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dragoncon_lj_archive2010-08-26 05:14 pm
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Advanced guide to Dragon*Con
I recently wrote up a big long list of tips and info for some Dragon*Con attendees that I know on Facebook, and I've gotten a few requests to post it here to Livejournal, so here it is!
This list is actually geared towards those who have been to conventions before, or who are even veteran con-goers...Dragon*Con is a lot different than many other sci-fi/fantasy/anime cons, and so the following tips are for those who already know about the basics of conventions. These tips are for experienced con-goers who are new to Dragon*Con specifically. If you're a new con-goer or have not had much experience with conventions, check out the following fantastic newcomer resources :)
http://people.howstuffworks.com/dragoncon-survival.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/dragon-con-atlanta
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/263482/newbies_guide_to_dragoncon_in_atlanta.html?cat=52
http://dragon-con.pbworks.com/
(feel free to link to good basic guides that I've missed...I know there's a few other good ones out there!)
TRACKS
Unlike most conventions, D*C is organized into tracks. A track is a themed programming group, and each track has its own separate department and staff. There are a few dozen different tracks. You've got Star Wars @ D*C, Trek Track, Whedonverse, Pern, Apocalypse Rising, X-Track, SkepTrack, etc...check the Daily Dragon's sidebar for a list of track sites. Each track usually has its own site and they will typically post their schedules early. A lot of them already have their schedules up on their site or mailing lists :)
SCHEDULE
The entire schedule will be layed out in one huge grid, but there will also be complete text descriptions and separate sections of schedules for each individual tracks. So you can look stuff up two different ways. Program guide with schedules will be released 10-15 days before con (addendum: so, any day now!). There is over 3000 hours of programming over the 4 days. Yeah. There's no way you'll be able to see everything you want to see. So budget your time wisely (bring different colored sharpies to highlight first, second, and third choices for events you'd like to see), and always have back-up plans.
COSPLAY
Most people who've attended cons before are well-versed in cosplay, but D*C is seriously THE cosplay convention. You will see anything and everything, and way more costumes here than most cons (except maybe Otakon/AX). Also way more original costumes. And the big time costumes are broken in at D*C, because cosplayers know that D*C is where they'll get the most attention and love. So if you like cosplay, you'll be in heaven, more so than at other cons :) Also, the con itself takes cosplay more seriously than most, and works hard to keep an organized list of all the cosplay gatherings, which you can find on cosplay.com. These gatherings are typically HUGE. And on another note, after dark, the costumes can get very raunchy, and you will often see the infamous duct-tape girls who, as the name suggests, wear nothing but small pieces of duct tape, and everyone's A-OK with that.
PARTIES
This is one of the only cons where partying is not only allowed, but very much encouraged!! There are room parties galore and entire levels of the hotels are devoted to them. There are tons of con-sponsored parties, as well. And then there are the famous D*C party/costuming groups. I'm not sure I've heard of another con with so many con-specific costuming and partying groups. You've got the 501st and Rebel Legion of course, and then you have the Mandalorian Mercs, but you also have Wolf Pack Elite, ConSluts, the Colonial Fleet, CON*Tourage and a few other VERY large groups dedicated mostly to partying it out at Dragon*Con and being a huge presence there. It's a unique aspect of the con that's not common at other cons. Their parties are considered the best/most popular, and you have to work a bit to get invites or VIP passes (check their sites).
Also, hook-ups are a pretty common thing at this con, so there's that ;)
HOTELS
Unlike most cons wherein all events take place in one building, this con takes place in a total of FIVE DIFFERENT HOTELS. The Peachtree Westin was just added to house Whedonverse and Alt. History. The main 3 (Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton) are connected by various tunnels/skywalks/habitrails, but you must walk outside to get to the Sheraton, and I think the Westin is a block away too (someone correct me, I'm not sure). Normally you'll be able to just follow the crowd to get to these, but it'd be a good idea to check out a map beforehand. But you will be doing quite a ton of traversing back and forth between hotels. So when scheduling stuff, plan for travel time. Its gonna take at least 15 minutes to get from the Hyatt to the Hilton, and more than that to get to the Sheraton (depending on crowds and the Hyatt's notoriously long elevator waits). Each track is also hosted in certain rooms of certain hotels, which the program guide will tell you about. Most of the main dances and concerts are held in the Marriott and Hyatt, as are the big celebrity panels. The Hyatt and Marriott are connected to the Peachtree Center (which is a big mall/business center, with a big foodcourt in the middle) by twisty, sometimes hard to find habitrail pathways.
