My Weekend At MegaCon!

My Weekend at MegaCon Orlando

With Covid-19 still rampant in our world, one thing that is coming back into our lives is in-person Comic-Cons. Last year, we saw many of our favorite cons get cancelled or making them virtual. While we are thankful that some of the cons were still able to happen virtually, it’s really not the same as experiencing it in person. But this year, we see many Comic-Cons making a comeback by going back to the norm with in-person events but with loads of safety precautions.

This past weekend, I had the absolute pleasure of attending MegaCon Orlando in Orlando, FL. The event ran from August 12th to August 15th (though I missed the very first day). This would be my second time attending MegaCon after attending for the first time in 2019. This would’ve been my third time attending the con but y’all know what happened last year. MegaCon is one favorite cons to attend and I look forward to it every single year. From the cosplays to the events, to the celebrities, to the amazing people you meet, and everything in between. Before I tell y’all my experience from this past weekend, I must applaud MegaCon for having safety precautions in place for everybody. The staff made sure that everybody had their masks on and made sure everybody was safe the entire weekend. Bravo MegaCon! Now, let me tell y’all how I spent my three days at MegaCon Orlando.

August 13th – My first day at MegaCon Orlando. Mane, when I tell y’all as soon as I stepped foot in the Orange County Convention Center, my heart was filled with so much joy. Just seeing everybody in their cosplays, shopping around, reuniting with old friends, and loads of other things immediately put a smile on my face. That’s when I immediately knew that Comic-Cons are back in action. Since it was my first day at the con, the main thing I did was walk around the entire con to get myself familiar with the layout. Oh, and you know I couldn’t go to a con without cosplaying. For my first cosplay, I cosplayed as the famous android Avenger, Vision. But it wasn’t just your regular Vision. You guys remember the show WandaVision from earlier this year? And when the finale aired, there was this one specific scene where Vision is in a turtleneck and social media made a meme out of it? Y’all remember that? Well… I cosplayed as that meme. Vision “Vi’Shawn” Jarvis. Yes, I went through a couple of hours of face paint. Yes, I got a durag. Yes, I got a 3d printed Mind Stone and glued it to my head. I went all out for this cosplay. And the response I got for this cosplay was completely unexpected! I was not expecting so many people to recognize that I was cosplaying of meme of Vision. It was hilariously overwhelming, and I loved the response that I got it from everybody. That day probably turned out to be one of the funniest days of my life and I could not stop smiling and laughing throughout the day.

August 14th – The second day of MegaCon Orlando. So, usually on Saturdays at MegaCon, it’s super busy. That did not change at all this year. It’s usually so crowded on this day, that you can barely walk around on the show floor. But that means for more cosplays to be seen. This day for me, I was on a mission. Mainly because I was going to meet one of the celebrity guests there that day. And who would be that guest that I was going to meet? None other than Cyborg himself, Mr. Ray Fisher. Standing in line waiting to meet him in my photo op, my heart started beating so fast that I thought it was going to burst out of my body. But as soon as I walked up to him (but we were separated by plexiglass thanks to covid), he was so warm and inviting and you can tell that he’s just a good guy overall. Getting a photo op with a celeb, you don’t have much time with them as the staff has to keep the line moving. But we had a short conversation just asking each other how we were doing. He also complimented me on my cosplay (which I’ll get into a bit later). So, I got my pic with him, and I went about my day. But it just didn’t end there. Not only was I able to get a photo op with Ray, but I was also able to get an autograph from him too. So, what did I have to autograph for him? Of course, the picture that we just got through taking together. I got a free print out of our picture we took together, and he was able to sign it for me. While I was waiting in line to get my autograph, guess who was right next to Ray’s booth? Mary Poppins himself, Michael Rooker. He came back from his autograph and was met with thunderous cheers. He started high fiving some of the people in line with a big smile on his face. He even got the people in his line (and Ray’s line) to say, “I’m Mary Poppins y’all!” Mane, was he a funny guy. But back to Ray. As he signed our picture together, that’s when we had a full depth conversation. We started talking about a variety of things. But we mostly talked about a project that he was filming down in Mississippi, which isn’t far from Memphis at all. Just from that conversation alone, I can already tell that he’s probably the nicest person that I ever met. Alright, now for the cosplay. One thing I love about cosplaying is genderbending characters. I always thought to myself, “What if I can put a masculine spin to this?” And guess who that character was? None other than the one of my favorite MCU characters, the Scarlet Witch. Or in my terms, the Scarlet Warlock. This goes down as my favorite genderbend cosplay (my other one was Captain Marvel). What was so great about that day was that there were tons of other Scarlet Witch cosplays and of course I had to get as many pics as I can with as many of them. What would’ve been better is if I would’ve found a female Vision but I guess I got my hopes up too high. HA! Since I couldn’t find my female Vision, the very few Agathas I saw and even a Thanos made up for it. I got pictures with them and even a short video with the two characters that I’ll post on my social media at some point. But this was another cosplay I got well received for.

