Wizard World Comic Con
Apr. 10th, 2016 11:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoggedYesterday, my husband and I attended Wizard World Comic Con in Madison. I had bought tickets months ago because I figured it was a good birthday present for my sweetie (he turns 33 next weekend.) We hurried thru the cold (because it's April and we're having "Snapril aka Snow April) and arrived a little bit after the doors had opened.
The line to check-in was long and winding. It took about 30 minutes to get us in. Nick and I people-watched during that time. We observed several Reys from Star Wars: TFA, Kylo Ren, a Storm Trooper, Starlord, Gamora, Batman, Spiderman, a Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad, Harley Quinns from other Batmans, a few Doctors (10 and 11), a few Amy Ponds (in the Police uniform), Captain America, Hydra soldiers, Deadpool, female!Gaston, Belle, Cinderella, characters from Adventure Time, characters from Inside Out, and a Kaylee Frye or three. I had done my best to mimic a companion outfit I had seen Clara Oswald in, but cosplay is definitely not my strongest suit. I did have two gals recognize what I was going for and that thrilled me to pieces.
Me (Clara Oswald-esque w/TARDIS socks)
Nick and I hit the show floor and got my photo op tickets redeemed. My photo op was listed for 2:15 so we had lots of time. We wandered up and down the aisles and looked at all the pretty things. I was immediately drawn to a cute pair of octopus earrings and asked the gal what she used for the metals. She said surgical steel, but she was willing to change it out to nickel-free for the same price. I beamed with happiness and asked for the accommodation. I also got a pair of TARDIS earrings because she had a deal (2 for $15).
We had made it thru most of the con floor when my friend, Karen, arrived. We finished out the rest of the rows and then got a text from our friends, Jill and Nate. They told us to come to the Alex Kingston Q&A. We headed over there with minutes to spare and got lucky enough to score seats in the VIP section. Alex was a sweetie. She was genuinely excited to be in Cheesehead country, but admitted that she couldn't fit one of those hats over her giant hair. There was a Wizard World guy that talked to her for awhile about her major shows: ER, Doctor Who. Then the fans got to ask questions. She was asked if she thought the next Doctor should be a woman. Alex didn't agree. She does believe that there should be spin-offs and other shows with strong female characters, but felt the Doctor was iconically male. When Alex was asked what her super power would be, she said "happiness." She said she wanted to smile at someone and make them feel happy. She also said she wanted to be a unicorn. Hee!
We went back into the convention hall and wandered around a bit more. A few celebs were signing in autograph alley so I got to catch a glimpse of Nicholas Brendan, Joey Fatone, and Jewel Staite. Then, Karen and I got into the "blob." There were hundreds of people who had paid for the chance to have their photo snapped with David Tennant. As a result, it took two hours before Karen and I entered the red curtain. We got our photo with the 10th doctor himself and it was 2 seconds of awesome. He threw his arms around our shoulders and the flash went off.
The guy in charge of printing my additional photo was kind of a jerk. I get they had a lot of people to deal with, but it was still frustrating to keep getting shuffled around. *shrugs* It got done though and that's all I cared about.
We did make it to Jewel Staite's Q&A, but ended up in the way back. I was thankful for the big screens. She was adorable and told us she loved cheese. She talked about Firefly and the short filming schedule (3-4 months.) She talked about motherhood (she has a 4 month old.) She talked about food and wine. She talked about the acting business, Stargate SG-1, and Supernatural. My favorite fan Q&A was from a little boy who asked her if Firefly was appropriate for a 6 year old. She processed the question for a few minutes before telling him that the show has good life lessons, but stealing is not ok. She also said that mom and dad should hover over the fast forward button. I also loved when she talked about her favorite quotes from the show, i.e. Mal's speech to River at the end of Serenity. She also told us that Sean Maher (Simon) was one of her best friends in acting and gave her lots of parenting tips and advice.
David Tennant's Q&A followed Jewel's so we stayed and watched that as well. David said he wasn't a huge fan of cheese, but didn't mind cheese in stuff. He was funny and genuine with the Wizard World Q&A guy and was even more great tackling the fan questions. Fan questions ranged from simple to philosophical to asinine. My favorite moment was when a boy walked up to the mic and David observed he was shaking/nervous. David said the boy had nothing to be nervous about and he lifted the boy out of the audience and onto the stage beside him. The little boy nearly forgot his question, but it was cute to see them talk back and forth. The moderator made it clear that no one else was getting on stage. I also loved it when David referenced his experience on Top Gear when a gal in the audience asked him if he knew how to drive.
After the Q&A's, we headed back to the show floor. I picked up two fanart posters: one of the Slytherin house crest and the other of Maleficent. I also paid $10 for a chance to sit in the 1970 Roadrunner driven by Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) in Furious 7. I felt damn sexy behind the wheel of that car. These are for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
angelskuuipo and sionnach_ayame
We headed out when the convention floor closed at 7 pm. I got to see a little girl dressed up as BB-8 (complete with roller skates). She wasn't thrilled to have her photo taken, but her mom convinced her.
We had dinner with Jill and Nate at this awesome place called Next Door Brewing Company. The cheese curds were absolutely magical. I also had this yummy grilled chicken sandwich that was served on cheese bread. It came with a brie-walnut spread and a harissa mayo (aka Red Chili Pepper mayo). I don't normally like spicy, but I kind of enjoyed the tingling feeling that the harissa left on my lips.