WALK OF FAME
This is the autograph hall, which is in the Hilton. Here the celebrities will be at their tables (sometimes at scheduled times, or otherwise whenever they're free) and will be offering photo prints and autographs, for a price (note: there are various other scheduled autograph sessions in the program guide, which are located elsewhere, and may or may not require a pre-purchased ticket, such as Stan Lee's "early bird" autograph session). If you want a photo WITH a celebrity, I think you have to order ahead of time. Froggy's Photos is the main photographer, but there is also Craig Damon, and some celebrities will be kind enough to let you take pics with them at their tables.
CELEBRITIES
Unlike many cons, especially cons D*C sized or bigger, most of the celebrities will be hanging out on the con floor, unless they're really big-time like William Shatner =P The BSG people walk around the floor a lot, as do the various Adult Swim guys, and most other tv celebrities. There is an extremely high chance that you'll run into a tv actor at least once, or, if nothing else, Doc Hammer (who I saw 7 times in the halls last year, not even kidding) and/or Voltaire, who seem to be everywhere, all the time, and don't care how swamped with fans they get :) This is how to get photos without paying or waiting in lines! Just keep an eye out, especially late at night, and especially at the bars...
BARS AND DRINKING
This is THE party con. If you're not a fan of drunken craziness, do not go out to the con floor late! Especially not to the Marriott (although it can be fun and entertaining, you might also get hassled by folks who've had a little too much). But it's never that bad, and night-time is when the atmosphere really picks up, which I love...it's so energetic! There is a main, big bar in the Hyatt lobby which is flocked with people at all times of day, and a couple bars on the various Marriott lobby levels (Pulse is the most popular one, which has been nicknamed the "sailboat bar"...because it looks like a giant sailboat), which get positively swamped at night. The drinking and partying goes on well into the night and doesn't slow down until around 4 or so. Bring earplugs if you go to bed, because the noise does travel (especially in the Hyatt). If you're in the Hilton, you've got it nice and quiet :)
ALL NIGHT LONG
This is the only convention that I know of that literally goes for 24 hours a day. The latest panels will go until 3 or 4 I think, mature-themed video screenings go later (I'm fairly certain the video screenings in general are 24/7, all 4 days, and their schedule this year looks fantastic), and the raves go till early morning (they tend to not even start until 2am. or after the last concert). Many concerts don't even start until midnight or 1am :) Earliest stuff starts at 10am, though you've got the DC Late Show at 9am (I think?) on Dragon*Con tv! If you wanna see the con area empty and weird without any crowds, go out at 7 or 8am =P
DANCES/CONCERTS
Every single night there will be a concert of some sort. Including Thursday. Thursday is totally the new Friday. It may as well be a 5-day con, because Thursday is as happening as a Friday or Saturday at many good-sized conventions! But anyways, there will be something like 4 or so concerts every night, and at least that many different dances/raves/balls. Every night there is an all-night rave or two, and earlier (around 8 or 8:30, sometimes a bit later) are when the individual tracks host their own dance parties. There're usually 2-3 themed dances a night. You have about a million different chances to dance during the weekend :) The track themed ones are fantastic and fun and I highly suggest checking out the featured dance on whatever track it is you are interested in (GO TO THE YULE BALL, YOU WON'T REGRET IT).
(random: Voltaire and the Cruxshadows are con staples and very much involved with the Dark Fantasy Track, if you want to see them talking rather than just performing...they'll be at panels, and they hang out on the con floor all the time...Voltaire does acoustic shows around the floor, and the Cruxshadows are often hanging around their band table, greeting fans, along with some of the other musical guests)
DRAGON*CON TV
Every host hotel has syndicated official D*C tv programming being shown all day!! So if you're too exhausted (or hungover) to go out, he major panels will be broadcast, as well as great fan films and funny, Adult Swim-style bumper commercials. You really don't want to miss it. Just leave it on in your room so you can watch whenever you happen to come back in to change or rest or, god forbid, sleep (j/k you really should sleep! ask me about last year and not being able to sleep).