August 15th – Oh how I was dreading this day. The last day of MegaCon. I did not want this weekend to end at all. I’m still coming off a high from Saturday. But before I get to the con, I must tell y’all what happened before the con. I was eating breakfast at my hotel minding my own business. I look up and I see Ray Fisher having breakfast on the other side of the room. Who knew that we were staying in the same hotel? I wanted to go up to say hello to him, but I was just too scared to do it because I was afraid how he would respond. But something came over me. As he was getting ready to leave, I walked up to him to say hello to him again and to my surprise, he said, “What’s up Dominic!” He remembered me! Immediately, I told him thanks for making my day yesterday and he was so appreciative of it, and we said goodbye to each other after that. That little interaction right there possibly made my entire weekend. Alright, back to the con. The last day of MegaCon was basically a chill day since it’s the last day. I basically used this day for shopping and relaxing. I tried not to spend so much on stuff but… I got paid on Thursday, so it was time to splurge. I bought so much stuff that my suitcase was almost overweight by the time I got to the airport to go home. Not only was I buying out the con, but I also got see some familiar faces. Those familiar faces happen to be Austin St. John and Karan Ashley. Those names should sound familiar to you because you might recognize them as the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers with Austin who played Jason (the OG Red Power Ranger) and Karan who played Aisha (the second Yellow Power Ranger). I met Karan for the first time two years ago at MegaCon and Austin two years ago as well in NYCC (along with Karan and Steve Cardenas, the second Red Power Ranger). We basically caught up with each other talking about our lives and of course, I had to get my picture with them (even though I got one with them before). I even told Karan that I used one of their morphing sequences as my drum major salute in high school, which was kind of embarrassing, but I just had to get it off my chest. But Karan thought that was cool so it wasn’t as embarrassing as I thought it would be. But what was so cool about that day was my last cosplay I did. Think of a regular dude from Memphis who’s worthy of lifting Mjolnir. That’s right. I cosplayed as none other than the God of Thunder, Thor Odinson. This day was also cool because there were so many Lokis, Sylvies, and Alligator Lokis so I had to get my pictures taken with as many of them as I could. Fun fact about this cosplay is that I won this cosplay back in 2019 (shoutout to SimCosplay) in a giveaway and this was my first time wearing it to a con. So, I had this costume for almost two years and have not worn it until this past weekend. And boy did it feel good to finally wear it. I also made a TikTok video of this cosplay, so you’ll have to check it out on my page whenever I post it.

In conclusion, if you guys couldn’t tell, I had such an amazing time coming back to MegaCon Orlando. It felt so good to come back to a comic-con after not going to one in almost two years. This past weekend could not have gone any better. Special shoutout to my good friend Corey for tagging me along this weekend so I wouldn’t have to spend the weekend at the con by myself. Another special shoutout to SimCosplay for the dope Scarlet Witch and Thor suits. MegaCon, thank you again for another memorable and unforgettable weekend. Got to get back in my cosplay bag, met some amazing new people, hang out with good friends, and so much more. 10/10. I’ll see y’all again in 2022!