Over the weekend I once again went back to the 90s in Hartford for 90s Con.
Friday I ended up wandering around the vendor floor for a bit, hitting up the official merch booth for a sticker, magnet and pin (my usual purchase), I couldn’t tell if the bear was new this year or not so I didn’t get another one and then head up to the panel stage for 90s trivia. For a bit I was the only one there, but more people ended up showing up. I ended up not opting in to play as you had to go on stage, but playing along I knew a good majority of the answers so I probably would have done pretty well if I had gone up there and would have done great if I was the only one in there as well. I ended up staying in the panel room for the rest of the day for Kel Mitchell as Ed and The Lawrence Brothers panels as well. Look for articles (if they’re not out already) about there being a Good Burger 3 sooner rather than later, Kel wanting to do a Bad Boys type film with Kenan, A Good Burger pop up restaurant coming back to LA and probably NY as well, a new Lawrence Bros TV show coming, and maybe a behind the scenes fight because Andy was about to break Matt’s tooth with moving the mic up for him to talk into it better. Also there was an in-depth discussion on their given last name and how Lawrence is Joey’s middle name but they all took it on as their last name.
Saturday I got off to a bit of a late start and went to the floor first and met Rider Strong and Will Friedle. I was hoping to use my VIP voucher for Soleil or Mark Paul but Soleil’s line was already capped until 4pm before 11am. I ended up using it to meet Matt Lawrence instead and then wandered around until my photo op at 1:50. I did the TGIF photo with Jaleel, Rider, Will, Matt, Soleil and Jenna. I initially was going to do to the Boy Meets World trio and Soleil solo and mathematically it just made more sense to add Jaleel and Jenna and when else are you going to get that combo together? Then I made my way up to the panels and snuck in the back for the magnificent seven with Shannon and Dominique and then moved up closer for the TGIF panel and then decided to stay for 90210 – which ended up being quite packed. Then I ordered some dinner and ate and relaxed for a bit before heading back over for the after party.
Things seemed to be running a bit behind for the after party, finally we were let in and after we sat were told that they made an “ADA pen” (which it would have been nice if we had been given a heads up about that beforehand) and if we had our own devices we were able to go up a bit closer to the front and then later they pulled up some chairs so we could actually see and not be blocked by the people standing on the dance floor. (They are certainly trying, but there’s still been a few misses as far as ADA is concerned, but I did notice that they were taking our suggestions and changing things on the fly as best as they could which is always appreciated!) DJ Tre came out for a bit and threw out glo sticks (I got one), cards, slap bracelets, etc and then introduced Wilson Phillips who came out and sang 2 songs and then told us we needed to ‘Hold on for Hold On’ and left the stage for a brief break and then came back to sing their biggest hit. Then it went back into dance party mode so I opted to head to bed.
Sunday I checked out of the hotel and loaded my car up and then made my way to the panels to line up for Music of the 90s which was AJ from the Backstreet Boys and Wilson Phillips which was pretty interesting – AJ is hilarious and I just love how he gives props to Hanson for opening the door in the US for the boybands. The next panel was T4E high School with Mark Paul, Elizabeth and Mario from Saved by the Bell and Brittany from Sweet Valley High – the Q&A portion got a bit awkward because despite SBTB saying they don’t really remember specific episodes, people kept asking them about specific episodes. I then wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay for one more or not – but ended up staying for Halloweentown and Eliza Thornberry which ended up being pretty sweet and a nice tribute to Debbie Reynolds. I am not sure if I actually have seen Halloweentown – or if I have it’s been quite a few years so I might have to put my Disney+ to good use and watch them all soon.
After that panel I head down to the vendor floor again and made a few purchases, I did end up forgetting to find one booth I had wanted to, but oh well. I was far too exhausted to remember what the heck I was doing and decided it was best at that point to just head home! It was another fun weekend and I am looking forward to next year and hoping that Devon Sawa will be able to make it!