MASQUERADES/COSTUME CONTESTS
Unlike most cons with their one masquerade contest, there's, like...5? Cosplay (as in anime/manga) is Friday I think (don't quote me on that), Dragon*Con After Dark is more mature costumes, there is a Hall Cosplay contest, and then the main event is the big Masquerade Contest on Sunday night (which is broadcast on tv). Fun fact: if the performers go over their allotted time, stormtroopers escort them offstage :D And then there's the Dawn Contest!! Where contestants create their own Dawn outfit. The last two contests are always MCed by celebs :) Anthony Daniels did Dawn last year, I believe. And many of the tracks hold their own themed costume contests (such as Star Wars, Wheel of Time, etc).
FOOD
This con is fantastic with food sources. Not only is the con suite fabulous (but also very popular), but the food court is extremely convenient, close and easy to find. It gets crowded, but not terribly so, because there are quite a few food vendors. Dairy Queen is great because its open the latest (1 or 2am). There's also pizza, Asian, Mexican, Caribou Coffee (there's also a Starbucks in the Marriott that often has a line out the door, but it doesn't take too long), Chick-Fil-A, a very good Japanese/sushi place, and my favorite, Farmer's Basket. This place is often the least busiest, located in the very back near the entrance to the MARTA station. Its buffet style, with relatively healthy HomeTown Buffet-esque dishes, and the portions/combos are really big and a great deal for the price. I get almost all my meals from this place, and it keeps me going :)
I should also note that there are dozens of great restaurants off the con premises. Max Lager's is my favorite mid-range sit-down place.
MARTA
The train system in Atlanta is fantastic, easy, and cheap. If you're coming from the airport, follow the signs, and take any train to the Peachtree Center stop, and follow the signs from there up to the Peachtree Center...you'll go up a big escalator, come out into the food court, go straight to a main dining area, then turn left once you get to the Dairy Queen to get to the Hyatt...to get to the Marriott, go past the Japanese place, and you'll see a hallway leading away from the food court...follow the flow of people to find the Marriott (its twisty, like a maze, but you'll get used to it quick!). For the other hotels, you'll have to go outside or traverse through the Marriott.
SIGHTSEEING
I figured I might add something in about this. The con is situated right in the heart of Atlanta, and there are many great sites right in the area, within walking distance or at least within a 10-15 minute ride on the Marta. You can walk to World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium, and the High Art Museum (A++!!) is a short train ride away. If you have an extra day before or after the con, there's no reason you should be bored :) If you have plenty of extra time and money, I believe there is a sort of Atlanta city pass you can purchase that gets you tickets to several different attractions at discounted rates when you buy them all together.
PARADE
The Dragon*Con parade is one of the most popular and famous events of the convention, one of the things that makes it so unique. There are usually more than 2000 costumed participants (anyone can sign up!) and dozens of different groups. The whole city of Atlanta comes out Saturday morning at 10am to see the procession. It is most definitely a MAIN event and a must-see :D
SCHEDULING/RELATED STUFF
There is always something to do! Dozens of tracks, each with 20-30+ hours of programming, plus the main events and everything else makes for a very busy place. I assure you, you will never be bored. Though even if you're not doing anything at the time, people-watching here is the best!
You won't have to wait too long for lines to get in to most events. Getting first for Terry Gilliam's line last year required us getting there 2-3 hours early. Friends of mine started the line for the Shatner/Nimoy panel at 4:30am, with others arriving soon after, and the panel started at 10am. That was probably the biggest line situation I've heard of at the con. But know that yes, you will need to be there 2 hours before if you want a seat at a big celebrity panel (and a lot of the ballrooms have seating so that if you're in the back, you won't have a good view, because the floor/seats are all on a flat plane).
And unlike SDCC, you can't sit through the previous panels! They clear the rooms out in between. You can start lines behind other lines, though, as long as you alert the nearby security people that you're doing it.
