r/fanexpo • u/CptnMcDoobie • Sep 14 '26
FAN EXPO Dallas Absolute Disaster
Any YouTubers or content creators, please reach out to me, I would love to share my story about what happened here.
First off, I spent over 1k USD three months ago for my husband and I to go this weekend. We were only able to go one day because it was so horrible that I couldn’t do any other days. There were multiple cancellations of A-list actors that we paid for (on top of the VIP passes) that cancelled a day or two prior to the event. The vendors all sold junk for the most part. There were lots of cool meet and greets but the VIP pass meant absolutely nothing. You pay premium prices only to wait much longer than it takes to actually get in the regular line to meet someone. You can stand in line for three hours to meet someone in the normal line, or wait five hours for a VIP pass person to take you to go meet the same person. There were panels that were okay at best. All of the things we paid for and didn’t get to go to? No refunds.
Here’s the absolute biggest problem: 65,000 people were sold tickets to the convention center. 65 fucking thousand. It’s was so absolutely packed that every single place you went, it wasn’t just shoulder to shoulder, it was people trampling each other. I use a walker to get around and it was absolutely impossible to get anywhere. I have been to plenty of fan expos at this convention center and it has NEVER been even half this size. The people that show up are bringing these giant totes to buy up merch, get a ton of shit signed, and go flip that stuff on eBay. I don’t hate that specifically, but they were taking up the elevators and as a disabled person, I had to wait in line, just like every other wheelchair user or walker user, for over forty minutes just for the elevator. The crowd was incredibly rude because they HAD to be or they can’t get anywhere. I was always as kind as possible to anyone in the way of where I was trying to go, but everyone was extremely rude and took advantage when I would try to let other disabled people through. Besides being impossible to get anywhere, there was very few decent stalls that sold anything good or quality. There was a really cool shop that sold a no ton of different pokemon plushies and the Power Rangers did show up which was so cool, they were such kind people. But everything else was really cheap, kitschy, poorly made merch and people selling cheap amazon stuff for 400 percent over cost.
The cleanliness was worse than you can imagine. By the end of the day on Saturday, there was food and napkins all over the floor, partly because the people sucked and didn’t care, and partially because the trash cans couldn’t get emptied fast enough. They were so understaffed and the employees literally couldn’t keep up and couldn’t even GET TO those areas because there were three times the amount of people that should’ve been there.
The sheer amount of people is an absolute fire safety hazard. If the alarms went off and everyone panicked, it would’ve been impossible for anyone to get out safely. People would’ve trampled and killed each other and everyone would’ve been trapped.
Final complaint? Do not bring a newborn or a bunch of kids under 6 years old to these places. Kids were getting hurt, parents were bringing their entire families because little kids are free. They’re bringing little babies to super spreader events and your kid isn’t gonna remember this at all. Leave them at home with someone. Disabled people were trying to use ADA compliant areas and entire families were packing their little kids into these huge wagons full of merch and the rest of us that were in a lot of pain had to wait for these irresponsible assholes to use the elevators before us. Kids are lovely, but don’t bring them to these insane places unless they are old enough to know what’s going on.
Oh and as I said earlier? VIP means NOTHING. You get a few pieces of okay merch and that’s it. There’s a lounge you can hang out in to get a break from the absolute CHAOS that is every other part of the convention. Only thing that was sort of worth it at all. Don’t bother spending any money and frankly, don’t bother going. It was the worst event I ever experienced and I will never go back unless it changes. If we don’t make these experiences public, they won’t change and they won’t care. The overselling of tickets by at least 3X as many people should’ve been there is ludicrous. I wanted to meet so many people but I can’t stand in line for hours on hours due to my disability. We were promised one thing and got something SO SUB PAR that I couldn’t believe how much of a disaster and disappointment everything was. If you think I’m blowing it out of proportion, talk to others that went. And if a mod takes this down, they’re not doing their job of letting us tell the truth.
Thank you for listening and if anyone wants me to get on call, I’d be happy to go into more detail. DM me.
TLDR: Too many bodies, too many people taking advantage of disabled people and not enough ADA compliance, and not safe for children. VIP at any fan expo is NOT WORTH IT, it’s a scam and you get nothing out of it.
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u/RiskyViziness Sep 14 '26
They should have moved it to another location. The problem is that convention center is half the size right now due to construction. Also, the AC was hardly working and if it was, it must have been set to 82.
I think everything else hit mentioned is valid.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh yeah I forgot to mention the temp, it was broiling in there. Too many bodies honestly.
Thanks for the validation, friend. I had to say something
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u/RoadWarriorB Sep 14 '26
We brought some fans. It made a heck of a difference. The morning was cold on Saturday but by noon the AC couldn’t keep up.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Man I wish I would’ve thought of that! If I ever go again, I’ll bring some on full charge. Thank you :)
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u/RoadWarriorB Sep 14 '26
I think my family saw you walking around. There weren’t too many people with walkers. The afternoon in the hall got really crowded.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
You may have. I’m a younger person, I got a lot of stares for being 30 and having a walker. People usually don’t understand why a young person would need it. I have a horrendous back and have had a disc replacement but need many more. I can only walk a short distance and then I have to sit down for a bit.
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u/christophurr Sep 14 '26
Oh yea, this was a complete disaster! They ripped everyone off and left people standing without water for hours in line that even VIP couldn’t get through. Could not get to one Celeb because of their weird “wait at this booth for a child to escort you” to the VIP line, which was 3 hours long. Never again. Plus the bathrooms were disgusting! Pizza crusts all over the floor from these neck beard people. Food and drink lines were an hour long. Ran out of water constantly. Shit vendors with 3d printed crap everywhere. Never again! Wasted so much money to get nothing! Better cons else where
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh yeah! They ran out of water within a couple of hours. Even in the VIP room they kept running out. I couldn’t even get anything to eat because people kept stepping on me and my wheels when I would try to get in line. It was awful. I understand the people that were camping out on the sides of the room, but they took up so much space. And people would stop in the middle of the commotion to take pictures with each other instead of stepping to the side. It’s baffling
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u/LadySandry Sep 14 '26
Which ones on DFW are better? I'm always down for a new con. I miss Dreamhack
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u/popculturella 29d ago
I particularly loved the 3 mens' bathrooms in a row along the back wall and a single, disgusting ladies' room shoved in the back corner.
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u/Greedy_Baseball_7019 Sep 14 '26
No way VIP was waiting longer than general admission. I watched at over and over again they let VIP skip the line of people that were waiting much longer in line. I do agree the carts of resellers and consignments were absolutely ridiculous. I watched as these guys would pull out 20 copies of the same poster to have signed while people had one thing waited for hours. I wanted to fucking throat punch this dude. I know the celebs are making their cut, but I’d wish they would turn these people away or just tell them they will only sign two things and they can get back in line to get more signed.
My number one goal was to get Sean Astin to sign my Rudy pop. My son got one signed by him a few years ago. This year is his first year at Notre Dame and I wanted to get my own Rudy pop signed and tell Sean about my son getting into Notre Dame. His signature didn’t even look like anything. It was a rush job and they just moved me along. Whatever, but damn dude can you at least sign your name right. I got an “SH” for a signature.
Charlie and Emilio were the best. They stopped to talk to each fan. At least 30 seconds or so. I’ve always been a fan of them but this experience really solidified my feelings for both actors. Just class acts. I hope they come back again, I’d like to get a photo on the next one.
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u/missykins8472 Sep 14 '26
I waited 90 minutes for John Rhys-Davies and was the 7th person in line. It was all VIPs until they started alternating them.
3 hours for Billy Boyd and another 3 for Dominic. If you didn’t have VIP you were screwed.
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u/christophurr Sep 14 '26
They made the VIPs wait that long just to cut you. The whole system was over sold
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u/missykins8472 Sep 15 '26
I’m interested to know how long they had to wait. The system was a mess
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
The problem with VIP is that they actually wait longer. It doesn’t seem like it if you don’t have it, but they make you go to a booth way out of the way and then you have to wait for a staff member to show up to take you there. But the wait time is usually longer than if you just get in the regular line because they’re so understaffed that they don’t take you right away like people think. You wait for hours for someone to come get you because the staff isn’t devoted to that area. There’s no “second line” where the VIPs go first. You gotta sit and wait to be escorted and it takes a lot longer. Happens the same way at other cons, too
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u/Altruistic-Pound1707 Sep 14 '26
For Emelio and Charlie on Sunday, the VIP badge holders were just coming into the lane on their own. Therefore the line never stopped and they didn’t alternate. Went for at least 45 minutes to an hour. Then they would get done with one and immediately walk into the other celebrity next door. It was maddening. I didn’t even realized they were supposed to check in and be escorted because they certainly didn’t in these lines.
