WonderCon returned to Anaheim, California once more, this time with what must be its biggest year yet. There were new buildings for the convention to take advantage of and WonderCon didn’t miss this opportunity. There have been several conventions this year already, so how does WonderCon 2018 stack up? Let’s find out!
Last year’s WonderCon was a bit of a mess due to the Anaheim Convention Center still being under some construction. There was also issues with parking where different days had different remote parking locations, Friday and Saturday had two very different places to park and their shuttles were struggling to keep up. This year, all that has changed for the better. Having a new parking structure with more spaces than before didn’t mean most folks weren’t parking at remote locations and shuttling in, but this time, it was all at the Honda Center, which had reasonably priced parking and plenty of attendants to guide you to your spot. The shuttle system was heavily increased so that the wait looked long but took maybe 10 minutes before you were heading to the convention, this service was also free.
That new parking structure added a section of convention space for folks to be able to scan their badge in, the building is reminiscent of an airport. There were no metal detectors or bag checks but the level of security around was better than most cons I’ve been to, they seemed to know what other security was doing and if not, were quick to learn it with a few moments of communication. Having seen the recent security theater bulk up at cons lately out of concerns of shootings, this was a breath of fresh air since it’s easy to notice that none of those cons were really making anyone safer, unplugged metal detectors or looking at the what’s at the top of a bag, doesn’t make anyone safer, it just slows everyone down. This con had none of that but I honestly felt safer here than any of those prior cons. I hope all conventions, moving forward, look to this Wonder Con for their security handling, hire this team. They did good work from my experience with them. Let us know in the comments if you experienced otherwise.
The artist alley was always bustling with plenty of foot traffic and several vendors had said they were doing pretty good business. It wasn’t until a friend pointed out that small press didn’t seem to have a dedicated area as easily spotted as other cons, so that’s something that could be improved. Another nice thing about the layout of the Anaheim Convention Center is that now they can block off their property much more easily so that they have an entire large section of the outside part of the con as still part of the convention so folks didn’t have to worry having protesters photo-bombing their shots. Something WonderCon can’t be blamed for is that the protesters this year seemed far more aggressive this year, targeting individuals and shouting really awful stuff at them personally, the convention can’t be blamed for that, just an observation.
Overall, this has been not only one of the best WonderCons but just plain best conventions I’ve had the pleasure of going to in a long time. There was so many amazing cosplays and things to look at, cosplay tends to be a highlight of most cons and this was no exception. Last year I only went on Friday and Saturday then was so tired from how crowded it was and the ordeal of getting to and from there, left and didn’t return for Sunday. This year I missed Friday, worried it would be more of the same as last year, I regret that decision now and hope that next year’s con is just as good if not better than this year as I plan on going for all three days next time. It’s also a reasonably priced convention with all sorts of things to do, didn’t even have time for panels but they had lots going on.
WonderCon is likely one of my favorite cons of the year, not too crowded but still lots of big, fun things going on. If you can only go for one day, it’s still possible to see the whole floor but the panels and cosplay meet ups can easily bring you back if you want more than just a day experience. It’s so far my top pick of the year for conventions and likely wont be topped since the bigger cons can be overwhelming. This was a great time and hopefully WonderCon can keep this going for years to come.
Dr. Bustos
drbustos@comicattack.net