OTHER EVENTS
There are so many things to do besides panels...there's Aquarium Night on Saturday (highly recommended!!!!!!!! Its the best aquarium in the world, and seeing cosplayers there is awesome), the Cabaret, Rocky Horror Live, wrestling, jello wrestling, fashion shows, historical re-enactments, LARP, tabletop gaming, video gaming, card gaming, a couple dealers rooms, film festivals, video rooms (anime and Western movies), an art show/auction, comics artist alley, Guest of Honor Banquet, Dragon*Con's Got Talent!, and various fundraising events such as the Blood Drive. Also the multiple costuming world record attempts (Superhero, Steampunk, and Star Trek). Last year there was a Vampire Diaries casting call!
A bunch of tracks have tentative schedules up. Take a look and start planning!
http://www.scifitvtrack.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=13
http://yalit.dragoncon.org/schedule.html
http://www.whedonuniverse.com/
http://www.brittrack.org/schedule.htm
http://costuming.dragoncon.org/#schedule
http://artshow.dragoncon.org/index.html (click Programming)
http://www.efforums.net/
http://filmfest.dragoncon.org/2010-festival-schedule/
http://www.dc-mmo.org/dragoncon-schedule-of-events/dcmmo-2010-schedule-grid/
http://www.dragon-pod.com/schedule/
http://robotics.dragoncon.org/schedule.html
http://www.skeptrack.org/schedule/
http://space.dragoncon.org/programming/
http://sgmultiverse.org/2010schedule.html
http://www.swatdc.com/ (Star Wars)
http://www.tolkientrack.com/schedule.html
http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2010/main-video-room-and-anime-video-room-schedules/
(there are many more that have been published...check the Daily Dragon for links to all the tracks)
And the Daily Dragon should be one of your best sources for news and announcements...follow them on Twitter, too!
http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/
I told you it was long. I hope that some of that info might be of use. If anyone has anything else that con-goers will encounter or have to consider that they may not have dealt with at other conventions, please add your own advice :) I've been going to conventions for 10 years, and even for me, Dragon*Con is an entirely different sort of beast!
And in my opinion, it's the best sort of beast ;)
This list is actually geared towards those who have been to conventions before, or who are even veteran con-goers...Dragon*Con is a lot different than many other sci-fi/fantasy/anime cons, and so the following tips are for those who already know about the basics of conventions. These tips are for experienced con-goers who are new to Dragon*Con specifically. If you're a new con-goer or have not had much experience with conventions, check out the following fantastic newcomer resources :)
http://people.howstuffworks.com/dragoncon-survival.htm
http://www.squidoo.com/dragon-con-atlanta
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/263482/newbies_guide_to_dragoncon_in_atlanta.html?cat=52
http://dragon-con.pbworks.com/
(feel free to link to good basic guides that I've missed...I know there's a few other good ones out there!)
TRACKS
Unlike most conventions, D*C is organized into tracks. A track is a themed programming group, and each track has its own separate department and staff. There are a few dozen different tracks. You've got Star Wars @ D*C, Trek Track, Whedonverse, Pern, Apocalypse Rising, X-Track, SkepTrack, etc...check the Daily Dragon's sidebar for a list of track sites. Each track usually has its own site and they will typically post their schedules early. A lot of them already have their schedules up on their site or mailing lists :)
SCHEDULE
The entire schedule will be layed out in one huge grid, but there will also be complete text descriptions and separate sections of schedules for each individual tracks. So you can look stuff up two different ways. Program guide with schedules will be released 10-15 days before con (addendum: so, any day now!). There is over 3000 hours of programming over the 4 days. Yeah. There's no way you'll be able to see everything you want to see. So budget your time wisely (bring different colored sharpies to highlight first, second, and third choices for events you'd like to see), and always have back-up plans.