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u/missykins8472 Sep 15 '26
That’s wild but also our experience. I made sure to share my feedback on the questionnaire they sent out
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u/Greedy_Baseball_7019 Sep 15 '26
This was my experience in their line on Saturday too. They’d just come right down the middle between both lines, get in Charlie’s line before the regular folks and then immediately walk over to Emilio. No zippering, just cut in front of everyone with 20 fucking posters each.
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u/Greedy_Baseball_7019 Sep 14 '26
Just don’t have VIP. Or at least not for autographs. And limit it to two items a person. But they won’t do that because it’s a money grab. Only thing that talks is money. If enough fans revolt, maybe they’ll change their policies.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Yeah, I totally agree. The VIP pass meant absolutely nothing except for a room at the very far end of the center where they give you a t shirt and a couple of merch items that kinda suck. But the room in there was at least a bit of respite from the insane crowd to hang for a few minutes and for me, to rest my back before having to slowly walk through a crowd of tens of thousands of people. And yeah for the signings, it should be limited. You shouldn’t be able to have like twenty items to get signed, regardless of the money. There are plenty of other star struck lovely fans that would kill just for a moment to talk with them and get a photo. The VIP thing sucks, but tbh, I did buy it only because I thought it would make it easier as a disabled person because I can’t stand for more than about five to ten minutes at a time before getting extreme pains. And it turned out that I paid soooo much money for pretty much nothing.
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u/Greedy_Baseball_7019 Sep 14 '26
I’m a disabled vet. Luckily my son was with me and he swapped with me in line every now and then but I didn’t want to abuse his kindness so I stayed for most of it. It got to a point where I was in so much pain from standing that long that I honestly just thought about getting out of line and going home. I took a few advil that night for sure.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh man, thank you for sharing. I’m so sorry that happened. I’m sure your son really wanted to have a great experience with you. I know what you mean. I kept losing my husband because he could fit between bits of the crowd that I couldn’t because they kept cutting me off and stepping over me. He really wanted the power rangers and I did too. We did finally get to talk to them, but at that point, I was in so much pain, I had to find a tiny spot behind another vendor to sit in my walker and I missed out on a lot of it. I didn’t want to abuse his kindness either. Even though I really wanted to see them, I wanted him to get his time with them. I did finally get a few words with them but other people kept pushing me and my walker out of the way and I couldn’t finish the conversation because I started crying and had to see myself out. Thank you for sharing your story. I know a lot of vets get tired of hearing this, but I appreciate your service and I’m really sorry that you had to be in pain with nowhere to sit.
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u/Greedy_Baseball_7019 Sep 15 '26
I’m sorry you had to go through that, people are selfish and think about only themselves. We should learn from the Japanese. Their entire society is built around how your actions impact others.
Also thanks for the kind words. I try not to be one of those vets that call attention to themselves. Most vets nowadays don’t try to draw attention to themselves because we just want to be left alone. The ones you see wearing their vet hats or grunt style shirts, those are the ones that probably didn’t do a whole lot or got kicked out and they are trying make themselves feel better. If you saw me on the street you’d have no clue I even served. I don’t think I have one military anything that I wear outside my house.
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u/CDanger Sep 14 '26
Sean Astin has always signed his name S A (roughly) on smaller stuff. It’s also got to he hard working up the appetite to sign Funko Pops, which have to be the most depressing form of fan commoditized merch.
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u/Greedy_Baseball_7019 Sep 14 '26
I’ve got another pop that he signed his full name. Maybe it’s changed but that was 4 years ago. I’m sure he’s seen the same things over and over again. I would have him sign a Notre Dame football helmet, but it didn’t arrive on time and I already had the pop. I did have Charlie Sheen sign a baseball for me. Admittedly I think that was way cooler than his pop.
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u/ThePurpleBandit Sep 14 '26
Reach out to the media or the fire department about dangerous crowding situations
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Thanks! That’s a great idea actually. It was really unsafe. I’ll actually hop on it. If I have an update, I’ll let yall know
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u/puddingneither123 Sep 14 '26
If they serve booze anywhere, the AGCO will want a word….
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u/puddingneither123 Sep 14 '26
Never mind, they don’t.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh it’s alright, that’s a great suggestion! I kinda wish we took some edibles before, but honestly with that many people being so horrible, it probably would’ve made it worse. I tried to keep a level head but my partner got really upset the whole time, a lot of times because he was upset that people kept running into me and hurting me.
Great suggestion. I wish they’d have something like that!
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Honestly I wish they did serve. Probably a horrible idea for how many people were there but a drink or two may have calmed my nerves and put me in less pain lol
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u/puddingneither123 Sep 14 '26
Maybe they need to try a cannabis lounge! I for one have a much easier time tolerating obnoxious crowds when I’m baked…
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Btw sorry you got downvoted. It’s Texas, these people are heavily against weed here for some reason. I appreciate you. I don’t think they like anyone with an opinion either even though normal people like us welcome them to have them too lol.
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u/puddingneither123 Sep 14 '26
Oops, just saw you’re in Texas so a cannabis lounge probably isn’t in the cards! I’m in Canada. Hope someone takes some accountability for your experience, and that the next con you attend kicks ass!
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u/technical_poutine Sep 14 '26
I stopped going 2 years ago now and everything I hear about them (in vancouver for me) makes me glad I did. They do the bare minimum, they always will. People say if they lose attendence they'll change but I disagree they'll just cancel it entirely.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ant6653 Sep 15 '26
Yes... they will bleed it dry, but hopfully a non large corporation group will take over
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
You’re probably right. Maybe that’s for the best, I hope they see how much money they’ll lose if we all band together ❤️
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u/technical_poutine Sep 14 '26
It sucks, though; it really does. I loved seeing the passion of the people who cosplay; some people just had outstanding skill. One thing a friend who went to the Vancouver one is they seemed to be allowing AI generated art in the artists alley which is wrong.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh man that’s awful. Real art is good art. I did find one lady that does amazing pixel-style art that is very very good. She does prints, blankets, magnets, and those little 2d guys with LED lights under them that look really cool. She gave me her card. DM me if you’re interested. She does a ton of cool gaming and cartoon franchises.
Edit: sorry I also meant to say that yes, I really love watching cosplayers. I actually have done a lot of convention cosplays. The passion is wonderful. I hope we can get it back
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u/_Marshal_Law_ Sep 14 '26
I used to go every year, but it gets worse and worse so I stopped - you should too
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Thank you :) yeah I’m not doing it anymore. But the problem is everyone is either a high schooler going so they can cosplay, or a fifty year old buying up everything to sell on eBay. I don’t think normal people like us can reach those crowds, they’re still gonna do it regardless. It sucks for people like us who used to be able to have a good time
Edit: I feel I need to be more clear. I have no problem with any demographic, what I mean is that it was a bunch of people trying to scalp signatures that didn’t care about the franchises, they were just there to sell things on eBay later. And for the younger ones, I mean no disrespect, I mean that those are the kind of cosplayers I want to see, but they aren’t very aware of their surroundings and with thousands of people moving in a line, it was hard to get past people that were stopping suddenly and taking photos in the middle of the lines and everyone in costumes was being really rude and not stepping aside for those conversations. I’m really glad the cosplayers got to have fun. I wanted to dress up too but I’m glad I didn’t because it was so hot. I was frustrated and I think I made a bad take and I apologize to anyone offended by that. It was a lot of kids who just didn’t realize the absolute craziness happening in the lines. Lot of insanely cool cosplayers, I didn’t mean everyone. I just mean there were a lot of folks who happened to be young and didn’t realize there were other people trying to get past them.
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u/Advanced-Two-9305 Sep 14 '26
Sorry to hear that. Which one was this?
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Fan expo Dallas TX this weekend. It went from Friday to Sunday (today). Thanks for asking :)
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u/Interesting-Meet6791 Sep 14 '26
A lot of the same things happened at the Toronto one. If people in every FE location start complaining en masse, maybe it will accomplish something.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Hey thanks for sharing! Yeah I keep hearing the Toronto one was really bad too. I’m so sorry you had to deal with that. I mean, if we get some traction, maybe we can make things change. I never use my disability as a reason for privileges but it might help in the long run to be honest. At least it might make folks look at the problems.
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u/txaaron Sep 14 '26
Where are you getting the 65000 figure from? I see that on their website for 2027, but my wife and I attended this year and it didn't seem that crowded. I was surprised to see walking spaces, spots to stop and sit down along the walls, etc. That normally doesn't happen.
There was a customer service booth next to badge pickup. IIRC that's where you can go for questions about events, signings, and ADA.
I've been to cons like SDCC and this didn't feel overcrowded at all. There was plenty of room (especially in Artist's alley) and lines for the signing I did was well managed (Jeff Hays, added after Wood dropped out.). We actually took our daughter as her first con on Friday for a couple of hours.
