AX06 story continued...

[moonwingpamela]

So, to pick up where I left off in my previous post, I had planned to arrive in Anaheim at around 7am on opening day (July 1). We had pre-registered and received our badges in the mail, but we still needed the official AX badgeholders in order to get into the vendor halls. I really wanted to get there early so we could obtain our badgeholders without waiting in line for hours and I could finally hit the vendors when they first opened for business. As usual, my plans for AX did not go quite as I wanted. Since I was still working on the final little bits of my costume, the 7am arrival time flew right out the window. My BF was late getting up, and by the time we got ourselves ready and packed up my costume, it was around 10:30am by the time we finally left. We figured we'd reach Anaheim by around 11:30 at that point. I wasn't too happy, but there was nothing we could do about it. Oh, I also found out earlier that morning we wouldn't be able to check into our hotel room until 4pm! WTF? Usually it's 2pm, but since the hotel was completely booked, I think they pushed back all the check-in times. So that completely sucked since it meant I wouldn't be able to don my costume until late afternoon! I still thought we'd be able to pick up our badgeholders by at least noon, and I could kill time in the vendor halls, eat a snack, watch the cosplayers, and do whatever until 4pm. Still not a bad way to start the AX, right? Things were moving right along as we left Chatsworth on the 118, but wouldn't you know? It only took us 7 minutes to reach the I-5 freeway, but as soon as our front tires touched the edge of Los Angeles, the traffic was bumper to bumper! Normally, it only takes us 30 to 45 minutes to reach Anaheim...an hour at the most. Are you sitting down? It took us nearly 3 hours to drive to Anaheim!!!! We couldn't believe it! Stunned is just too mild a word to describe how we felt. The traffic was a solid line from L.A. until just outside Anaheim. I kept wondering where they had all came from and why it all suddenly seemed to clear at Disneyland! We arrived at the convention center around 1:30, and by the time we found a place to park it was nearly 2pm. I can't tell how disappointed I was that, once again, I had missed the opening day of AX! That seems to happen to me every year. You'd think I'd be used to it by now. Anyway, we decided to try checking in early just in case our room was ready (it wasn't), so that wasted about another 30 minutes. We then headed over to the convention center to pick up our badgeholders. That took another hour, believe it or not! Although we were told by the AX volunteers the line had been enormous only about an hour earlier, there were quite a few of us pre-reg stragglers waiting to get our badgeholders. (The line for at-con registration at that point was still huge in comparison.) Well, it was 4pm, so we checked into our room. We were really aggravated about the entire day, so we headed downstairs and into the hotel bar to relax. I really felt it was just too late to cosplay, and we were hungry, so we decided to grab a bite and just start fresh in the morning. Over dinner, my BF convinced me that it might be a good idea to go ahead and wear my costume for a few hours to check for problems since I didn't get a chance to do it prior to the convention. It was about 6pm when we headed back up the room and I began putting on my costume. It took me 2 hours from start to finish! No lie! At 8pm we headed back downstairs and to the outside cosplay gathering area between the hotel and the convention center. It was still fairly light out, but it was still pretty warm. I wandered around inside and outside the convention center (the vendor halls were closed, but there were still activities happening on the upper floors), the hotel lobby and bar. There were tons of cosplayers around, so I was happy I dressed up after all. Many people asked me for a photo, so that made me feel pretty good too! I cosplayed until about 10:30pm then decided to call it a night. I once again planned to hit the vendor halls as soon as they opened in the morning, but after making some small repairs to my costume and putting the damn thing back on, it was already 11:30am. Normally check out time would have been noon, but my BF called the front desk and asked if we could move it back to 2pm. That way I could at least cosplay for a good couple of hours and then change in the room if I wanted to. We walked around the same places as the night before (tons more people asking for tons more photos...coool!), but I never did get a chance to look around the vendor booths. My costume was just too bulky to move around the crowds. As 2pm neared, I decided to stay in costume and change at our car in the parking garage. We stayed in the cosplay areas until 4:30pm, and by that time I was completely exhausted, drenched in perspiration and quite sore. I forgot to mention that my costume was constructed in such a way that almost totally restricted my movements. I couldn't turn my head (I could just barely move it up and down), I was unable to move my upper torso, couldn't raise my arms above my chest, and my legs were hampered by the stiff skirting that hung down from my waist. It was almost like walking around in a full body cast! I couldn't bend over or sit down, so by the end of my cosplaying activities on Sunday, I was wiped out. Thank goodness my BF was with me. He helped me put on my costume (I wouldn't have been able to do it without him), and since the helmet and wig made it very difficult for me to see or hear, he was also my eyes and ears at the con!

So basically I just cosplayed the entire time I was at the con! I didn't get to buy one thing, grab any freebies or see any other special events! Oh well, even with all the delays and plans gone awry, I still had an excellent time! I'm so glad I went to AX06! I'll have some more photos posted on my website in the next few days. There are little details hidden under certain parts of the costume that should be seen. For example, I actually wore a bindhi on my forehead, but noone was able to see it under the wig and helmet.

Next, I'll tell you about the Hyde concert in Los Angeles!