COSPLAY
Most people who've attended cons before are well-versed in cosplay, but D*C is seriously THE cosplay convention. You will see anything and everything, and way more costumes here than most cons (except maybe Otakon/AX). Also way more original costumes. And the big time costumes are broken in at D*C, because cosplayers know that D*C is where they'll get the most attention and love. So if you like cosplay, you'll be in heaven, more so than at other cons :) Also, the con itself takes cosplay more seriously than most, and works hard to keep an organized list of all the cosplay gatherings, which you can find on cosplay.com. These gatherings are typically HUGE. And on another note, after dark, the costumes can get very raunchy, and you will often see the infamous duct-tape girls who, as the name suggests, wear nothing but small pieces of duct tape, and everyone's A-OK with that.
PARTIES
This is one of the only cons where partying is not only allowed, but very much encouraged!! There are room parties galore and entire levels of the hotels are devoted to them. There are tons of con-sponsored parties, as well. And then there are the famous D*C party/costuming groups. I'm not sure I've heard of another con with so many con-specific costuming and partying groups. You've got the 501st and Rebel Legion of course, and then you have the Mandalorian Mercs, but you also have Wolf Pack Elite, ConSluts, the Colonial Fleet, CON*Tourage and a few other VERY large groups dedicated mostly to partying it out at Dragon*Con and being a huge presence there. It's a unique aspect of the con that's not common at other cons. Their parties are considered the best/most popular, and you have to work a bit to get invites or VIP passes (check their sites).
Also, hook-ups are a pretty common thing at this con, so there's that ;)
HOTELS
Unlike most cons wherein all events take place in one building, this con takes place in a total of FIVE DIFFERENT HOTELS. The Peachtree Westin was just added to house Whedonverse and Alt. History. The main 3 (Hyatt, Marriott, and Hilton) are connected by various tunnels/skywalks/habitrails, but you must walk outside to get to the Sheraton, and I think the Westin is a block away too (someone correct me, I'm not sure). Normally you'll be able to just follow the crowd to get to these, but it'd be a good idea to check out a map beforehand. But you will be doing quite a ton of traversing back and forth between hotels. So when scheduling stuff, plan for travel time. Its gonna take at least 15 minutes to get from the Hyatt to the Hilton, and more than that to get to the Sheraton (depending on crowds and the Hyatt's notoriously long elevator waits). Each track is also hosted in certain rooms of certain hotels, which the program guide will tell you about. Most of the main dances and concerts are held in the Marriott and Hyatt, as are the big celebrity panels. The Hyatt and Marriott are connected to the Peachtree Center (which is a big mall/business center, with a big foodcourt in the middle) by twisty, sometimes hard to find habitrail pathways.
WALK OF FAME
This is the autograph hall, which is in the Hilton. Here the celebrities will be at their tables (sometimes at scheduled times, or otherwise whenever they're free) and will be offering photo prints and autographs, for a price (note: there are various other scheduled autograph sessions in the program guide, which are located elsewhere, and may or may not require a pre-purchased ticket, such as Stan Lee's "early bird" autograph session). If you want a photo WITH a celebrity, I think you have to order ahead of time. Froggy's Photos is the main photographer, but there is also Craig Damon, and some celebrities will be kind enough to let you take pics with them at their tables.
CELEBRITIES
Unlike many cons, especially cons D*C sized or bigger, most of the celebrities will be hanging out on the con floor, unless they're really big-time like William Shatner =P The BSG people walk around the floor a lot, as do the various Adult Swim guys, and most other tv celebrities. There is an extremely high chance that you'll run into a tv actor at least once, or, if nothing else, Doc Hammer (who I saw 7 times in the halls last year, not even kidding) and/or Voltaire, who seem to be everywhere, all the time, and don't care how swamped with fans they get :) This is how to get photos without paying or waiting in lines! Just keep an eye out, especially late at night, and especially at the bars...
