Salt Lake Comic Con: Day Two

Day Two of Comic Con my mom and I went just the two of us. 

We arrived in time to get in line for the panel for Jenna Louise Coleman.

She plays Clara, the current companion on Doctor Who. 

She was so cute and really fun to listen to. 

The panel was great. 

After her panel we had an hour between panels so we went to check out the autograph area to see if anyone was out we wanted to catch a glimpse of. Then we grabbed some pizza for lunch and made our way back to the ballroom. 

On our way I saw Matthew Kirby sitting at a booth signing books. After the people he was talking to, there was no line so I got behind them.I hadn't planned on buying his new book, The Arctic Code, yet since I haven't read the first in the series (that I do own) yet. His book Icefall is one of my favorites though so I figured it's probably going to be good and either way I wanted his autograph!
He was really nice and took a few minutes to talk to us and signed my book.
I then went and bought it and got a free Fablehaven poster with my purchase since Brandon Mull was there as well promoting his new book.

We went back into the ballroom to eat our food so we could get good seats while waiting for the next panel.

We were really excited for this one! It was Sean Astin. And it was packed by the time it started!

They started showing scenes on the big screen of his movies and everyone was going wild. 

Then, instead of coming out from backstage, he rode in on a golf cart through the crowd. 

It was very cool. 

He was so cool. 

He talked a lot about his most popular movies and answered people's questions. 

He also told us about his two charities, a running one for children and a reading one for children. 

After the hour was up my mom and I both agreed that we could have stayed there listening to him for hours. It flew by so fast. 

I have since read SO many comments and blog posts from people that attended Comic Con saying that his panel was their favorite so we definitely weren't the only ones that felt this way. 

If he comes again next year I hope we can go again because I would like to meet him next time I think. 

After Sean Astin's panel we stayed put for the next one. 

It was Sebastian Stan (Bucky on Captain America and the Mad Hatter on Once Upon A Time). 

He was really fun too. 

I had no idea that he grew up in Romania. Someone asked him what his favorite comic books were growing up and he said that he didn't have those because he lived in a communist country and they just had really bad cheese. I thought he joking until he brought up Romania. 

One of the people asking questions spoke to him in Romanian and it was really cool to hear them talking back and forth even though we had no idea what they were saying. 

After his panel we ran to another part of the building that we had never been to before for a panel with Dean O' Gorman (Fili in The Hobbit movies). 

That was really cool. His really strong New Zealand accent was a little hard to understand sometimes but he was really cool and told a lot of funny stories from filming the movies. 

After his panel we were done with the panels we were going to do today. 

We decided to go down and check out the autograph area again. 

I stopped to take this photo from the upstairs before we went back down to show a small percentage of the crowds. There were SO many people there. 

One of the people I was hoping to catch a glimpse of was John Barrowman (Captain Jack on Doctor Who). As we were walking through the vendor area I looked up and he was right next to me!!

He was walking around looking at the art. 

I was too freaked out to stop him to talk, but I did sneak a photo and smile and say hi. 

The main person we were really hoping to catch a glimpse of was Chris Evans. Captain America. 

His photo ops and autographs were super expensive since he is such a large star and this was his first time ever doing autographs at a convention and so we debated getting one. But then he sold out so fast anyway that we wouldn't have been able to buy one even if we had decided to. 

We couldn't go to his panel because it was in so much demand that it was by lottery. 

So, our only chance to "see him" was to catch him out signing autographs. 

We lucked out. He was there!

We snuck a photo. It was so cool to see him not too far away. 

 

At this point we felt satisfied and decided to head home. 

I stopped to get some statue pictures. 

 

And this one of my mom with Hans. 

I don't know how we went two days without a picture of the two of us but we did. I didn't realize it until putting together these posts!

 

We had so much fun! 

I don't think we will be able to go to the next Fan X because it will be only a couple of weeks before our trip but hopefully future Fan X and Comic Con's can be something we do regularly. We have so much fun at these conventions!

Salt Lake Comic Con 2015: Day One

My mom and I weren't sure we would go to Comic Con this year because of our upcoming trip but then my sister in law, Callie, asked if we wanted the free passes she got for volunteering at FanX. 

We jumped at the chance. 

Then a few weeks beforehand they announced that James and Oliver Phelps were going to be there. 

James and Oliver play Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter films. 

Abi got really excited. Fred and George are two of her favorite characters and she really wanted to meet the actors. She asked if she could go too. 

We had three passes so I said sure. 

Maddy wanted to go too so I bought a $5 pass for her. 

I let them skip school for one day to go. Abi had an all day field trip so I knew she wouldn't be missing a bunch of work and that made me feel better about the decision. 

Thursday morning we got ready and when my mom got to our house at noon we jumped in the van and drove to Salt Lake City. 

We parked about a ten minute walk away and made our way to the convention center. 

They had the big Hobbit trolls outside. 

Abi wanted to dress up as Hermione. I already had the scarf but we bought the socks at Hot Topic a few days before. She liked wearing it around her waist. 

Maddy said she was dressed up as a Pokemon character. 

I thought she looked adorable. 

We had to do pre registration to get our wristbands and then we got in line until they opened up the floor to those of us that didn't have VIP or Gold passes. 

The girls hung out on the floor and ate some treats. 

And made funny faces. 

They were having a great time watching all of the people in costumes. 

As soon as we were let in we went straight back to Celebrity Row to find out when we could buy an autograph from the twins. 

We lucked out like crazy because they were already out right then and we were able to get straight into line. If you remember our experience at FanX, we were in line for most people for hours, we waited for the Phelps brothers for about 20-30 minutes because of getting there so fast. It was awesome. Whenever I saw them out the rest of our time there, the lines were always much longer. 

