[Colossalcon]/4 Days of Poolside Crazy

So...okay, we didn't actually make it to the pools this year like we did last year but that doesn't mean that hundreds of other congoers didn't! Yes, that's my story for the title of this one and I'm sticking to it...we also didn't really want to tempt death like we had in the past either...(long story)

See, no pool...but a very nice view of the fountain and villas!

Anyway, his was our second year at Colossalcon and I have to say that it still is one of our favorite events of the year to attend. Not only because we get a decent group of our friends together for it but the convention and the location, the Kalahari Resort, is just too much not to pass up. Sure there are a few things different this year and our room wasn't as ideal as last year but still not bad at all. Having a Lodge Suite at minimum is definitely the way to go for this one. Not only because you have a full kitchen but plenty of space to lounge about in during those down times during con.

So, since we've already been here before, this one probably won't be as long as some of the other reviews that you gotten from me before. Why? Well, a lot was already covered before and I don't see much reason to go into all that detail again.

Recommendation: Definitely go! I can't say it enough, but no matter what happens with our group, it still is one of the best convention experiences that we've had out there. Sure, the rooms can be a bit pricey at the Kalahari but if you plan well enough you should be fine and I would definitely suggest booking as early as possible. The main hotel sells out fast!

Disclaimer: We were invited to Colossalcon this year as press so that we could cover the events which took place over the weekend and the con itself as a whole. As always, this does not sway our opinions or feelings about the convention at all, it just means that we were going to show up for sure. 

Looking for our cosplay and rave coverage? Just go here! If not...read on!

Carrie and Tim chillin on the balcony

Alright, where to begin. Well, since we're on the topic of the Kalahari already let's go with that, shall we? Not only does the Kalahari Resort have the largest indoor water park in the US, but it also boasts an immense 200,000sqft+ of convention space and over 900 rooms. While not all these rooms are taken up by the con, the overwhelming majority is and that's why I say to book early...they go extremely quickly and when you consider that you get 4-12 water park passes included (depending on room/suite type), it's really not that bad of a price overall. Usually they have room blocks at the Great Wolf but that's up the road a ways and who wants that?

That said, there really should be something done about mixing up the congoers and normal guests in the hotel. I know this isn't on the con entirely but they should try to push the hotel staff as much as possible on this. We didn't have any problems ourselves, but Thursday night there was a room just across from us which had a noise complaint. I understand it's hard to sequester so many people but I think it's something that should be looked into as this is the second year in a row something like this has happened and it just shouldn't, not when so many rooms are being taken up by con attendees. 

Alright, now that that's off my chest let's move on. Compared to last year, we didn't get nearly as lost in the labyrinth that the hotel and convention center can be. I'm not sure if it's just because we're so used to navigating the mazes that con locations can be or if it was that we just learned our way around so much last year. Either way, we still did a lot of walking but that was due to our room being in Timbuktu compared to where the action was. Again, not a problem but did make us feel a bit more removed from things this year as compared to last. The main bar (seemingly light years from room) and the whiskey bar did help us to forget just how far away we were though and they have giant drinks. I mean like really giant...humorously enough, we were more popular for walking around with the giant yummy drink things than anything else the whole weekend. Go figure, eh?

Projecting games on the wall...nice!

So, with all that out of the way, you're probably asking yourself "Why should I go to this convention?" or "What's in it for congoers outside of the hotel?" Good questions to ask and there are probably a million reasons that could be listed or given and all of them would be correct. Personally, I would have to say that the number of guests that they bring in (and the variety of them), over 200 panels covering everything imaginable, an insane gaming room (complete with full size DDR machines and other goodies), tons of guest Q&A and autograph sessions and to top this off they bring in groups such as Eaten Alive and Sleeping Samurai to the party as well.

DJ Shimamura rockin it Friday night at the rave

So, as you can see, there's never really a shortage of things to do at all. Now, if it's music that you're interested in, they've got things covered there as well. For the second year in a row DJ Speedycake made a headlining appearance for one of their three (yes, three) raves that were held Thurs, Friday and Saturday nights. They also brought in DJ Shimamura, who I have to say was amazing to see live. I didn't get the whole set but did see enough to dance my tail off! The stage and sound set up was also amazing, definitely an upgrade from last year from what I saw and I hope they keep it up. (More rave coverage here!)


Raves, panels, an awesome gaming room, water park, huge convention space and hotel. What more could you want really? Oh, wait. I know. How about a giant bouncy house? Yep, they had one of these this year too and I have to say the thing looked completely mental. Sure, it just so happened to take up the panel room that we had last year but I think it was a worthy reason for us to be moved into a slightly smaller space for our Bronies, Late Night panel. I mean who doesn't love a bouncy house and a pirate ship themed one at that! Weirdly enough, this wasn't the only big inflatable that was around. There was a giant Magikarp, a pony and a few other things that I either forgot to take a picture of or just have forgotten entirely.