BARS AND DRINKING
This is THE party con. If you're not a fan of drunken craziness, do not go out to the con floor late! Especially not to the Marriott (although it can be fun and entertaining, you might also get hassled by folks who've had a little too much). But it's never that bad, and night-time is when the atmosphere really picks up, which I love...it's so energetic! There is a main, big bar in the Hyatt lobby which is flocked with people at all times of day, and a couple bars on the various Marriott lobby levels (Pulse is the most popular one, which has been nicknamed the "sailboat bar"...because it looks like a giant sailboat), which get positively swamped at night. The drinking and partying goes on well into the night and doesn't slow down until around 4 or so. Bring earplugs if you go to bed, because the noise does travel (especially in the Hyatt). If you're in the Hilton, you've got it nice and quiet :)
ALL NIGHT LONG
This is the only convention that I know of that literally goes for 24 hours a day. The latest panels will go until 3 or 4 I think, mature-themed video screenings go later (I'm fairly certain the video screenings in general are 24/7, all 4 days, and their schedule this year looks fantastic), and the raves go till early morning (they tend to not even start until 2am. or after the last concert). Many concerts don't even start until midnight or 1am :) Earliest stuff starts at 10am, though you've got the DC Late Show at 9am (I think?) on Dragon*Con tv! If you wanna see the con area empty and weird without any crowds, go out at 7 or 8am =P
DANCES/CONCERTS
Every single night there will be a concert of some sort. Including Thursday. Thursday is totally the new Friday. It may as well be a 5-day con, because Thursday is as happening as a Friday or Saturday at many good-sized conventions! But anyways, there will be something like 4 or so concerts every night, and at least that many different dances/raves/balls. Every night there is an all-night rave or two, and earlier (around 8 or 8:30, sometimes a bit later) are when the individual tracks host their own dance parties. There're usually 2-3 themed dances a night. You have about a million different chances to dance during the weekend :) The track themed ones are fantastic and fun and I highly suggest checking out the featured dance on whatever track it is you are interested in (GO TO THE YULE BALL, YOU WON'T REGRET IT).
(random: Voltaire and the Cruxshadows are con staples and very much involved with the Dark Fantasy Track, if you want to see them talking rather than just performing...they'll be at panels, and they hang out on the con floor all the time...Voltaire does acoustic shows around the floor, and the Cruxshadows are often hanging around their band table, greeting fans, along with some of the other musical guests)
DRAGON*CON TV
Every host hotel has syndicated official D*C tv programming being shown all day!! So if you're too exhausted (or hungover) to go out, he major panels will be broadcast, as well as great fan films and funny, Adult Swim-style bumper commercials. You really don't want to miss it. Just leave it on in your room so you can watch whenever you happen to come back in to change or rest or, god forbid, sleep (j/k you really should sleep! ask me about last year and not being able to sleep).
MASQUERADES/COSTUME CONTESTS
Unlike most cons with their one masquerade contest, there's, like...5? Cosplay (as in anime/manga) is Friday I think (don't quote me on that), Dragon*Con After Dark is more mature costumes, there is a Hall Cosplay contest, and then the main event is the big Masquerade Contest on Sunday night (which is broadcast on tv). Fun fact: if the performers go over their allotted time, stormtroopers escort them offstage :D And then there's the Dawn Contest!! Where contestants create their own Dawn outfit. The last two contests are always MCed by celebs :) Anthony Daniels did Dawn last year, I believe. And many of the tracks hold their own themed costume contests (such as Star Wars, Wheel of Time, etc).
FOOD
This con is fantastic with food sources. Not only is the con suite fabulous (but also very popular), but the food court is extremely convenient, close and easy to find. It gets crowded, but not terribly so, because there are quite a few food vendors. Dairy Queen is great because its open the latest (1 or 2am). There's also pizza, Asian, Mexican, Caribou Coffee (there's also a Starbucks in the Marriott that often has a line out the door, but it doesn't take too long), Chick-Fil-A, a very good Japanese/sushi place, and my favorite, Farmer's Basket. This place is often the least busiest, located in the very back near the entrance to the MARTA station. Its buffet style, with relatively healthy HomeTown Buffet-esque dishes, and the portions/combos are really big and a great deal for the price. I get almost all my meals from this place, and it keeps me going :)
I should also note that there are dozens of great restaurants off the con premises. Max Lager's is my favorite mid-range sit-down place.
MARTA
The train system in Atlanta is fantastic, easy, and cheap. If you're coming from the airport, follow the signs, and take any train to the Peachtree Center stop, and follow the signs from there up to the Peachtree Center...you'll go up a big escalator, come out into the food court, go straight to a main dining area, then turn left once you get to the Dairy Queen to get to the Hyatt...to get to the Marriott, go past the Japanese place, and you'll see a hallway leading away from the food court...follow the flow of people to find the Marriott (its twisty, like a maze, but you'll get used to it quick!). For the other hotels, you'll have to go outside or traverse through the Marriott.