We got home at 10:30 and I was absolutely exhausted.
I'm looking forward to going next year.
The line to check-in was long and winding. It took about 30 minutes to get us in. Nick and I people-watched during that time. We observed several Reys from Star Wars: TFA, Kylo Ren, a Storm Trooper, Starlord, Gamora, Batman, Spiderman, a Harley Quinn from Suicide Squad, Harley Quinns from other Batmans, a few Doctors (10 and 11), a few Amy Ponds (in the Police uniform), Captain America, Hydra soldiers, Deadpool, female!Gaston, Belle, Cinderella, characters from Adventure Time, characters from Inside Out, and a Kaylee Frye or three. I had done my best to mimic a companion outfit I had seen Clara Oswald in, but cosplay is definitely not my strongest suit. I did have two gals recognize what I was going for and that thrilled me to pieces.
Me (Clara Oswald-esque w/TARDIS socks)
Nick and I hit the show floor and got my photo op tickets redeemed. My photo op was listed for 2:15 so we had lots of time. We wandered up and down the aisles and looked at all the pretty things. I was immediately drawn to a cute pair of octopus earrings and asked the gal what she used for the metals. She said surgical steel, but she was willing to change it out to nickel-free for the same price. I beamed with happiness and asked for the accommodation. I also got a pair of TARDIS earrings because she had a deal (2 for $15).
We had made it thru most of the con floor when my friend, Karen, arrived. We finished out the rest of the rows and then got a text from our friends, Jill and Nate. They told us to come to the Alex Kingston Q&A. We headed over there with minutes to spare and got lucky enough to score seats in the VIP section. Alex was a sweetie. She was genuinely excited to be in Cheesehead country, but admitted that she couldn't fit one of those hats over her giant hair. There was a Wizard World guy that talked to her for awhile about her major shows: ER, Doctor Who. Then the fans got to ask questions. She was asked if she thought the next Doctor should be a woman. Alex didn't agree. She does believe that there should be spin-offs and other shows with strong female characters, but felt the Doctor was iconically male. When Alex was asked what her super power would be, she said "happiness." She said she wanted to smile at someone and make them feel happy. She also said she wanted to be a unicorn. Hee!
We went back into the convention hall and wandered around a bit more. A few celebs were signing in autograph alley so I got to catch a glimpse of Nicholas Brendan, Joey Fatone, and Jewel Staite. Then, Karen and I got into the "blob." There were hundreds of people who had paid for the chance to have their photo snapped with David Tennant. As a result, it took two hours before Karen and I entered the red curtain. We got our photo with the 10th doctor himself and it was 2 seconds of awesome. He threw his arms around our shoulders and the flash went off.
The guy in charge of printing my additional photo was kind of a jerk. I get they had a lot of people to deal with, but it was still frustrating to keep getting shuffled around. *shrugs* It got done though and that's all I cared about.
We did make it to Jewel Staite's Q&A, but ended up in the way back. I was thankful for the big screens. She was adorable and told us she loved cheese. She talked about Firefly and the short filming schedule (3-4 months.) She talked about motherhood (she has a 4 month old.) She talked about food and wine. She talked about the acting business, Stargate SG-1, and Supernatural. My favorite fan Q&A was from a little boy who asked her if Firefly was appropriate for a 6 year old. She processed the question for a few minutes before telling him that the show has good life lessons, but stealing is not ok. She also said that mom and dad should hover over the fast forward button. I also loved when she talked about her favorite quotes from the show, i.e. Mal's speech to River at the end of Serenity. She also told us that Sean Maher (Simon) was one of her best friends in acting and gave her lots of parenting tips and advice.
David Tennant's Q&A followed Jewel's so we stayed and watched that as well. David said he wasn't a huge fan of cheese, but didn't mind cheese in stuff. He was funny and genuine with the Wizard World Q&A guy and was even more great tackling the fan questions. Fan questions ranged from simple to philosophical to asinine. My favorite moment was when a boy walked up to the mic and David observed he was shaking/nervous. David said the boy had nothing to be nervous about and he lifted the boy out of the audience and onto the stage beside him. The little boy nearly forgot his question, but it was cute to see them talk back and forth. The moderator made it clear that no one else was getting on stage. I also loved it when David referenced his experience on Top Gear when a gal in the audience asked him if he knew how to drive.
After the Q&A's, we headed back to the show floor. I picked up two fanart posters: one of the Slytherin house crest and the other of Maleficent. I also paid $10 for a chance to sit in the 1970 Roadrunner driven by Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) in Furious 7. I felt damn sexy behind the wheel of that car. These are for
angelskuuipo and sionnach_ayame 
We headed out when the convention floor closed at 7 pm. I got to see a little girl dressed up as BB-8 (complete with roller skates). She wasn't thrilled to have her photo taken, but her mom convinced her.
We had dinner with Jill and Nate at this awesome place called Next Door Brewing Company. The cheese curds were absolutely magical. I also had this yummy grilled chicken sandwich that was served on cheese bread. It came with a brie-walnut spread and a harissa mayo (aka Red Chili Pepper mayo). I don't normally like spicy, but I kind of enjoyed the tingling feeling that the harissa left on my lips.
We got home at 10:30 and I was absolutely exhausted.
I'm looking forward to going next year.
