WonderCon 2016 (Part 1)

The Location

An Orange County favorite made its way just a bit closer to its San Francisco roots this year, when WonderCon announced its move from the Anaheim Convention Center (across the street from Disneyland) to the Los Angeles Convention Center, taking with it some of its flavor but leaving other parts of itself behind.

WonderCon moved to Anaheim in 2012, after residing in San Francisco’s Moscone Center since 1987. The move was originally credited to the Moscone renovations, and organizers talked about moving the convention back up north shortly. Fast forward to 2015—WonderCon announced it would be “temporarily” locating to Los Angeles’ Convention Center for 2016.

The new location is expansive, and crowds had a choice of viewing artist alley/presenters/sales in South Hall, panels/programs and registration in West Hall or video presentations in Microsoft Hall. Some believe this was deliberate—to make “Comic Con’s little sister Con” a little more like the show in San Diego—where attractions are placed around the city and some are NOT dependent on badges. WonderCon Los Angeles featured a readily accessible foodcourt along with the normal snack fare—the most popular menu item were the tacos (making WonderCon Los Angeles Deadpool friendly). While the tacos may have been a deal, booths and space were at PREMIUM prices for vendors and shops.

In Attendance

However, nearly every WonderCon Los Angeles attendee interviewed wished for an Anaheim-based convention. “Accommodations are within walking distance from the convention center (in Anaheim),” said attendee Abbie N. She also missed the front fountain in Orange County, as it felt like a natural gathering place. However, she stressed WonderCon is a great medium-sized convention—“It’s more family-friendly than other conventions.”

And while there were all manner of uniforms and art represented, most of the attendees and exhibitors chose to pander to the family-friendly nature of the show. Females of all ages dressed up as Rey, from Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens, and there was a large number of Deadpools of all genders from the recent release of the same name. Some of the more unique costumes included a gender-swapped Sonic The Hedgehog (gender swap was a popular theme with the convention) and a Negasonic Teenage Warhead (which fans of the Deadpool movie will know).

Alice R. has been going to WonderCon since 2014, and while she likes the Los Angeles location better, this year’s convention felt a little different. “There is usually one vendor in particular that I always want to go over and I want kick over the sign and burn it because it makes me angry that little children would see it because they’re full on, like, overly hyper sexualized female figures, fully nude.” But overall, she saw much less than in previous years.

Safety First

WonderCon also introduced safety features for the Los Angeles Convention that set it apart from other shows. There were no badges available for sale at the show—guests had to order them online and provide proof of purchase via email. These RFID-enabled badges were to be scanned at various locations through the convention center, including upon walk-in and upon exiting any hall. Convention employees manned the machines responsible for scanning, and made sure to direct any convention goer who may have had a problem with what to do. One worker, asking to remain anonymous stated, “I’ve been watching them all day and I’m telling people which side to hit.” In fact, the hallway was peppered with “right” and “left,” dependent on traffic throughout the day. Luckily, because of the monitoring, few were misdirected.

WonderCon 2017 will most likely be returning to Anaheim in 2017, but sources at the LA Times report that Los Angeles is requesting its return in 2019. Whatever the case, Geek Watch One hopes to keep you up to date, with the news that geeks are looking for.

Stay tuned for part 2 of Nicole’s WonderCon report later this week!