There they are!

We made some Pygmy Puffs using this tutorial on YouTube and the girls wanted to bring two to give to them. 

While we were standing there we looked over and caught a glimpse of Sean Astin sitting at his booth!

A close up of one of the Pygmy Puffs. They are super soft. 

This girl walked by dressed like Princess Luna from My Little Pony and the girls really wanted their picture taken with her. 

I snuck a picture of James and Oliver right before we got to them. 

We bought a picture for them to autograph and had them dedicate it to Abigail. 

I knew that would be really special to her and I figured I could copy it with something over her name for Maddy. 

These guys were so nice. 

So nice. 

We all walked away giddy after meeting them because it didn't feel rushed like these things usually do. They were so personable and friendly and took a lot of time with us asking if we had any questions for them and talking to the girls. 

Oliver (George- the one on the left) took the Pygmy Puff from Abi and said he was going to name it Abigail. She was so happy. 

This was a great meet experience. 

After meeting Oliver and James we had a few hours before their panel. 

We walked around the vendor area. 

Abi asked to get a picture with these guys. 

And then this girl dressed like Fluttershy. 

Maddy saw this Elsa and ran after her to get a picture with her. 

We saw the bad guy from The Hobbit. 

This guy was dressed like Loki and looked so much like him. It was cool. 

I bought Abi a My Little Pony collectors comic book that was exclusive to Conventions this year. 

She was so excited. 

(Look at my mom's head behind her. It looks like an extension of Abi's hair. They have the same color hair!)

We sat outside the Ballroom having a snack while waiting for the Phelps brothers panel but then realized people were going in already and just sitting through the panels before them so they could have better seats. (They don't make you exit the ballroom in between.)

We saw the end of a panel for Walter Koenig. He was on Star Trek. I honestly didn't know who he was. I haven't watched much of the old Star Trek, but he was really entertaining. 

The girls were a little bored but Maddy played on my phone and Abi colored and looked at her Comic Book. 

The next panel was Studio C. We have watched a few of their skits and they are pretty funny but we aren't super fans so the girls weren't that excited about it, but again they entertained themselves well. This time Abi played on the phone and Maddy colored. 

Then it was time for the Phelps panel!

They were awesome. 

It was so much fun to watch them and hear their stories and answers to questions after meeting them. 

After their panel we left, walked back to the car, and went to dinner at Chick fi la.
It was such a fun day!

Fan X: The Hotel and Day 2

After the Doctor Who experience and wandering around we decided to head back to our hotel. 

We were staying in the Plaza at Temple Square. 

It was a really decent price. And a short walk to the conference center so it worked out perfectly. 

We didn't feel like going out to dinner somewhere so we decided to order in room service!

We got quesadilla's and they were SO GOOD! 

We had so much fun getting into jammies and just relaxing in the room.

Our view...

 

The next morning we went down to the JB's that is connected to the hotel for our breakfast. 

We were tired but ready for another fun day at Fan X!

 

We knew Billie Piper (Rose from Doctor Who that we met yesterday and saw at the panel the night before) was going to be doing her own panel so we thought we would like to go to that. 

And then we found out that they had announced that Carrie Fisher was going to do a panel!

She originally wasn't going to be able to do one because of Star Wars coming out soon but they said she could do a short one and no Star Wars questions. 

It was going to be in the same room as Billie's panel and they wouldn't make us leave after so this was working out perfectly. Get in line once and get seats to both!

Here we are waiting in line.

 

Soon we had our seats and were ready for the show to begin!

I saw one of my best friends from high school- Jason. That was fun.

Billie was adorable. She is just really down to earth and funny.

We really enjoyed being able to see her again. 

As we were waiting for Carrie Fisher's panel there was a parade on the stage of Star Wars cosplayers. 

And lots of freaking out when she came out. 

And most of my pictures have unicorn man in them... (who was with my old friend)

She came out and asked if anyone had a Coke. One person ran one up to her but it was diet and she asked if anyone had the real thing. 

This guy ran up with one and she gave him a hug and planted a big kiss on him. 

It was the funniest thing. 

I didn't get a good picture of it so I was really glad Comic Con had this picture up. 

Her dog came out with her and had this funny thing where it's tongue is always hanging out the sides. 

She was really funny and it was so much fun be there for this!

After the panels we went to the celebrity row to decide what to do next. 

I just happened to take some pictures along the way and got this dude in the yellow shirt.... he was our not so good volunteer later in the day.

I had to take a picture of Princess Celestia for Abi. 

There was this big dinosaur walking around. That was pretty cool. 

And this awesome group of cosplayers. 

This cosplayer was my very favorite. 

If you watch Once Upon A Time you will notice how much he totally looked like Captain Hook. It was amazing how well he did. 

Comic Con actually had a better picture than I did. 

There were a lot of people we would have liked to meet but we just didn't have the time (nor the cash) for them all so we decided on one more. 

Tom Felton 

(Draco in Harry Potter)

We were in line for an insanely long time- over 3 hours. 

We got our lunch and ate in line so we wouldn't be wasting the time completely. 

That volunteer from before was letting people cut in. It was crazy. 

But then we got to meet him. I should have got a picture with him because he was doing that at the table (a lot of them weren't) but I didn't. 

We got his autograph and shook his hand. He was SO nice. 

After meeting Tom we wandered around the floor a bit and then decided we were ready to go. 

It was fairly late so we decided we would get dinner for my family on our way home and then we went back out later to pick up something for us and then watched some tv together to relax. 

It was SUCH a fun weekend. 

I'm so glad my mom is into the same things as me so I have someone to do all my nerdy stuff with!