Big Apple Comic Con – Part 1

Katie May 23, 2011 0 Comments

Although I did not spend too long at the Big Apple Comic Con over the weekend, I decided to spread out my posts – mainly so that all my complaining would be in one post and all the good that happened be in another 😉  I’ll start with the negative so this story will have a happy ending.

I had never been to a Comic Con like this before so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, but I have to say that I expected there would be some level of organization.  We arrived just about 10am when doors were set to open.  There was a lot of confusion and there was only 1 person from the Con staff looking to get VIP people out of the main line and in to the VIP line so that they could be let in “first”.

I waited in the VIP line for about 30 minutes and got my wristband for entry, but was told that I should come back later to pick up my VIP stuff when the line was not as hectic.  Except that my VIP “stuff” included my voucher for a Tom Felton photo and autograph and Tom Felton was over to the left signing as soon as we got inside.  So my options were to either pay another $25 on top of the $100 I dropped on VIP to get an autograph, or wait in the mess of the line to get my vouchers.

And when I say “mess of the line”, that is an understatement.  The general ticket sales were all lumped in with the VIP ticket redemption and people kept getting shoved inside the door so rather than be an orderly line it was just a massive crowd which of course made things more difficult and then people were cutting in saying the were buying tickets but then traded in their VIP tickets instead. Not cool!

After about an hour I finally got my ticket scanned.  The hold up was that the vouchers were being individually added to our lanyards.  Now, if everyone who bought VIP gets a VIP lanyard and a photo-op and autograph voucher, wouldn’t it have maybe made sense to have someone add these items to the lanyards the night before? Or at the very least have another staff member there to help speed up the process?

The second showing of just how confusing everything was, was when it was time for the Photo-Op.  A lot of the Tom Felton VIPs were hanging around, but James Marsters photo-ops would be going on first (why they had them back-to-back when they were the most popular people at the place, I’m not sure) and no one knew where they were supposed to go, or where the people who wanted to buy a photo-op were supposed to go either.  When staff was asked – they told the person who asked to be in charge of forming the line.

Meanwhile, also in the photo-op area were a bunch of artists who were obviously there to try and make a buck.  Lines for the photo-ops were completely blocking their tables, though fortunately most people moved out of the way if they were told by someone that they wanted to go by to see the artists.

However, having hundreds and hundreds of people in such a small area meant for a VERY hot room.  Lots of body heat and I honestly don’t know if they even had the AC on in the place. It was awful.

When I finally had the chance to check out the booths upstairs – there was barely any room to walk by if someone was at the table on either side of the aisle.  I saw a couple of guys in wheelchairs and I honestly don’t know how they were able to make it around at all and I felt really bad for them.  (And staff was few and far between to ask for assistance)  Then when we decided to leave upstairs – the down escalator was off!

I didn’t even bother staying for Tom Felton’s panel because I just didn’t think I’d be able to stand in another line (my legs were in a lot of pain from all the standing) and could not deal with any more confusion.

Stay tuned for Part 2 when I left you know how my autograph and photo-op sessions went!

The Lion King on Broadway

Katie February 26, 2011 0 Comments

Let’s Make A Deal at Foxwoods

Katie November 9, 2010 0 Comments

This weekend I ended up seeing Joey Fatone host “Let’s Make a Deal” at Foxwoods Casino twice.  First was Friday night and the second was Sunday afternoon for the matinee show.

The announcer was News 8’s Matt Scott.  I never watch News 8 and he really gave me no reason to change that.  I thought his jokes were awful and I hope that it was not him who wrote them.  They were also the same exact jokes both shows. (Although in their defense I don’t think they intended people to go more than once. What can I say, I love Joey)

Joey on the other hand was amusing, though awkward at times, and while some of what he said seemed scripted he did change things up both shows. He also obviously had to play off the contestants as well and since they were not the same.

Unfortunately my name did not get called at either show and I wasn’t asked for random items from my purse at either show either. Although I didn’t have what he wanted except for on Sunday afternoon he wanted Crazy Bands and I had a whole pack of them in my bag! He asked for the same items on Sunday as Friday, but asked for additional items on Sunday as well. (I’ll help you cheat – Hard boiled egg, ketchup packet, paper clip, something fruit flavored, viagara pill, crazy bands)

For the most part, the set up of the show was exactly the same.  The prizes were all the same, the curtains were all in the same position with the exception of 2 of the games.  In the game where the contestant needed to have a dollar left to buy a prize, the items they had to guess the price of were different. (2 of the 3 items were the same, but in different order) And in the big deal – the curtain with the car behind it was moved.