I highly recommend checking ahead of time for prepaid parking the garage. It usually sells out fast but if you catch it when they first open up, it's pretty easy to get and well worth it.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Thanks for sharing! I don’t know how to share a photo in the comments. I have a screenshot of the ticket sales. I would be happy to send you a DM.
Can I ask what day and time did you go? I tried to attend on Friday afternoon and it was so crowded that I couldn’t move anywhere so we left. It was so confusing and the attending staff were so unhelpful because they kept turning us around. Every time we asked someone, they would turn us around and refer us to the last place we had just visited. We found the booth you’re speaking about but they couldn’t help us. They kept saying things like pointing in a vague direction “go down that way and that booth will help you.” And we kept listening to them and they kept turning us around to go talk to everyone else, like they didn’t want to deal with us. My experience is from Saturday afternoon between 12-5pm. I couldn’t find any spots to even hang out by the walls because every single place on the side wall as was completely full of people sitting down and it was actually impeding the lines. I have a walker and unless I went outside in the 100 degree heat by the smoking section, there was no place to even breathe all day.
We took an uber from a hotel, we didn’t park there, but I know what you mean. Many of the times I went before, I had taken the metro and it lets you out by the parking garage near the elevators.
I’m curious the time and date you went. We skipped Sunday because Saturday was the worst experience of my life at any event. It was so bad that people were pushing me and running into me because we were just following the line. I wish I had your experience. It was so bad that it took a full fifteen minutes to get from the VIP lounge to the food vendors in the hall even though it would take a normal person like 1/4 of that time to get there at normal walking pace. And it was just as bad inside the exhibition hall where all the vendors were. It was worse actually. People were so packed in like sardines that I couldn’t even move anywhere, the vendors were too close together so the alleyways were filled to the brim of people just standing in the middle. I was kind and kept asking “excuse me” and a few people were really sweet and moved and said “sorry”. The majority of people bumped into me and my husband and didn’t care about the congestion at all. At one point, I had to stop the line to let a lady on a motorized scooter get through because I saw that she had been patiently waiting even though I saw at least 50 people run right through her path when she was trying to just cross one of the alleyways. She actually thanked me and we both nodded to each other, understanding how difficult it is to get around in there.
The fan expos I’ve been to in the past have had a very small fraction of that kind of thing. I used to be able to get around just fine and people would hang out on the sides, eat food, enjoy each others costumes, take photos, and have a good time. I used to cosplay too, it was so awesome. This was NOT that. This was a complete nightmare. I highly recommend reading the rest of the comment section. I am not the only one, friend. Everyone else got it too.
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u/txaaron Sep 14 '26
We were there on Friday from 3:45-6:30pm, it wasn't bad at all crowd-wise. We entered the exhibit hall by the autograph signing area, walked the whole of the artist alley area and then back towards the droid builders and back to the autograph signing area. The only complaint Friday was the temperature.
Saturday we were there from 9:45am-5:30pm. It did get more crowded as the day went on, but it felt fairly typical of this particular fanexpo.
I didn't experience any sardine areas around booths or anything. We visited quite a few of booths around the exhibit hall, mostly in Artist Alley but a few others around as well and it didn't feel too bad. I know what you mean about sardines though, I've had that happen at SDCC multiple times.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Thanks for the response! I wish I had actually gotten far enough to make it work on Friday if that’s true. After 2 hours of trying to figure out where to even go, we got frustrated and left. You see, we can’t just take the escalators, and we kept getting turned around constantly where we couldn’t find the handicap elevator spot. No one would help us. I’m really surprised your Saturday wasn’t insane for you. Everyone else here had similar experiences to me. In fairness, we went down artists alley, and it wasn’t as bad as the other areas. I don’t think the rude people that kept pushing me cared about that portion. That’s actually where I was able to tuck behind a vendor and take a minute to sit in my walker I think. Toward the signing booths, it wasn’t bad at all. But the problem is I couldn’t even go over there because I had to wait at a special booth with a ton of other people who had VIP passes to wait on a kid to come over to escort us to the signings and it took way longer than being in the regular lines. I’m disabled, I can’t sit in those lines that long. They don’t have enough staff to even take the VIP members over quickly enough. We tried going shopping too. The whole rest of the place was so cramped with people trying to rush through and they were so rude that they kept pushing each other and myself just to squeeze through the vendor halls and everyone was trying to go 100 mph even though the lines were moving slowly because it was literally like sardines.
I’m glad you guys had a good time, I really am. Unfortunately my experience was absolutely horrendous. We did not do the same activities. The other commenters shared their experiences as well, and they understand the problem. Genuinely though, I really hope you guys got to do some awesome stuff! There were so many cool people I wanted to meet and just couldn’t because of staffing and overcrowding.
Mortal of the story: I spent 1,750 bucks to basically get a shitty experience and I bought a few plushies and met the second iteration of the power rangers. The entire staff was so unhelpful and rude, and so was almost everyone in the crowd of people packed in so tightly that it was extremely hard to move.
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u/FunkTronto Sep 14 '26
I thought this was FanExpoCanada but learned it wasn’t - Informa is not doing a good job at all.
A lot of things you mentioned are unfortunately a design flaw with their events. VIP can be god but it is mostly a waste of time. They oversell the con, have poor booth pool and exhibitors.
Honestly - save up and go to a SDCC or NYCC. You will see how a large convention can run competently and provide a much better experience. Now understand that those experience will not be perfect but you will see a level of care and experience that will make you even be more gobsmacked at how informa runs their events.
Tell your story to the authorities and your local politicians. These events are a small accident away from casualties.
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u/SpacedDuck Sep 14 '26
The more I read about these Expos in various cities the happier I am I just don't give AF and have no interest in going.
All the waiting just to in most cases meet a celebrity who probably wants nothing to do with being there.
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u/OrcishDelight Sep 14 '26
I only went to meet the Hobbits and attend their panel. It was the Rosemont one. There were several exits in which we were told we cannot use, and had to eventually use main exit and walk on a major road to cross to get to our cars. We absolutely would die if there was a fire. I am able bodied but small so easy to crush in a crowd surge.
I will NEVER go again, EVER. I loved how lovely the actors were, and the panel was great. We needed more author booths. No AI or mass produced resellers should get a table. Crowd limits. No idea what the answer is but this isn't it. Jack up prices and ONLY resellers will attend. I will be buried clinging my signed Sting, my photos, and the memories of meeting them, but the convention over all is over indulgent pandering shit.
The Weta workshop folks were super nice too but we got there at a weird down time for them. I cannot imagine how scary and disappointed you must have felt. No one deserves that. The money we pay for this shit and ADA isn't even truly used for its intent. Capitalist pigs nostalgia-baiting us. Fuuuihhhhhcc bleh
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Thanks for sharing! I really wanted to meet all the hobbits and I wasn’t even able to meet anyone. Elijah wood dropped out the day before it all happened. I wanted to meet Billy, Dominic, and Sean, but I still wasn’t able to. We were there for at least five hours on the second day and never were able to find them. We found the booths, but they weren’t there.
How was it? They seem like such lovely people. I was gonna take a photo with Dom with “not pennys boat” written on my hand and I wanted to ask Elijah about how it felt to shoot the movie Maniac.
I’m really glad you got to meet those lovely people and I’m glad you got to do that. I hope the walk to the car wasn’t too bad. We had the same kind of issue. I’m happy to chat more if you want. I don’t wanna make it all about me. Thank you for sharing, glad that you understand the situation but also sorry that you had to deal with something similar too.
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u/ctru22 Sep 14 '26
Following as our ADA experience and overall experience was awful!
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Man, I was really hoping a disabled person would read this. We need to get some attention for this, seriously. It was so bad. I really hope you didn’t have to go through too much pain. I was struggling the whole time because there was nowhere to sit. Thank you for saying something ❤️ my heart goes out to you
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u/ctru22 Sep 14 '26
I was my wife’s companion as she sits in a wheelchair of the entire time unless it’s for photo ops. The construction was so bad and nothing was clearly marked for ADA. We’re not looking for special attention or anything special gear towards ADA, we’re just looking to be treated normally. We were told that we couldn’t come in through a certain entrance and had to walk around, which is fine, but they didn’t have proper ramping whatsoever and we actually had to go down a grass hill through his cemetery. I am not joking. It was quite absurd.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Omg the exact same thing happened to me. I’m so sorry that happened to you guys. My husband had to deal with it alongside me too. That sucks, I hate that for you guys. What would’ve relieved that problem would maybe be that instead of having us all go around to what feels like a secret entrance, maybe they build an ADA compliant ramp near the entrance ramp? And then when you get inside, there is only escalators and we all had to have people yell at us that we have to turn around and figure it out. The staff did not help at all, everyone kept redirecting us everywhere and it was exhausting. I’m sorry for you and your wife. I completely understand how hard it was
Edit: and yeah, the cemetery thing!! Why would they direct us that way? We could’ve gone up via elevator through the parking garage and we all just had to follow the crowd!
