What a way to bring in Halloween weekend as well as finishing off Lauren's 18th birthday celebration at Anime Weekend Atlanta!
This was our third time attending this massive convention, and Lauren and I had a fantastic time! Like they say, "Third time a charm!"
Related Post- Anime Weekend Atlanta Recap
About Anime Weekend Atlanta
Anime Weekend Atlanta is a four-day Japanese animation convention held annually in Atlanta, Georgia, at the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center.
It typically takes place in late September or early October, but this year, it was hosted during Halloween weekend. Anime Weekend Atlanta is the Southeast's largest anime convention. The convention features various events and activities, including cosplay contests, gaming tournaments, guest panels, and a massive dealer's room with vendors selling all sorts of anime-related merchandise. It's a great place for anime fans to come together and celebrate their shared interests.
My Review of Anime Weekend Atlanta 2023
Although Anime Weekend is a 4-day convention (Thursday-Sunday), we could only do 1 day, Friday, due to Lauren's work schedule.
And even though we only did the evening of Friday, we still got to do a lot.
Since Lauren had school on Friday, we quickly went to the convention after school dismissal and tried to beat rush hour traffic.
It was a good thing once we arrived; there was plenty of parking in the parking deck because I remember previous times of having a hard time finding parking, taking us hours!
Since I didn't know what Lauren's work schedule would look like before the event, I had to buy our tickets at the door. And tickets were cash only, or we had to pay on our phones.
That wasn't a problem, even though I didn't have cash; I paid on my phone and then went to registration to pick up our wristbands.
After getting our wristbands, we started walking to find the dealer hall, and what I noticed was fewer crowds. We weren't bumping into people like how it was in previous years.
The hotel may have implemented stricter rules this year, which required us to display our badges or wristbands everywhere we went. We noticed that there was security at every entrance door and escalator. Anime Weekend should continue this rule in the future since it's unfair for those who have paid to attend the event while others who haven't paid get to hang around.
We went into the dealer hall for Lauren to do her favorite thing at these conventions: shopping!
Due to the dealer hall closing at 7 p.m., and it was already about 6 p.m. when we arrived, we were rushing to see everything.
The dealer hall should close at 8 or 9 p.m., especially on weekdays since attendees are coming from school or work. Lauren mainly attends these conventions to shop for anime merchandise, and if we had missed the dealer hall, she would have been upset.
After the dealer hall closed, we hit up different panels and the game room. Also, checked out Itasha cars outside the venue.
I appreciated the fact that, late in the evening, there were panels for those younger than 18. Families bring their children to this convention, and even though it can be a bit more Adult-theme in the evenings, there were still things to do for families with younger children. Because I remember once it hit about 10 p.m. back in the day, I would get both Lauren and Michelle out of there due to all the heavy partying and drinking.
Overall, this was our best Anime Weekend experience, even better than MomoCon! Our only complaint is that we wished the dealer hall was open longer, and we needed better cell phone signal.
But the poor cell phone signal will be a thing of the past because after 20 years of Anime Weekend Atlanta being held at Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel & Convention Center (wow, that's half my life!), they are now moving to the Georgia World Congress Center!
That is a great decision to move the event there. More space and more parking! I love seeing how these conventions we attend grow over the years and get bigger and better!
The only thing is Anime Weekend Atlanta 2024 will be in December (December 12th-15th) during the winter and holidays. Timing is not suitable for those working retail or traveling during this time. I feel next year will have fewer attendees. I'm even hoping Lauren will be able to go.
I hope that they reconsider their decision and choose to return to either September or October in the future.
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