We were told Joey wouldn’t be coming out after the show on Sunday because he was getting ready for his second show, but I am fairly confident he did meet people after the Friday show.  Whether or not he came out or they had connections to get backstage to him, I don’t know.

It was a fun show and I am so mad that both times the people asked to name the other NSYNC members FAILED.  Everyone knows stupid Justin Timberlake and that is it.  Though I am hoping that soon they will see the success of the NKOTBSB tour and decide to do their own reunion tour.  I’ve already started saving.

Titanic Exhibit at Foxwoods

Katie September 27, 2010 0 Comments

Saturday night my mom and I went to Foxwoods Casino to check out the Titanic Exhibit that they had in their convention center.  I had wanted to go for my birthday (back in July) but we weren’t able to find a time that worked until over this weekend.  The exhibit will be there until October 3.

Once you get your ticket, you are given a boarding pass for the ship.  On the pass is the information of a real passenger who was on the Titanic.  At the end of the exhibit you are able to find out if your passenger was saved or lost.

In the exhibit are a bunch of artifacts that were recovered from the ship.  It was amazing how good of condition a lot of these pieces were in.  There were postcards you could still read the writing on, currency, souvenirs that the passengers had picked up on their travels, personal items, clothing, etc.  The artifacts are just a portion of the items that were recovered as this exhibit is in places all over the country running at the same time.

On the wall there are stories about the ship, it starts off with quotes about how the ship was so great and that everyone was convinced that nothing bad would happen to it.  As we approached a couple of the rooms that were set up, the lights began flickering.  It really made it seem like there was trouble ahead.  You then went through several rooms, reading the information on the walls and checking out all the items in the cases.  They even had an iceberg that you could touch to see how cold the water would have been. It was COLD. Most of the people in the water died of hypothermia, not drowning.

The last room had a bunch of stories about the passengers.  How some of them survived and how some of them didn’t.  One of the stories that stuck with me was of a young baby Filly and his young mother (she was 18.)  Somehow Filly ended up on a different life boat than his mother and when they were reunited it took some time because another woman had claimed Filly as her own!

Also in the last room were HUGE lists of the passengers, divided by class and then broken down into SAVED and LOST.  My mom had a 22 year old girl who was traveling with her father.  I had a 46 year old woman who was traveling with her husband, friends of theirs and the friends daughter.  The friends had taken the daughter on a tour of Europe because she was being followed by a male suitor and they didn’t want her to have anything to do with him. Turns out he got on the boat too!  Since we were both first class and women we figured our chances were pretty good.

It took us a while, but we found that both of our passengers survived. The lists were long and the writing was tiny. My mom’s passenger’s father did not.  I also looked up the whole gang I was with and found they all survived, but couldn’t find the name of the daughter on either the saved or lost list.  Since everyone else was saved I just assumed she was as well.

Then we went into the gift shop where I picked up a postcard for my scrapbook since no photos were allowed in the exhibit.  We also got our boarding passes stamped as “Saved”.

When I got home, I did a couple of google searches and found out more about all “my people.”  The daughter was in fact saved, but was her mother’s from a previous relationship so she had a different last name and that is why I couldn’t find her.  They all left on Lifeboat 5 and the daughter and her suitor later were married! (He was 26 and she was 19 when they were on Titanic and I am assuming that the age gap is why her mother wanted her to have nothing to do with him!) I then searched my mom’s passenger and she was on Lifeboat 5 with all of my people as well!

It was all very interesting and I have found myself going back to Encyclopedia Titanica annd Titanic-Titanic looking up more stories.  Admission was $20 and it took us about 30-45 minutes to make our way through the exhibit.  For an additional fee you can get a little phone that has an audio tour, but we opted to do the tour on our own.

The Little Mermaid on Broadway

Katie June 21, 2009 0 Comments

Last night I saw the little mermaid on broadway. After the matinee show a friend and I waited to meet Drew Seeley who is currently playing Prince Eric. The show was amazing – it is one of my favorite disney movies and they really did a good job taking it from the big screen to live action. My favorite songs were all there as well as some new songs and added humor as well. I kind of want to go see it again – but ill have to wait for another discount email 😉
More pics (Drew and I and the theatre) to follow when I get home from the city!
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