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u/christophurr Sep 14 '26
It was criminal. I saw it first hand how people
in chairs and walkers were treated.
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u/InterestingAd650 Sep 14 '26
I also hated it. I went to a horror convention earlier this year in TX and it was SO MUCH better organized, and I had a great time. Now FanExpo was terrible no AC, huge crowds where you could not walk, not enough food places (and huge lines for the food places hour plus wait), no places to sit, and major guests canceling right before panels. The Toonami panel I went to was running late, they didn’t extend it even though they were over 10 minutes late and the mediator was one of the most annoying people I have ever come across.
I was so disappointed. The shopping area was also unorganized, sold overpriced items, and had a ton of fake or repeat items. I will never go to this event again either. I was planning on staying all day and only stayed half a day. Fucking horrible.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Thank you for sharing! I really am so sorry that you had a horrible time. I really wish it was better for you and everyone who went. I know people would’ve had a better time with simply way less tickets sold and more food/water vendors and booths that don’t sell absolute garbage. The horror convention sounds awesome! I’d love to see that. Are there any happening lately?
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u/InterestingAd650 Sep 14 '26
Texas Frightmare Weekend is what I attended in May! They had way better booths, served alcohol, better location, food on the inside as well as food trucks on the outside, no cancellations, and the panels were 10/10. I will be visiting next year!
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh that’s great! That’s not too far from me. Thanks! I’ll be so happy to go to that. It sounds sick!
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u/WolvieBats71 Sep 14 '26
Which horror con did you have a good experience with, if you don't mind me asking. I'm new to cons and want to plan my next one to be a horror one
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
They said “Texas frightmare weekend” and it was in May. Could be something we should both look into :) idk where you live but it could be cool to meet up at one sometime
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u/EmotionalHotel9334 Sep 14 '26
Tampa bay comic con was also Hella overcrowded. That one is also run by fanexpo. That one oversold so many photo ops for celebs that were there for one day only that it made it impossible for anything else. Panels ran behind and short. Things were canceled, things were horribly managed. I attempted to actually WORK the con. Never ever again will I work it. I have YET to see a paycheck from it.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh my, I’m so sorry that you didn’t get paid yet 😢
Yeah it’s absolutely insane that the understaffing and overselling has just made a mockery of what fans enjoy. Thank you for trying to help out, I’m sorry that the Tampa event sucked for you as well. It’s so poorly managed. I’m glad the post is doing well, I really think that they need to see the displeasure and disappointment from you, myself, and everyone going to these cons. They really need to do better1
u/RancidYogurt 29d ago
If you were expecting to get paid by "Fan Expo", that might be your problem.
Fan Expo doesn't staff TBCC, nor do they run the event.
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u/liebedich2 Sep 14 '26
This makes me so angry. I went with family to the Toronto one and this sounds so similar. What a shit organization. I hope they get sued.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
I’m so sorry that you had a bad experience too. I’ve heard a lot of the same issues from the Toronto one and the Tampa one. They’re not holding up to the standards that they should. Thank you for sharing. I really hope we can turn things around as a group.
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u/Visual-Taro-381 Sep 14 '26
Sounds like they're practically begging for a lawsuit
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u/liebedich2 Sep 14 '26
It feels that way, doesn't it? Those badges are "contracts" and they are violating them for not providing promised services and safety. I'm hoping some class action lawsuit attorney attended and sees some appropriate opportunity.
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u/Visual-Taro-381 Sep 14 '26
I hope so too. I am worried the path they are on seems like they won't change course until something really really terrible happens, that they can't sweep under a rug. As most entities seem to do. Looking at you Boeing
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u/jjmoreta Sep 14 '26
Dallas used to be my home con before I moved so I've been to a few Fan Expos there in the last 5 years.
It is an awfully planned event. They never purchase enough space for the amount of people they let in (it's held in a fraction of the convention center).
It is hard to get through the sheer number of people shoulder to shoulder in the vendor areas and it seems like you're constantly going from one end of the building (photos/signatures/food) to the other (panels) which have the packed vendor area in-between. I usually missed panels or activities in the outside rooms because I could never get enough extra time to get out there.
I never wanted to rent an electric scooter because of the crowds but if you don't, you have nowhere to sit waiting for panels. I have MS and standing for long periods of time is draining. Especially as hot as that place gets.
I never really got signatures but I saw the wagons of merch being toted around. Got bumped by them a time or two too.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Thank you so much for sharing. I’m really sorry to hear that you have MS. I’m sure standing is really hard for you for any amount of time that is normal for an able bodied person. I can do about 5-10 minutes with my walker and have to sit down, but I also take a lot of medication.
Yeah. The amount of people is insane and like you said, the walking distances are horrible, especially when everything moves at a snail’s pace. The overbooking is so crazy. It sucks to hear that you didn’t get the experiences you wanted. The vendors are always insane lines with not enough food or waters/drinks to go around.
I appreciate you and I really hope you find some better venues. Lemme know if you find any, yeah? ❤️
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u/Ok-Professor-8823 Sep 14 '26
It was the same experience in Toronto. That was my first and last expo.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
I’m so sorry! I heard from a few others that Toronto was also really bad. I hope it doesn’t discourage you from going again sometime. Comic con/fan days/ fan expo can be really fun. I’ve been to a lot of them but this year, I think they got extremely greedy and oversold tickets. I got metrics from another person that said that the event should’ve only supported a few thousand people, and that was always my experience. The lines were shorter, the staff was well informed, and there were plenty of places to get food. This event sold 65,000 tickets when it should’ve been 10k or less in total.
As long as they fix the ticket sales and make everything accessible, i think it would be much better. I bought my tickets 3 months in advance and on the day that I went, there were still people at the front desk buying tickets on the spot.
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u/Ok-Professor-8823 Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Honestly The vibe of the attendees was great, I saw some cool vendors and shops but i think if i were to ever go back it woukd be to just walk around for a day. I went in having bought the hobbits vip backstage pass, and some other premium experiences but because they oversold tickets I ended up losing out on a premium experience i paid for because they were at overcapacity even though i went to lineup 40 min before the line was even suppose to open. As a result I had to lineup 2 hours for the hobbit autograph session after that because they oversold and every experience or photoop felt like a chance take as much money as possible from you with very little return.There is alot of scummy business operations at this expo that left a really bad taste. I 100% agree though. Ticket sales need to be fixed. On the saturday in toronto they kept adding tickets by the hour, It was beyond insane.
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u/aZombieSlayer Sep 14 '26
I went briefly on Sunday to the Toronto one specifically for John Cena. We had heard nightmare stories of the Friday and Saturday and we thought long and hard about not bothering to go. My buddy was bringing his son and asked if we wanted to join them in the photo op.
We did end up going, but we were there for like an hour in a haf to get our pic and then left immediately after. No regrets!
For the price, yeah no thanks! I'd rather support the smaller expos and conventions and it's much better for our mental health (and wallets)!
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u/Holiday-Initial-9370 Sep 14 '26
I went Saturday, but I only went to meet Charlie Sheen and get a poster signed. The lines were outrageous, glad I got there early.
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u/NotYourGa1Friday Sep 14 '26
Can you expand on “all the things we paid for but didn’t get to go to”?
Do you mean paid signings?
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Of course, I’m happy to.
Yes. We paid for multiple signings, such as “full cast of lotr cast signing, not just individuals”, and Elijah dropped out a day before the convention. We got an email that he couldn’t come. They said we could possibly use that money for something else. So we signed up for nic cage and Kiefer Sutherland. When we tried to go to the desk to transfer those credits, even though they emailed us saying we could do something else, they had no idea what to do and kept redirecting us to other tables. They redirected us from one booth to another for hours. When we would get to one booth, they would send us back to the same booth we came from before. We went in circles for hours. No one was able to help us. We also tried to get any of the hobbits for signings or pictures and we couldn’t get anyone to help us. The people working there just kept turning us around and we had no way to do anything because no one knew how to help. We still haven’t gotten a refund but if we do, I will be transparent and will give an update
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u/NotYourGa1Friday Sep 14 '26
Thanks, that sounds incredibly frustrating!
You mentioned ADA. Did they not have ADA options for lines? (I’m not questioning your story I’m asking for clarification)
Also, and I’m sorry, which Fan expo event did you go to?
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh no problem at all! I’m happy to elaborate.
This was fan expo Dallas that happened from Friday to Sunday this weekend.