Colossalcon also offers up a formal ball on Friday night and is always popular with cosplayers and just about everyone else. Sure, the rave is going on as well, but at times it's nice to get all decked out and hit the dance floor with a special someone or just a group of friends. One of the cooler things about this event is that over half the folks who end up going to the ball do formal versions of cosplay and some of it is truly jaw dropping in how well it's put together. Only in it's second year, I think this one's going to stick around for a long while since it shows no sign of losing popularity. 

I'm not sure if this is a trend at cons or what, but it's now the third convention we've been to that's had one. Each of them having their own special twist to things and all of them either "selling out" in advance or being completely swamped. I for one really hope that they keep these things going as it's a nice contrast and option for those who may or may not be into raves.

Since I'm on the subject and all, the cosplay this year seemed to be up another notch for some reason too. Not sure what's going on out there in the cosplay world to cause all the amazing level of cosplay, but Colossalcon proved to be no slouch in this department either. There was tons of amazing and surprising cosplay to be seen almost around every corner and photoshoots happening all over the place, both inside and out. I really do hope that this level of cosplay keeps up with congoers out there as us folks with the cameras never can shoot too many pictures! (Curious about the cosplay? Well, we've got ya covered...just click here and here for the pics we got!)

See...giant bouncy house! Oh yeah...and a pony in the corner too!

So, now that we've seen that awesomeness, what about the dealers room and artist alley? Well, I can say that artist alley this year was far larger and there were a lot more vendors there. Instead of just a couple of the halls like last year, they wrapped completely around the main events, dealer room, gaming room and the room that held the awesome bouncy house. There were some familiar favorites like LemonBrat there as well as a few others that we hadn't seen at Colossal the previous year. I definitely liked seeing more of the artists there and the set up gave things a bit more of a festival atmosphere overall too, which is always nice.

On the flipside, there's the dealers room and Colossal doesn't exactly sport the largest or most comprehensive out there, but the showing is fairly decent and doesn't suffer from over-saturation or repetitiveness that some other conventions seem to suffer from at times. I can't say it's my favorite dealers room out there but I'd put in third, behind Ohayocon and Tekkoshocon. It's good, just not great or really that special. Another great thing is that pretty much everyone, artists and dealers alike, take cards and have things priced in a very competitive way ( +Carrie H.C. finally got a pair of Neurowear Nekomimi ears too!)  and definitely refreshing after our visit to Anime North. Here's to hoping that never changes!

Not enough shopping chances in the dealers room or artists alley? Well, there's also things like the Otaku Flea Market which runs on Thursday night that lets people set up a table on a first come first serve basis to sell handmade goods and there's the insanely popular Otaku Flea Market on Sundays. Both of these are pretty unique events to Colossalcon (I haven't seen them at other cons at least) and are always really popular with congoers and sellers a like! We didn't attend it this year, but last year Carrie, Tim and a few others did make it down and said that they had a great time. Me? I was at the rave...not overly surprising there, eh?

Now, I bet you're wondering just how they fit all of this into the convention center. Look no further, we've got answers! This year things were a bit different as the convention activities were taking up a lot more space than last year. How much space? Well the little map below should show you that the entirety of the convention center was used. This is definitely a vast improvement over last year and despite so much space being used, there were still areas that didn't feel overly crowded.

Click on it to make it bigger!

Sure, there were a few areas around the main events like the hallway that ran along Bouncy House and Gaming which probably shouldn't have had artists in them along with the crush of people trying to get around, but overall it wasn't bad and that's really the only true bottle neck that I saw. Hopefully next year they get that sorted out as the areas around Eaten Alive and the "Nerf Arena" (where Sleeping Samurai was located) was pretty quiet most of the time and may serve as a better location for some artists rather than that narrow space. Again, an improvement over last year but could still use some work in my opinion.


Comparing this to last year also sees a few new areas like the Parent's Lounge and Maid Cafe as well. While the lounge wasn't really something that we had much interest or need for, there was a good bit of folks in there at the times I poked my head in to see what was going on and I'm guessing nice for those who don't want to be in the crazy either but their kids are. We regretfully didn't make it to the maid cafe and due to the way it was set up, I couldn't really get a gauge on how popular or smoothly things ran inside of it. However, the few people I did talk to who went to it said that they had a great time and would definitely go again next year if it was back. So, there's that at least, eh?

Overall, I'd have to say that once again, Colossalcon delivers in it's name and overall feel. Around here we like to call it "Vacation Con" because it really does feel like you're just on an awesome vacation somewhere exotic...and surrounded by folks who are dressed the way everyone in the world should be. No con is without it's problems but Colossalcon does it's best to keep these to a minimum and I've never experienced a major problem with the con, it's staff or venue personally. I have heard of a few problems since the con which required police attention, but these were far from the norm and anyone reading this to decide if they should go shouldn't consider that as a usual thing at all. Almost all the feedback I've seen has been positive on their forums and Facebook Group.

So, with that, this wraps up my coverage of Colossalcon 12. It had it's share of the good times and weird times but I have to say that we here at Kitsuneverse are already planning to attend next year and see what new insanity the staff and volunteers pull off in 2014! They have to top this year somehow, right?

Oh yeah...one more thing. We weren't kidding about the giant drinks...Alex had to stand up on the bar rail to get even get to hers!