It’s been about a month now since we went to FanX 2018 in Salt Lake City. This was the first time the main event used the name FanX after the judge ordered that they couldn’t use the name “comic con” in their name. But if we’re being honest, we still call it comic con in our house. It’s that much of a household name as people don’t know what you’re going to unless you add “comic con” at the end, but I digress.
My princess Leia costume
Besides the name change, there were some things that we did differently this year as a family. Since we bought a house, our budget was less than it had been in the past. So for this reflection, I wanted to go over some of the differences for us as well as some fun surprises that happened to us!
We didn’t go VIP
For at least the past two years, we’ve gone VIP to almost all the events. It’s something we’ve thought was worth it to us. In fact, I still think it’s worth it. But I know that the cost for two VIP passes wasn’t something we could swing this time around.
A buddy of ours has been offering us passes for the times we’ve helped him out at his booth and so this year we decided to take him up on his offer.
Marvel in front of our friend’s booth
I admit, I missed some of the VIP perks like the express lanes for panels. I missed the panel for David Tennant as the room was already so full, but those with VIP ended up inside.
Since we weren’t in line a lot, we got to see these wonderful cosplayers! Teen Girl Squad from Home Star Runner!
Even though I missed some of the VIP perks, having an exhibitor pass was great! We still got in early, but that was because we went and helped my buddy before they opened up the floor. And speaking of helping, it was a blast doing our shifts at his booth! It helped me to remember how much I enjoyed working retail (well sometimes enjoyed) and talking to people about geeky interests was a great way to connect.
As much as we love going VIP, we’ve already told our friend we’d love to get passes from him as long as he’ll let us continue to help him with his booth!
Cut down on the number of celeb encounters
Another change that we made was to vastly cut down on the number of autographs and photo ops that we normally would do. We know that the costs can add up, so while there were a lot of people we would have loved to meet, we narrowed it down to just a few.
Marvel met a couple of mermaids
This helped to cut down the costs as well as cut down the time spent in line as a non VIP holder. We were also able to do other things at the convention that we wouldn’t have been able to do if we were spending all day in lines, such as see the whole vendor floor and spend time in KidCon.
Armor from the Evermore booth
Spent time in KidCon
Something we only did a little bit of last year was KidCon. FanX has this area in the convention center that’s geared towards kids with lots of activities such as, tea parties with princesses, face painting, STEM, and panels or kids.
Marvel getting her face painted
The face paint reveal
Our daughter Marvel really loved the tea parties last year, and this year was no different! Whenever we went into KidCon, that was the first place she went! I enjoyed it because I was able to sit down and rest my feet while she played. While I could have gone into panels instead, I loved that she got to get out of the stroller and do something fun for a bit.
Kids say the darndest things
Marvel has gone to comic con her whole life, so she is a champ when it comes to attending the event for ALL 3 days from open to close!
Normally, however, when she meets celebrities, she is a bit shy. But this year she surprised us with being a little bit more outgoing!
The first story happened when we did a photo op with David Tennant.
Marvel and I joined my friend Nessa over at 2dorksinlove for this photo op. We got in and David said in his beautiful Scottish accent to Marvel, “Well hello smiler!”
You’d expect someone to take that as a compliment right? Especially from the man who plays the 10th Doctor in Doctor Who. But not my Marvel! Ms. Marvel decided to exclaim over and over “I’m NOT a smiler!” So in our photo, Marvel doesn’t look too happy!
After the photo, before we were rushed off, David Tennant did try to cheer Marvel up, but alas, she was still upset about being called a smiler!
The second story happened on the last day of the convention at KidCon. We had met Evangeline Lilly, the actress that plays “The Wasp” in Ant-Man and The Wasp, and Marvel was dressed as The Wasp for that occasion.
Marvel in her Wasp costume
Evangeline Lilly was there promoting her book “The Squickerwonkers” and did an impromptu reading at KidCon!
Not only did she read her book, but she also invited Ms. Marvel to the stage to sit by her and she and Marvel had a conversation over the microphone in front of the whole crowd there!
It was an exciting time, but as soon as the word “boogers” came out of our daughter’s mouth, my face was hot from embarrassment. But there was nothing I could do as I was not even near them to let Ms. Marvel know it’s not appropriate to talk about that in front of everyone. Thankfully it seemed everyone seemed to be entertained by it all.
You can see the video and more information about this fun experience here:
This was definitely an experience we will always remember! We think Ms. Marvel will too as she’s getting to the age where she is starting to remember things more long term. Plus she loves to tell people she met “The Wasp!”
A cosplayer as Izabel from the comic series Saga
Despite some changes to our normal routine when attending this event, we had an amazing time! It’s a great event to attend, especially if you’re local! I look forward to them going back to two events next year but I’m not sure what they’ll call the Spring event! What do you think they’ll call it? Let me know in the comments!
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