The ADA ways to get there was not clear, there were no signs, there was nothing to direct anyone. So to get there, we had to hike past a graveyard and about half a mile to the beginning of the con center. Totally get it, the last times I went, I took the train, so it took us under the center near the elevators. The problem with the elevators is that there were only a few disabled folks taking the elevators, we were all waiting and kept getting cut off by people with huge rolling baskets filled with merch (like the kind that delivery folks might take to your house) that were not safe to take on the escalators and stairs, the staff literally wouldn’t let them because of safety issues. They would cut people off in the line for the elevators because people like myself and other wheelchair users and walker users couldn’t get to the line quickly enough. A lot of us had to sit down for about 30-45 minutes and when the line would shift, we would have to get up and walk our walkers and dual canes forward like two feet ahead every few minutes so the line could shift forward. When we finally get to the elevators, they would try to pack in as many people as possible in one trip. Appreciate it to move the line, but I don’t appreciate when a totally immobile guy in a chair has to share an elevator with an able couple that just happens to have an entire crate that takes up half the elevator and then trying to squeeze my husband and my walker inside as well and I had to apologize to the man in the chair because I was so close that him and I were touching and I felt bad that he was as uncomfortable as myself.
As far as ADA compliance, the easiest solution would be to build a ramp outside instead of making us all feel degraded and gross for having to pack as many bodies and people abusing the system into one tiny elevator at a time just to move a line along. My husband is a hero. He helped take my walker down a flight of stairs because we were refused the escalator by a lady who was just shouting at us that we can’t go that way but she didn’t tell us where to go.
There are other instances, if you’re curious, I’d be happy to elaborate more
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u/NotYourGa1Friday Sep 14 '26
Does FanExpo offer ADA badges to help identify those that qualify?
I’m asking because if they do, then we may be able to get numbers to bolster your concerns. (“X number of people had ADA requirements that cannot be met by two elevators and a prayer” type of thing)
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u/jjmoreta Sep 14 '26
They did last year. You don't sign up as ADA ahead of time you have to go to a separate table at sign-in.
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u/NotYourGa1Friday Sep 14 '26
Same thing at some of the cons I go to. I kind of wish we could sign up ahead of time for precisely this type of situation. They could still have badges on site for anyone that has needs that were not apparent at the time they bought their original badges.
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u/NotYourGa1Friday Sep 14 '26
Thanks for answering my questions! It sounds like a disaster. I’m glad you weren’t hurt in the chaos!
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
My pleasure! Thank you for listening :) if you have anything you want to share, I’m all ears. And I appreciate the sentiment. I saw other people get their costumes trampled on, sometimes people ran into my wheels or I got bumped on the shoulder but it could’ve been worse for sure.
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u/christophurr Sep 14 '26
Yes, there is a booth you have to go to from three other booths that point you the wrong way. When you find it, it’s time to leave. But they give you a sticker. Oh! and you have to visit it every day, they change the color of the sticker.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Oh wow. Yeah, we asked around but no one seemed to know anything, they vaguely directed us to a booth, who then directed us to an underground area where an elevator was, but I didn’t see anything remotely resembling ADA passes or directions to the areas we were supposed to go to. On the second floor, when we were leaving, there was a small black and white sign that said “elevators for disabled and strollers only” but it was hidden behind a big pillar so we had to find the line by finding the folks in wheelchairs waiting in front of the trash can. Which tbh was also humiliating. I had a bunch of people cut in between my husband and I to throw away garbage that ended up on the floor by my feet because the trash can was overflowing
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
Oh, I wish. If they did, I didn’t know about it. The other disabled folks I was with didn’t have any special passes, so I don’t think so
Edit: oh I should mention: out of 65,000 people who attended, there was one single elevator for “strollers and handicapped”.
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u/LadySandry Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
I think there are technically three elevators. Two facing one another to the east of the food court near the main vendor entrance and one other by the main escalators by the huge wall of exit doors to the ballroom vendor area.
Not that it helps now, but if you ever attend anything in the future, I'd avoid the ones to the east of the food court and go for the one by the emergency exits for exhibit hall C.
There used to be a forth set of elevators by the arena but I think those are on the construction zone
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u/No-Abrocoma7476 Sep 14 '26
I’m glad you created this post because we were shocked about the lack of organization of the event and panels. All of the panels started at least 20 minutes late for us and some panels had guests who didn’t bother to leave the exhibition floor to attend their panel.
For those who have been to bigger cons like SDCC or NYCC, are they better managed than this despite the crowds? The massive overcrowding at this event makes me a tad nervous to try something bigger.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Happy to boost awareness of the overcrowding :) I really wanted to go to some of those panels. I paid for a few of them and couldn’t make it because it was so bad I had to remove myself from the event a few times. I would also like to know your questions too. Someone else said that NYCC was a good experience for them and that it was much better managed. That might be good. If I end up going, I hope I see you there!
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u/Frogblaster77 Sep 14 '26
Compared to SDCC and NYCC, this con was empty. I have no idea what OP is talking about.
However you're right about panel management, a lot of stuff started late or didn't happen at all. At SDCC everything is run down to the minute. Sure there's issues sometimes but for the most part the management is top notch.
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u/Icuras1701 Sep 14 '26
I've been doing ultimate for the pass few years but no more. The main reason I would get Ultimate was to bypass the lines but they didn't allow that this year and the lounge was half the size and overcrowded people were sitting on the ground.
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u/NotYourGa1Friday Sep 14 '26
Potentially Helpful Info About the KBHCCD (Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center)
🔥Occupancy Rules🔥
Main Exhibit Halls (Level 2)
The standard maximum fire code limits for these individual spaces are based on open configurations:
Exhibit Hall B: 10,015 people maximum limit (100,155 sq. ft.).
Exhibit Hall C: 10,394 people maximum limit (103,940 sq. ft.).
Exhibit Hall A: 10,015 people maximum limit (100,155 sq. ft.).
Keynote & Panel Ballrooms
Ballrooms A1–A4 (Combined): 2,660 people maximum safety capacity (26,992 sq. ft.).
Ballrooms C1–C4 (Combined): Approximately 2,500 people maximum depending on theater vs. banquet seating rows.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Omg thank you so much! These sources are extremely helpful. It was insane. Thank you again. This is incredibly helpful to the case. I’m going to bring this up to the convention center
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u/Few-Bathroom-1804 Sep 14 '26
What convention was this
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Thanks for asking! This was Fan Expo in Dallas. It was over this weekend from Friday to Sunday.
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u/Few-Bathroom-1804 Sep 14 '26
Ah yea I saw footage on IG about it unfortunately those cons can be that way all depends on the guest too and yes VIP can be messy I’ve only done horror cons but when it came to meeting Robert England it was alike fucking brave heart despite vip so I get the frustration of large crowds sometimes I wonder if they over sell vip tickets certain cons that is
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u/Gilgongojr Sep 14 '26
I’m not sure why this sub started showing up in my feed. I’ve never been to a fan expo.
But based on every single post I’ve seen from this sub, I’ve concluded that fan expos are absolutely terrible and guaranteed to, at best, disappoint you. At worst, you might die at a fan expo.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Honestly I’m glad to have you here. I just signed up for this sub just to speak out about how horrible the experience was. There were some good points, but mainly it was the worst I’ve ever seen. I hope you get to go to some kind of con sometime, they’re really fun. But right now, it’s not in a good place. I hope to raise some kind of awareness for change.
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u/Wookie-fish806 22d ago
It’s always better to see for yourself than decide if you wanna go again. I went for the first time in Dallas and had a great time. I did not see or experience what Op did such as the crowd and mess. So you can’t truly know until you go. Because of my experience, I’m definitely going again.
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u/Ladranix Sep 14 '26
Not FanEx Dallas, but Toronto. Tickets were over sold by a large amount, crap panels and so much AI garbage it wasn't even funny. I don't go in for signed merch usually unless someone specific shows up so I can't speak on cancelations but I wouldn't be surprised. Toronto was alright for a few years because I believe they got fined by the fire marshall for over crowding a few years back. Like not letting people back in if they step outside due to building limits while still selling tickets over crowding. But this year you couldn't navigate the artists alley at all. HobbyStar sucks, I much prefer our local fan run not for profit cons.
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u/Visual-Taro-381 Sep 14 '26
I'm sorry. That is so terrible. I'm really passionate about accessibility and it's always so disheartening to hear these kind of experiences, especially one you paid so much for, and no doubt looked forward to. A convention center like KBH (also ANY center similar) should be well-prepared for ADA, no matter the event. It really blows my mind... but not, at the same time, considering general attitudes toward disability, and what it took to get to where we are today in the first place. Much love. I hope you can get your money back, even if you need to deal with your bank. If there's a person out there whose job it is to make sure the center is adhering to ADA, they're failing, and I'd love their job.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Wow thank you for the kind sentiment. Seriously. I really hope lovely people like you can get those jobs and help us out. I think the overcrowding is certainly the biggest issue but there needs to be more ADA accessible areas. It really sucks because regular folks can walk up the front steps but the rest of us have to go around the building to figure out how to go in and get stuck on elevators packed as tightly as possible just to go up one or two floors. And then it feels like a slap in the face when we’ve been waiting for so long and regular people with huge totes of merch just kinda casually walk out and pass us. It was gross. I really do hope you can get a job like that to help make a difference and sincerely thank you for trying to do so ❤️
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u/Visual-Taro-381 Sep 14 '26
<3 Your posts reminded me/spurred me to get my ADA Coordinator certification rolling. I work in accessibility but not for the built world atm. If I can help in the in that area I want to be there too. (Well, I know I can...matter of getting the job...) Appreciate you pointing all the issues you had out. It's valuable information, not only for people to generally be aware of, but even more valuable for those who should be ensuring ADA on the property.