SIGHTSEEING
I figured I might add something in about this. The con is situated right in the heart of Atlanta, and there are many great sites right in the area, within walking distance or at least within a 10-15 minute ride on the Marta. You can walk to World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium, and the High Art Museum (A++!!) is a short train ride away. If you have an extra day before or after the con, there's no reason you should be bored :) If you have plenty of extra time and money, I believe there is a sort of Atlanta city pass you can purchase that gets you tickets to several different attractions at discounted rates when you buy them all together.
PARADE
The Dragon*Con parade is one of the most popular and famous events of the convention, one of the things that makes it so unique. There are usually more than 2000 costumed participants (anyone can sign up!) and dozens of different groups. The whole city of Atlanta comes out Saturday morning at 10am to see the procession. It is most definitely a MAIN event and a must-see :D
SCHEDULING/RELATED STUFF
There is always something to do! Dozens of tracks, each with 20-30+ hours of programming, plus the main events and everything else makes for a very busy place. I assure you, you will never be bored. Though even if you're not doing anything at the time, people-watching here is the best!
You won't have to wait too long for lines to get in to most events. Getting first for Terry Gilliam's line last year required us getting there 2-3 hours early. Friends of mine started the line for the Shatner/Nimoy panel at 4:30am, with others arriving soon after, and the panel started at 10am. That was probably the biggest line situation I've heard of at the con. But know that yes, you will need to be there 2 hours before if you want a seat at a big celebrity panel (and a lot of the ballrooms have seating so that if you're in the back, you won't have a good view, because the floor/seats are all on a flat plane).
And unlike SDCC, you can't sit through the previous panels! They clear the rooms out in between. You can start lines behind other lines, though, as long as you alert the nearby security people that you're doing it.
OTHER EVENTS
There are so many things to do besides panels...there's Aquarium Night on Saturday (highly recommended!!!!!!!! Its the best aquarium in the world, and seeing cosplayers there is awesome), the Cabaret, Rocky Horror Live, wrestling, jello wrestling, fashion shows, historical re-enactments, LARP, tabletop gaming, video gaming, card gaming, a couple dealers rooms, film festivals, video rooms (anime and Western movies), an art show/auction, comics artist alley, Guest of Honor Banquet, Dragon*Con's Got Talent!, and various fundraising events such as the Blood Drive. Also the multiple costuming world record attempts (Superhero, Steampunk, and Star Trek). Last year there was a Vampire Diaries casting call!
A bunch of tracks have tentative schedules up. Take a look and start planning!
http://www.scifitvtrack.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92&Itemid=13
http://yalit.dragoncon.org/schedule.html
http://www.whedonuniverse.com/
http://www.brittrack.org/schedule.htm
http://costuming.dragoncon.org/#schedule
http://artshow.dragoncon.org/index.html (click Programming)
http://www.efforums.net/
http://filmfest.dragoncon.org/2010-festival-schedule/
http://www.dc-mmo.org/dragoncon-schedule-of-events/dcmmo-2010-schedule-grid/
http://www.dragon-pod.com/schedule/
http://robotics.dragoncon.org/schedule.html
http://www.skeptrack.org/schedule/
http://space.dragoncon.org/programming/
http://sgmultiverse.org/2010schedule.html
http://www.swatdc.com/ (Star Wars)
http://www.tolkientrack.com/schedule.html
http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/2010/main-video-room-and-anime-video-room-schedules/
(there are many more that have been published...check the Daily Dragon for links to all the tracks)
And the Daily Dragon should be one of your best sources for news and announcements...follow them on Twitter, too!
http://dailydragon.dragoncon.org/
I told you it was long. I hope that some of that info might be of use. If anyone has anything else that con-goers will encounter or have to consider that they may not have dealt with at other conventions, please add your own advice :) I've been going to conventions for 10 years, and even for me, Dragon*Con is an entirely different sort of beast!
And in my opinion, it's the best sort of beast ;)