So, we got all the school stuff behind us; we started our summer break with a massive bang at MomoCon, a convention that is split between anime/manga, gaming, comics and costuming. This four-day event is one of the fastest growing of all ages conventions in the country!
I didn't know anything about this convention at first until last year while vacationing in Savannah for Memorial Day Weekend I have seen a Facebook sponsored post about the event. I asked Lauren if she knew about it, she said no, however, wanted to attend in 2018. I told her if we go that means no Memorial Day Weekend vacation, but she didn't mind. Plus, she has to do well in school too. MomoCon is not a cheap convention, and I'm not going to waste my money if she didn't perform well with her studies.
I'm telling y'all! MomoCon is the most exhausting, overwhelming, non-stop action convention I have ever gone to! And I mean all this in a good way! It was very a dull moment, something to do at every corner. It had me stepping back down memory lane when I use to play video games and draw anime characters when I was my girls' age.
MomoCon has options of going to the convention on a 1-day pass or multi-day pass (4-days), I opted for 4-days because you get more bang for your buck, plus, I wanted to make sure we got to do as much as possible while there.
We went on the starting day, Thursday, right went the convention opened. Thursday wasn't as busy since it's a weekday, but I enjoyed it that way, fewer crowds. But, don't be mistaken, it was still crowded with excited attendees.
The first stop on Thursday was the shopping exhibitors hall. Lauren was on a mission to find her favorite anime, Hetalia, of their movies, and manga books from the series, and I kid you not, she found a booth with Hetalia merchandise in less than 3 minutes! She gathered up all she wanted costing me over $100!!! Dang, it!!! We just got there, and already I'm out of $100!!! I knew right then that MomoCon is going to wipe me clean!
We walked around, I purchased more items for Lauren as well as Michelle, then checked out all the happenings around us.
To avoid spending more money, I pulled the girls into the massive gaming hall! All the gaming systems you can think of was there, all Nintendo systems, including PlayStation and Xbox, plus there were old arcade systems, along with Japanese ones, computer games, even board games! And the gaming area was 24 hours! Now, can you imagine playing video games 24 hours straight? My goodness, I would lose my mind!
For the rest of Thursday, we played video games all evening before we headed home.
Tired from all the gaming and shopping, we skipped out on MomoCon on Friday. We just wanted to stay home and relax, build back our strength to hit the ground running for all the festivities on Saturday. And I'm glad we rested because MomoCon was super packed Saturday!
We pretty much did the same thing, shopping, browsing, and gaming. But on Saturday Lauren's whole day was made when she met former Disney Animator, Tom Bancroft who was one of the animators for several of Disney's popular classics, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Mulan, and more! Lauren requested that Tom draw her one of her favorite characters from Hetalia. He didn't know anything about Hetalia, so he did a Google search on his phone.
I wanted to ask Tom about his experience working with Disney, and if he met the big man himself, Walt Disney, but I didn't want to take too much of his time. He was quite busy with other drawing requests.
It didn't take him long to draw the Hetalia character, and when Lauren laid her eyes on her drawing, she smiled from ear to ear! Her special drawing will be framed, sitting nicely on her desk next to her Sailor Moon autograph poster.
Again, after the shopping hall, back to the gaming hall where we stayed until almost midnight. Let me tell you something! They keep it dark in that place like how they do in casinos. If you don't keep an eye on the time, you'll be playing all night long, until you realize you wasted hours of your life on video games! 😄
But, there are more than just shopping and video games at MomoCon. Different workshops are going on throughout the 4-days, like contests, panels, concerts and a lot more, it's just that all Lauren wanted to do is shop and play video games, so Michelle and I were tagging along.
Sunday was more of the same, shopping and video games. It got to the point that people working there started recognizing us and welcoming us back.
I can't believe a massive convention like MomoCon all started at Georgia Tech Anime Club in 2006 and quickly grew from there; very impressive! 2018 convention had over 35,400 attendees, and when they began in 2006, they had approximately 175 people. Now that's what I call growth!!
I'm happy we got to experience family-friendly MomoCon! I had fun bonding moments playing video games with the girls, getting to meet one of my Instagram friends in real life, and checking out all the cosplayers. Those three days at the convention will go down in history books being one of the best I ever attended! Great place to let loose, and come together for an exciting good time!
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| My IG Friend @jldean2 cosplaying a character from Boundlessmanga |
We'll be back again for sure!
I have some tips to make the most out of your experience:
1. Buy your tickets right when they go on sale for the lowest price. I didn't do that because I wanted to make sure Lauren's grades were up to par since tickets are non-refundable. And remember, buying a 4-day membership ticket is better than 1-day. Trust me; you're going to want to do more than just one day.
2. Wear comfortable shoes. The event is at the World Congress Center in Atlanta, and the place is humongous, so there is a lot of walking. I have seen cosplayers walking barefooted because their feet hurt from wearing heels that went with their costumes. They needed to bring an extra pair of comfortable flats.
3. Wear deodorant, please! So many funky people were walking around musty. They probably were the ones that stayed at the Con overnight without washing up. That's just gross!
4. The food options at the MomoCon is expensive; I suggest going to the CNN center nearby and buying food at the food court or bring some food from home with you.
5. Do not park your car on the outside private lots near the World Congress Center; you'll play more. I suggest using the parking decks attached to the World Congress Center, especially the Red Deck that is the closest parking to the Con, plus they have an increment weather bridge that goes right into the World Congress Center.
6. Download the MomoCon app, so you don't miss out on workshops, panels, celebrity guests, concerts, etc. After MomoCon was over, I found out about workshops I was interested in attending. I need to plan better next time.
7. Stick with a budget. You can easily overspend, so don't be like me. Some activities are free with paid admissions.
8. There is a section in the gaming area that you must bring your own console controller(s). That area has fewer gamers, so higher chance of no waiting to hop on a pre-loaded game. However, if you don't bring a controller, you can rent one free but must give your photo I.D., and it will be returned once you return controller(s).
9. Saturday night there is a rave, please leave your bags at home or hotel. Bags are not allowed inside rave, or they will have to be left at bag check. And from what I heard it was chaos getting bags back.
10. Got questions? There are helpful, friendly info kiosks to answer your questions there.
For video clips of my MomoCon experience, check out my saved Instastories.
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Wow! This is a massive event. I have never heard of it, but it sounds like so much fun, really for all ages too!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.robincharmagne.com/blog
Yep, it's huge sis! Probably one of the only family-friendly cons around here in Atlanta.
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