I attend similar, smaller (but still busy/packed) shows semi-regularly, and I've noticed glaring accessibility issues - mostly the type of walkways being too narrow. These places/events are obviously putting profit above any responsibility they have to their attendees, disabled or not.
Thank you for your encouragement. It's been a tough year but I need to get back on the horse. Making a difference is meaningful to me and these kind of issues stick out to me all the time. I'd love to become a lawyer and bop them like whack-a-moles but I don't know that I'm cut out for law school $$$$$
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u/DragonSmith2005 Sep 14 '26
Oversold so bad in TO that the escalators broke and flung people off
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u/RancidYogurt 28d ago
The escalator issue in TO had nothing to do with the number of people in the venue or even on the escalator.
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u/DifficultMusic5077 Sep 14 '26
Well don’t go to NYCC then lol they have 250K people
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
After hearing others, I agree lol. The problem is venue size. It was many times overcapacity and people were just running into each other and touching other people and shoving them to get to places. When I say condensed, I don’t mean shoulder to shoulder, I mean people running into each other lol. The venue was way too small to handle that. Size is the problem, not so much the population.
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u/Thedran Sep 14 '26
This is why I stopped going to conventions back in 2018. In the early/mid 2000s cons were either fan run and smaller or corporate run but with an actual focus on the fan experience. By the early 2010s I already started seeing all of this starting and it’s just gotten worse every year. Even the medium sized cons like Anime North are more profit based and overcrowded to the point of it being a problem. I was at Fan Expo the year they had that fire fighter convention and got stuck outside when you left for lunch and hoped they would get their shit together but but sadly it never happened lol
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u/Frogblaster77 Sep 14 '26
Overcrowded? The exhibit hall floor was EMPTY. The whole place was empty. It was easy to get everywhere and there were so many places to sit down, either on actual benches or against walls.
And I never saw any elevators with a line, or a single overflowing trash can. Floors and bathrooms were all clean, all day.
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Sorry, but I don’t know what you mean. What day and time did you go? My experience was the worst I’ve ever seen. It was so overcrowded, nowhere to take a beat except the smoking section past the concessions at the end of the hall. Had to go outside just to get away from the crowd. The absolute mental strain dealing with that many people was horrific. The exhibition hall was packed to the fucking brim. Unless you were in the panel section??? It took fifteen minutes to get from one end to the other because there were so many people. And the concession hall where the elevators and bathrooms were was so much worse.
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u/Wookie-fish806 22d ago
There were plenty of places to sit. I got the ultimate badge and never used the lounge because I was able to find a place to sit whether there by the cafe, the panel downstairs, or the table near the food/popcorn.
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u/Kill_Shot_Colin Sep 14 '26
I’ve never been to a convention before and I was thiiiiis close to making FanExpo my first. But EVERYTHING I read (including Facebook groups for the Dallas event) said it’s crazy packed and you’d wait hours for pics/autographs that you paid 100s of dollars for. That did not sound fun to me and your post just solidifies it.
Sorry about your experience. I hope your feedback (and others’) becomes something productive and things improve in the future.
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u/Realestmember Sep 14 '26
not to sound rude but did you do research on the event prior to going ?
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
No problem, happy to answer! And yes, I’ve been to many expos before, even in the same convention center. It’s been about five years since I’ve gone. I used to go with friends, cosplay, meet celebs, buy merch, everything. Never looked anything like this
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u/BrimstoneGarden1 Sep 14 '26
I noticed the ADA stuff was pretty bad, the elevator situation was AWFUL. We saw no clear indication of the ADA entrance, we ended up taking my service dog up a stopped escator to get in. (We try to avoid those but they were being really weird about letting us in to start with)
Also did the info desk feel really dismissive to anyone else? I went to ask about the nearest place I could step out to a patch of grass for my service dog and you'd think I asked them to provide me with a real life unicorn. I'm not even mad I got an unclear answer but damn at least be nice about it.
and yeah the heat was atrocious on Saturday, we ended up leaving around noon because of it
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u/whisker-brigade Sep 14 '26
There was little to no effort given to ADA accommodations at all. Once I witnessed a woman using a wheelchair stuck at the top of the steps outside in that awful heat, I could not stop noticing the lack of accessibility through out the entire venue. They did not try at all !! I was shocked!
Some of the staff were very kind and helpful, meanwhile others would just stare at you and shrug. It was a mixed bag for sure.... We ran into more rude than helpful.
The overbooked crowding and heat caused us to leave early on Saturday as well.
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Oh man I’m so sorry! Yeah the elevator situation was horrendous. I’m surprised you were able to find an escalator, even a stopped one, where you didn’t immediately get yelled at by a lady saying you need to go all the way back to the beginning and find someone else to help you. Yeah the info desk was rude af and they didn’t know where to send anyone. They all seemed confused and had no idea how to answer any questions. They just direct you elsewhere and hope you aren’t their problem anymore
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Sep 14 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/whisker-brigade Sep 14 '26
Friday was reasonable in terms of attendance. I had no issues with the number of people on Friday, either... However....... Saturday was awful, just awful. My husband and I intended to stay the full Saturday but left shortly after noon. It was way too crowded to do anything and too hot to cool off as a result. Sunday was pretty crowded as well, but not nearly as bad as Saturday.
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u/LadySandry Sep 14 '26
My experience with Friday was very chill, went to some sketch duels and did some shopping. The exhibit hall was far less crowded than Saturday and even Sunday.
Personally I was fine with the temp for the most part. The downstairs C rooms were cold as heck though. Anyone wanting to get away from the heat and press of the vendor hall should have 100% gone down there. The Makerspace room was especially cold all weekend.
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u/BelavierrDonamia Sep 14 '26
First time?
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Nope, I used to go all the time :) been about 5 years since my last one. If you weren’t there on Saturday, you have no idea
Edit: also, I hate to pull the handicap card, but the accessibility was so bad, it was almost impossible for me to get anywhere. Thanks for asking ✌️
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u/BelavierrDonamia 28d ago
You may use that card anytime you wish. They are terrible for that, absolutely terrible.
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u/whisker-brigade Sep 14 '26
This felt predatory and like they definitely took advantage of the heat this year to drive up food sales inside.....
I heard there was ongoing construction, so the event was far smaller than it regularly would be. I could forgive that much IF it had been taken into consideration when selling tickets and was a big part of the problem. My biggest complaint personally was the lack of near-by parking..... Too many people were walking way too far in 100+ degree weather with little to no shade offered by the city itself. Our parking garage's door system was broken, we had to wait for people to come out so we could get back in to leave. And the AC at the venue was not doing enough to help with the buckets of sweat. Bathrooms were so crowded at times they felt like a gross sauna.
I witnessed one woman using a wheelchair that had no way of going down a set of stairs that led to one side of the entrance. I'm not sure what she ended up doing but was being assisted as we walked by. I hope they just let her in over at the side doors rather than making her go all the way around.....
The people attending were horrible in general. So many folks pushing and cutting in lines aggresively, I could not believe it. I am a smaller person so I may seem an easy target, maybe I experienced this more as a result. Literally just shoving in front of me while I am in line, at least 4 different times over the weekend. There were a few instances of parents using strollers as snowplows as well. Shameful behavior for adults.
Conventions were not like this, around 2017 they started getting weird.... Definitely not getting 3 day passes with this location ever again.
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Wow, thanks for sharing your experience. I’m so sorry that happened. I’m a smaller person too and had the same issues. I’m glad I didn’t park there, we ubered from a hotel. That’s horrible. Yeah people were walking way too far. When we were coming in, we got dropped on the backside near the cemetery, which is already a pretty far walk for me. For others, it’s already hard enough. And yeah the AC was awful. Another person said the lower levels were much colder, I wish I had any idea how to get there. Handicapped folks like myself had to use elevators and they only let you off at the ground floor or the second floor, where the convention was. I think people that had escalator access were maybe able to get to those areas? When we got in the elevator, we had no choice, they were ushering us in and out as quickly as possible with no direction.
I hope they helped that lady in the chair. It would be criminal if they made her go all the way around the building.
