but unlike the walk-through to my favorite movie, I didn't experience the same bittersweet departure of another childhood staple. Instead, one day I walked into the park and the building was all boarded up. I had missed the announcement it was going to be replaced with Hello Kitty, so POOF - it was gone.
Universal Studios didn't have a lotta 'splainin' to do about the museum's departure. The museum was getting less and less space to make way for Betty Boop merchandise, which didn't seem to do any better or worse than Lucy's merchandise. Their trivia game section worked less seamlessly. That screen of which I watched the montage became dustier and dustier. Sometimes I wondered how much of my own dust was apart of that screen 'cause I visited the place to so much.
As less and less of Lucy's shows played on television, the Lucy museum became a haven for me and part of my "park routine" as a teenager. When we first hit the Universal Studios Orlando entrance, I always met my mom and sister inside the museum as they went walked through the main street bakery. I'd watch a few moments of an episode I knew by heart on a faux retro television set, and then head into the museum to be comforted by Lucille Ball's costumes and props.
Even though the museum was fairly small and nothing for anyone to get lost in, where my mom and sister could always count on finding me was sitting center of a rug with a big red heart on it. On the big screen, a montage of her shows I Love Lucy and Here's Lucy played. No matter how many times I'd seen it before and practically had the entire thing memorized, it made me so giddy to see Lucy's rambunctious schemes again.
The Lucy tribute wasn't just a place to goodbye to. I Love Lucy was a big part of my childhood. I didn't wake up watching cartoons or the Disney channel before heading off to school. Instead Lucy and Desi were apart of my morning routine. I watched reruns of I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show taking in their comedic timing and hoping I could be apart of that Classic Hollywood landscape someday. Apart of the museum gave me some of those same feelings I had as a kid. Walking down memory sure wasn't easy, but it definitely was a lot of fun. It's such a comfort that people still know her name and legacy.
Happy Birthday, Lucy! Thanks for your comedic genius!
I love Twister - the 1996 action movie directed by Jan DeBont about competing storm chasers across Oklahoma. One of the perks of living in Florida is the occasional visit to Universal Studios Florida. An attraction that somehow has managed to avoid renovation is the Twister: Ride It Out Soundstage.
The "ride" is a walk-through set celebrating the movie that broke summer box office records and beat out other action films like Mission: Impossible. Guests enjoy watching pre-production footage introduced by Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt, and then "survive" a replication of a tornado sweeping through a drive-in.
Every time I go to Universal Studios, I'm not gonna lie: I have to do this attraction. My love for the attraction started out with simply enjoying the relief of air conditioning from the heat. But over time, I've been on it so many times, the film has become my one of my all-time favorites.
As early as summer 2014, rumors have begun that the attraction will be replaced with something. I figured now's a perfect time to share some photos and videos. Hope you enjoy!
