Thoughts on AC...

[Cinders]

So I've finally been to AC, got back roughly... 6 or 7 hours ago, maybe more. Road up with Nightfox, Funshade and Ricochet, roughly 12 or 13 hours of "fun". Upon getting there, got to do some more of my favorite activity, waiting! If you know me you know how much I love that sort of thing, I'm just a waiting machine. Stood in the registration line for close to 3 hours I want to think, and no, not because the line was so long. this was because the line literally wasn't moving due to the con deciding to wait till 3:30 to open it. Pre-reg opened 2 hours early and thankfully Reg opened a bit a head of time but it still got on my nerves.

So finally registered I got all my junk into my room, got my car into the right parking deck (driving in Pittsburgh is kinda like driving through a maze made by a retarded man) and goofed around the rest of the day waiting for Friday when the con would actually start. Friday rolls around and I go to opening ceremonies, its kinda cute, Uncle Kaga(sp?) couldn't act his way out of a paper bag with a flame thrower but that wasn't a big deal. Wait around for the dealers den and artist ally to pen up and check them out annnnd... that is pretty much everything I did. None of the panels got my attention, the hosts of the talent show where so bad at their job I left because I couldn't take anymore of their sad excuse for witty commentary, and 2 can only be entertaining for so long before he gets on every nerve you have left.

The con security were the biggest nazi's I've happened to meet, jumping on people for the smallest thing and then ignoring something you'd actually expect the security to stop. Fur suits took precedence over everyone, even if you were trying to get your stuff up to your room or hurt (I have a rope burn that has yet to heal right where my left leg bends, you have no idea what its like to go up and down stairs constantly) and they closed one elevator into the convention center to everyone but suiters EVEN IF there were no suiters around.

Another huge let down were the "dances". Lasers and enough fog to make you wonder if the building is on fire do not make a dance. I'm not one for much dancing, more so because my leg wouldn't allow for much in the line of movement, but I like to listen to the music at them sometimes... not so much the case at AC because at the dances I went to the music was quite dull in my opinion.

All in all I had a good time at AC, but not BECAUSE of AC.My friends made it fun, the con was just a miner annoyance in the back ground.

[Ricochet]

I dunno, I wasn't quite as disappointed in the con itself, though I do agree that the socialization aspect of it was the main attraction. My main complaint is the sheer amount of walking you had to do to get from place to place. I mean yeah, I need exercise as much as the next guy, but it got annoying navigating that maze just to check and see if a panel is interesting or not. I did like how the dealer's room was so large, but highly disappointed that everything closed down at 5 PM. On Friday, by the time I finally managed to print off a reference picture I could use for commissions (their network printer did NOT like printing from within the GIMP), the room had closed and I had to wait until the next day.

On the plus side, because it was *the* con to go to, I was able to meet up with a lot of people I had previously only met online. Saw several people from the Define Cynical message board I go to, met up with tons of people from our Order Of The Claws guild on WoW, talked to lots of new people I had never met before, etc.

All in all, it wasn't a bad way to spend 4-5 days, though I'm not entirely sure it was worth the amount of money I spent going to it.

[Mune]

Yeeeah.. this AC was kind of a suckfest for me as well. I got unnecessarily enraged at several people, felt sickish the entire time, and the drive was AGONIZING.
I spent a lot of time asleep. One night, I woke up with hives all over my stomach, chest and legs like I was having an allergic reaction to something. It was 4am and I went downstairs to see if the front desk could give me a benedryl or something.. anything. They tried to give me a damned package of burn cream the size of my pinkie finger. I saw Malo still awake though, haha.
NOTHING was open so I had to go back upstairs empty handed and take an hour and a half shower before they magically disappeared.

I didn't go to any panels. I watched the fursuit games with Nightfox and John, but they were so long my butt fell asleep. We watched the dance competition but left before they announced the winners because if Mangosu didn't win I didn't want to know.

Uhh.. I hate to sound like such a whiny snot. Seriously though, this year I just felt really lost.
I had the most fun with YOU guys, my Georgia friends, when I saw you. XD I suited a little.

The drive home was so foggy during the first few hours that I was convinced we would die, even though I drove most of it. I texted Cinders when I wasn't driving just so I wouldn't have a heart attack from focusing on the road too much.

[Kodah]

I've never been so I can't say if it's good or bad. I just thought the most interesting thing on their website is directions by sea(boat). I wonder how many people have actually came by boat.

[RaggedyHatter]

I've never been so I can't say if it's good or bad. I just thought the most interesting thing on their website is directions by sea(boat). I wonder how many people have actually came by boat.

Awww.... if I was eccentric, I'd so go to AC by boat.

[redmewtwo]

meh i thought the music to the dances sucked at the beginning. thought about going suit dancing *was the red mewtwo walking around XD* but heard the music... and then heard about the fog and lights. sense i was already sick as it was, i didn't/couldn't/wouldn't go x.x;

the staff seemed nicish to me, though the elevators... oh god the elevators ._. they scared me bad x.x; tried to close on a staff, take someones hand off, went up then down then up when i wanted to go to the 22 floor (ended up climbing them x.x ) aaaand just odd noises that made it not fun xP

although it was a nicly sized place (^..^) .... till you needed to use a bathroom o.o then you'd have to run about a mile to get to it...

everything else was nice (^..^) just very set back. rather go to fwa but was rather nice none-the-less

[WolverineWilly]

I heard alot of great things about AC. i might check it out someday. i almost went to tom savini's special make up effects school in PA but decided not to. i would have loved the school but after school would have sucked since there is nobody using real costumes, puppets or animatronics
anymore . they had a cut back for jobs in the studios . cgi is getting rid of most special make up effects artists. and if people do get a job in that after school all they end up getting to do mostly
is celebs make up since computer animation is taking over which is a big let down for mme since i'm a huge fan of real props and costumes and dislike cgi.