But yeah, the crowd was so packed that I feel like they probably aren’t normally like that, but because of the heat, the lack of water and food, and the stress of lines moving in such a packed way that even entering a moving line feels impossible, I think everyone just took it as a free for all and if you get hurt, they assume that you think it’s a mosh pit lol. I think everyone was stressed and stoped giving a shit about basic manners. If you look at a few of these other comments, they act like there’s no problems but they weren’t there Saturday, and they weren’t at this venue on that day with that condensed of an amount of people. They have no idea lol.
Anyway thanks for sharing, I’m sorry you had a shitty time as well.
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u/whycantitbeeasier Sep 14 '26
This to me is a supply and demand. They are selling tickets to something of which they absolutely cannot fill the supply nor demand and they don’t care. They have absolutely no respect for the fans and ticket holders. The Celebrities can come and go as they please without the FanExpo coordinators having the balls to do anything about it. They are given full knowledge in advance of the celebs arrival and departure schedules but we are not allowed the pleasure of knowing that so that we can adjust our schedules accordingly. Example: several celebs left at 3:00 Sunday.
Also some celebs capped their auto/po 2-3 hours before the show times were closing.
VIP ticket holders were selling rights to GA holders for them to use their tickets to jump line. Just read the comments on the FanExpo Facebook Fan Page. Also, there are 3 jerks on there that DO NOT work for FE that are complete assholes and giving advice and being complete dicks to people. One guy was telling people to have buddies to hold places in line for all of your group so then your whole group could step in front of everyone.
The building was disgustingly hot. I have never been to a Con that was hot inside the building. People stunk so bad, walking while looking on their phones, rude, running into people…. It was a very unorganized event. There were multiple time changes that led to us having to either miss something or change tickets to accommodate other events which then led to completely missing out because we were not properly informed of when celebrities would leave or return.
Think about it, if you have 65k people roughly wanting the same 20 celebrities autographs or photos in the short amount of time they are there at their own discretion you will not get them and FE knows it. They are feeding you a line of shit and fraudulent advertising. If you are wanting more than that you damn sure aren’t going to get that either.
I planned everything on my schedule precisely and it didn’t matter because we were not informed of anything that would affect us getting what we came for.
We weren’t informed of the Celebs leaving early each day, being capped off at random, some not even showing up at times, being gone from their table for hours on end, oh and here’s a good one…. we weren’t informed prior to that some celebrities would NOT sign certain things with certain items on them after people went through so much time choosing what they wanted. When the celebrities step away from their table they do not give notice of any sort of time to the worker of when they will be back. I have been to many Cons and there is usually a sign stating when they will be returning so you are forever left there in limbo ⏰ waiting and they may not come back.
Another bullshit issue…. I actually watched a guy have Keifer Sutherland take up most of everyone’s time Friday having him sign 38 items!!!!!!! Why is shit like that ok?
OMG the workers I dealt with couldn’t answer a question about anything. They were not properly trained at all. I was told Sheen was not coming back from a break or something by a worker, Estevez had already capped his line around 2:00 Saturday so we gave up on getting those two Saturday. I found out that Sheen did come back and I was 🤬 out his meeting him because by the time I got through what I had to Sunday he had already stopped taking cash and was only doing prepaid YET AGAIN WE WERE NOT INFORMED OF and I got in line and was not allowed to remain in line along with a guy in front of me and Sheen left at 3:00. I stepped over to Estevez’s line only to find out he had capped his line over an hour earlier.
This is obviously not a Dallas problem. It’s a FanExpo problem. Not only safety but overselling and possibly even fraud. Could be a good idea for a Class Action Lawsuit. If we have to adhere by certain standards then they should also as well as the celebrity guests and give us what we expect to receive by what they advertise.
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Holy shit, this is even worse. Thank you so much for sharing. I honestly have no words for the amount of frustration you went through. I had the same thing happen with the lotr cast too. The line was so full, they were planned to be there “all day” and every time I finally painstakingly made it through the harsh rude crowds over to that area, the lines were full, and nobody was at the booths. I walked over there four times on Saturday looking at the same results. I get if people need to take a break. I need breaks from people too, everyone does. It’s stressful. But you can’t sell all those tickets and then sign a few photos and take a few pics and just leave with no warning for the rest of the day. That’s insane. I’ll never pay fan expo again. I think you’re right and I think the celebs had no idea what they were walking into either. The whole event was a cash grab that unfortunately, I didn’t get to meet anyone. I met the rangers and that made my husband happy and that was worth it to me. But man, I always felt this close but never so far away from being able to get something. Thought I could buy my way in. And also, like you said, there NEEDS to be a cap on what you get signed! Honestly, the biggest thing I wanted was just a photo with Dominic and a quick signature on a “not penny’s boat” pic from Lost. There needs to be a cap, like three items per person, if that. Regardless of how much you pay, rich people get to pay, right? But that shouldn’t take up the entire celebrity’s time when everyone else has to wait. I had VIP and I wanted ONE thing. Scalpers man. They’re gonna hock all those signatures on eBay the next day. It’s horrible.
If you have the respect to wait, to be kind, to give your love as a fan, they should have the same respect for you, not your cash. It’s Dan expos fault though. I can’t believe they didn’t tell anyone anything. The lack of transparency and lack of human respect when just trying to get where you’re going is absolutely horrid.
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u/ImBattleSanta Sep 15 '26
Couple things.
- At no point were 65,000 people in the building at the same time. Attendance numbers are “turnstile” numbers. That means they don’t count people, they count tickets, and those are adjusted numbers over the weekend. An “All Days” ticket is counted as 3 admissions, spread over multiple days. Fan Expo management takes the safety of attendees very seriously. They work closely with the fire marshal in every city to ensure their events are in compliance. I have personally seen safety teams called in when there were congestion issues. EVERY TIME it was because people clustered into an area and refused to leave when they were told it was creating a hazard.
“Uncomfortable” does not always equate to “unsafe.”
- VIPs that waited “hours” did so by choice. Let me use those who wanted Mel Gibson’s autograph as an example, since his was one of the few that had an actual line to stage VIPs. It was well-known and communicated to crew working the area along with attendees, that Mel would not start signing until 12:45pm on Saturday. GA folks started lining up as soon as the convention doors opened. VIPs followed suit, filling the available space allocated in the line for VIPs then started queuing at the VIP access table hours before he was going to start signing. This created congestion and confusion as some VIPs who wanted to be escorted to other guests lined up with those waiting for Mel. Staff and crew worked tirelessly Saturday morning to get things sorted, but between those VIPs, the ones waiting for Nicolas Cage (who also wasn’t scheduled to start signing until 12:45), those wanting other guests who were actively signing, and the finite space available, things quickly deteriorated. VIPs would have had a far better experience if they followed the simple instruction of not going to the VIP Access kiosk until the guest was at their table. To me, it seems that even among VIPs there’s a compulsion to be the first person in line.* *
The conversation was always the same:
Me to a VIP waiting in a line: “The guest won’t be here for 3 hours. You paid a lot more for your ticket not to wait.”
VIP: “I don’t have anything else to do.” Or, “They’re the only reason I came to the show.”
Me: “Okay. I won’t tell you that you can’t wait, but I will tell you that there’s no reason to.”
VIPs on social media after the show: “I WAS VIP AND WAITED HOURS!! DISORGANIZED!!”
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Aww let’s talk about this. At no point did I say they were all there at once. Also, it’s certainly was a safety hazard. Were you even there Saturday? All the vendors ran out of water and food, it was extremely hot, people were getting hurt, and accessibility was absolutely horrendous and embarrassing.
Are you a shill for them? Cause you seem to be.
Yeah I complained that VIP gets nothing. Because they don’t lol. We got a couple of shit pieces of merch and a fifteen minute walk to get to an air conditioned room with room temperature tap water.
If you read my post, you’d see that I didn’t wait in those lines. I realize you’re using an example, but Mel Gibson is the worst example to use. I didn’t wait for that. I’m telling my own experience. You’re welcome to tell yours instead of acting like you work the event and creating crowd control because you know you’re wrong.
I never went to a line hours beforehand. Did you have VIP? Do you have any idea what Saturday was like? Did you read anything I had to say about MY experience, or are you an employee trying to shut people up?
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u/ImBattleSanta 27d ago
Awww, bless your heart. Let’s go point by point shall we?
What you said was that “65 fucking thousand” people were sold tickets, implying that all those people were in the building at some point. Was that not your intention, to exaggerate the attendance? If not, then at least be willing to dial down the hyperbole.
Every convention has consigners, people that accept send-ins to get signed because someone can’t attend that show. Those make up the bulk of people that bring those “giant totes to buy up merch” and “get a ton of shit signed”, but most don’t “flip that stuff on Ebay.” Vendors at the show are far more likely to bring multiple items to sign, which get sold on-site or at other shows.
I cannot speak to the ADA experience, especially when it comes to navigating between floors. Obviously, someone in a wheelchair, scooter, or walker cannot use an escalator, making the elevators a precious resource. To that I will say that someone other than Fan Expo deemed the venue within compliance to the Americans with Disabilities Act. I can only hope that there will be more options available once they’re done renovating the convention center.
I will also not speak to the quality or diversity of products on the vendor floor. Everyone’s tastes are different. However, having been to hundreds of conventions in the past 20 years (no exaggeration there) vendors selling “cheap, kitschy, poorly made merch and people selling cheap amazon stuff for 400 percent over cost” are in the minority. I find the quality of vendors to be on par with other events, like street fairs or farmer’s markets.
Cleanliness is always an issue at events like this. However, I must admit that this venue has sub-par staff. They may be temp workers, but they are neither contracted nor paid by Fan Expo.
Your description of the VIP experience was just flat-out wrong. You didn’t like the merch. You were unimpressed with the panels (something everyone could go to). You found the lounge underwhelming. Okay, those are subjective opinions. However, at no time did someone with a VIP badge “wait much longer than it takes to actually get in the regular line to meet someone.” They didn’t wait 5 hours at the VIP Access desk when they could have waited 3 hours with GA. It didn’t happen. If it did, how would you know? The line skip perk is the primary reason people clamor for the VIP badge and, by your own admission, was something you didn’t use. By the way, I used Mel Gibson’s line as a real-world example since it was one of the few that had a dedicated VIP line, not because I agree with his opinions.
Lastly, I am not a shill for Fan Expo but I am someone that has worked nearly every US show for them over nearly a decade. I will be the first to tell you they do a number of things that I might do differently. I will also be the first to point out inaccuracies or assumptions people make about their events. Hence, my response.
You were obviously unhappy with your experience and some aspects of it were spot-on. The venue was extremely warm, especially on the 2nd floor. Food options were scarce and overpriced. There was a lack of parking. It was crowded, making navigation difficult especially for those with mobility problems. Much of that falls on the venue. The rest is subjective. If you feel like what you paid wasn’t worth it, don’t renew your pass next year. There are literally hundreds of other people waiting for the opportunity to join the other hundreds of people who renew their passes every year.
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u/AlixTheAutiFurry 29d ago
Yeah that sounds about average for any sort of big normie corpo convention. Try giving your money to something that isn't a gigantic evil corporate demon on earth next time is my advice. Check out a local ren faire or something lol.
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u/SpecialistArt9 29d ago
I thought it was pretty crowded, but we didn’t show up until about 2 o’clock on Saturday so I think we missed the big crowd going in. The line is really long if you want to buy any food or anything, but I still had a good time, I had never been to one before, so maybe I didn’t know what to expect
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u/cleverusername404 29d ago
Don’t forget that half of the women’s restrooms were blocked by the celebrity tables and photo op curtains so there were only like 4 available.
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u/whisker-brigade 29d ago
That really confused me. I walked through the crowds to two different women's restrooms only to find out there was absolutely no access........ That was really poorly thought out and kind of gross
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u/CptnMcDoobie 28d ago
Honestly, with a walker, the only one accessible to me was the one at the end of the vendor hall and the line was so long, I would’ve just pee’d myself like people have been doing at concerts lately lol.
No for real though, I’m kinda glad every vendor ran out of water because I didn’t have to go. It looked bad though
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u/Existing-Mess-9829 29d ago
Ive stopped going to fan expo because of this shotm fan expo vsncouver computer uses the basement floor for convention space. Theres three fucking floors to this convention center. But they refuse to pay for the other floors. Its not safe, it has no air conditioning. Its ocer crowded underwhelming and over stimulating at the same time which is quite the contradiction, and the food is garbage, and you can only leave through certain doors and to go back in you have to walk around the block.
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u/popculturella 29d ago
I did notice it being way more packed than it usually is and I've been going consistently since 2019.
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u/gamewaifu007 26d ago
I think kids are allowed to come to (checks notes) events. Not sure why that got conflated into this (otherwise valid) complaint.
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u/PangolinFar2571 26d ago
Old skool fans wouldn’t be caught dead at Fan Expo anymore. I stopped going about a decade ago. You have a much better time sticking to smaller conventions just outside the major metropolitan areas. Niche celebrity guests that are cooler, cheaper, and far more approachable. Products you actually went hoping to find at reasonable prices. Deals can still be found from vendors not paying 1000s of $$ for their booth. Actual room to walk and breathe. Door prizes you have better odds of winning than a lottery. Easy to find bathrooms. And an overall more chill vibe. I’m actually looking forward to CollectorCon Mississauga in a few weeks. See you there.
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u/Wookie-fish806 22d ago
I’m sorry your experience at fan expo wasn’t a good one. Mine was more positive and I didn’t see what you saw in terms of trash and stuff. The staff kept the restroom and convention center fairly clean. They were on top of it. While Saturday was a bit more crowded, it wasn’t as bad as I had expected it to be. It’s worse in one area than others but it always depended on what was happening and the time of the day. I attended all 3 days. What time frame and when did you attend?
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u/Superc1ipping Sep 14 '26
Voluntary to buy the tickets btw.
Also weird to tell people not to bring their kids. Did you consider that maybe they don't have someone to leave a kid with? Kids are allowed out in public, weirdo.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Not being a weirdo. They were bringing giant baskets full of merch and using their children as an excuse to hog elevators in front of handicapped people. If you aren’t disabled, you probably wouldn’t understand, but I’m not being a dick. It was a bad place to have kids. The little ones weren’t being watched by their parents and I saw a few get run over by the crowds. Kids are fine; but I need to complain about the event so they can make it safe for the little ones
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u/Superc1ipping Sep 14 '26
Kids are a valid reason to take the elevator. They're not "hogging" it. They're as entitled to it as anyone with a wheelchair.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
I’m sorry if you got the wrong idea and maybe I didn’t explain it correctly. Strollers are fine. Parents were bringing massive hauls of merch in giant wagons and then rushing their kids to get in those wagons to cut off handicapped people. If you weren’t there, you probably don’t get what I’m trying to say. I overheard multiple parents saying “glad we brought kids or we’d have to take the stairs” because the elevators are only allowed for strollers and handicapped folks
Edit: I don’t know who downvoted you, I promise it wasn’t me. I understand what you’re saying and I welcome everyone to have an opinion
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u/OrcishDelight Sep 14 '26
Try not reproducing?? Did someone force you to have kids?
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u/Superc1ipping Sep 14 '26
Hey so having kids doesn't mean you're not allowed in public anymore. You're not a better person for not having kids. People's children have JUST AS MUCH a right to be in public as you. Hope this helps!
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u/christophurr Sep 14 '26
Sure, mindless people that need supervision 24/7 should be let loose in a comic con with half naked people with weapons 👍
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u/Superc1ipping Sep 14 '26
Who is letting them loose? You're making up scenarios in your head and then getting mad at it. Super weird.
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u/christophurr Sep 14 '26
Well I was there dodging them. Are you some expo shill?
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u/Superc1ipping Sep 14 '26
Nope, never attended a single time. Never would.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
I mean this respectfully, but if you’ve never been to one of these events, you would not understand how unsafe it is for little kids. I understand your frustration as a parent, but no offense, you can’t understand what we are all talking about.
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u/Superc1ipping Sep 14 '26
I saw footage. It wasn't that bad.
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Yeah, YouTubers only clip the good stuff. It’s not what you think. You weren’t there. I also assume you aren’t handicapped. It was really awful. Look at the rest of the comments. I’m not the only one. If you wanna die on that hill, go for it. I’m not saying you’re a bad person, I’m being very fair to you. Try to have an open mind. You’re the only outlier here
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u/CptnMcDoobie Sep 14 '26
Hey I totally agree with you. There were a lot of infants. Did you go to this specific event? Because it was extremely unsafe. I think raising awareness is a good idea. I’m not a parent and I don’t really complain about kids ever, but it was not a good place to have anyone under like 6 there. I’m not blaming the kids man, I’m blaming parents for not watching them, letting them get hurt, and using them as reasons to use privileges that could easily be avoided. My main point is: kids aren’t the problem. But if you’re gonna be a neglectful dickhead, don’t bring the kids. If you have the money to go there, you have money to hire a babysitter.
I’m sorry if that’s a hot take, I’m trying to meet you in the middle and be respectful. I probably just didn’t elaborate enough at first and I apologize for that.
Edit: there were a lot of really tiny babies. They didn’t cry at all or anything, but I wouldn’t bring a kid with a compromised immunity to a place with 65 thousand people
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u/ranvan8 Sep 14 '26
Telling people not to bring their children under 6 is the same as someone telling you not to come because you’re disabled! Do you really not see your own hypocrisy? We took our 4 year old to Chicago Fan Expo and everyone was fantastic to him and he had a great time.
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u/Accurate_Summer_1761 Sep 14 '26
Well if it makes you feel better fan expo themselves seem to be the problem. Toronto was also oversold to hell. We had an escalator break and injure a bunch of people