WONDERFEST 2013
Ok, here is my tale of WF2013 from my own
perspective.
For those who do not know, that is us in the pics above.
Me (TAY666) on the right, and my daughter (Evil3) on the left.
This year marks our 12th consecutive year attending the show.
This year started off great. The drive down was
uneventful and even somewhat fun.
Which means when we rolled in at around 4 PM we weren't worn out
at all.
Of course, the hotel screwed up our room. Again. Instead of the
2nd floor room I wanted we go the room directly above.
Which meant, having to deal with elevators again. [sigh]
On the bright side, we were just a few doors down from the
Cult-suite, and the AFM suite.
Also had Atlantis right next door to us.
We did our normal Friday stuff. Hung with friends
in the lobby. Went and got our contest forms and passes for the
weekend.
Hung out at that end while the dealers set up. Ordered some pizza
for dinner, then more hanging in the lobby.
Had lots of fun chatting with Scott, Chinxy, and Rick in the
lobby.
Even got to bed at a reasonable hour (2 AM)
That way we had a good nights rest before things
really kicked into gear.
After showers and breakfast, we submitted out contest entries,
and hung out in the hall and outside until the dealers room
opened. Which, as always, kicked off the whirlwind of dealers
room / contest room / dealers room / discussions / dealers room.
Etc.
Of course, there was lots of visiting with friends mixed in there
as well.
Some highlights were -
Finding the lone Godzilla shifter knob in Flintstones bins piled
full of shifter knobs.
Getting our Ripley kits from 3 Kings.
Going to the Moebius presentation and winning door prizes. I
think Britny got one of the best ones.
Her box had 2 Kogar kits, a shirt, a patch, and a lanyard.
Scoring a couple cool godzilla busts for just $60.
Then, before we knew it, the day was over.
Back to the room for a short rest before we headed out for
dinner.
This was the first time we actually went out to dinner during WF.
We hit Bob Evans. It was nice to be in a quiet environment after
the roar of the show.
Excellent food didn't hurt either.
Then it was back to the hotel, and our couch in
the lobby.
Though we actually didn't spent much time there this year.
After visiting with some friends, we went up to the theater to
watch The Raven. With infro from Sara Karloff.
I actually stayed awake for the whole thing too!
Then after a brief trip to the lobby, and down the hall, we
headed up to Cults-suite.
And finished out the night there.
Sunday was more of the same.
Though it started earlier as we caught the 9AM 'Glass Eyes' demo.
Then a quick tour of the contest room
before the dealers room opened. Which is when I learned I scored
a merit for my Giant Insect kit!
Then it was off to the dealers room to spend more money.
I bought a ton of stuff from Cult to fill out my Graveyard Scenes
collection.
We caught the Sara Karloff discussion upstairs.
And pretty much hung out in the dealers room until the awards
ceremony.
A quick dash down to grab the first batch of my contest entries.
Then another trip to the dealers room while I waited for the line
to shrink to get the rest of my stuff.
Spent even more money on the 4 MPC glow-head kits that I had been
debating about buying all weekend.
Then it was over.
We hung out near the dealers room for a while saying goodby to
friends that were leaving that night.
Then up to the room for dinner.
Then back to the lobby.
Though that didn't last long. We sat there for a while, but it
just wasn't the same.
There were already a bunch of people there with little dogs for
some dog show that week.
And that night, a bunch of business types were checking in for a
business convention on Monday.
We didn't see any WF people at all.
So we took to wandering.
Ended up at the Canadian Embassy for a ton of fun. Brian and Ross
were shooting a video that Britny helped with.
Jesse did the make-up.
Only problem is that it was hot. We had like 12 people crammed on
their balcony.
The AC for the room was running and throwing off a bunch of heat
onto the balcony.
So, after an hour or two there, we moved on. Sat in the lobby for
a bit visiting with some of Tom's Iwata crew.
Then back to the Cult-suite for more fun and entertainment.
In the morning it was time to pack up and leave.
Originally I figured we could sleep in, and take our time. I
didn't have to go to work on Tuesday, and Brit didn't have class.
But that kind of changed, as Brit ended up coming home to get her
new car (new to her at least)
So, we needed to get back at a decent hour to get that, and so
she could clean it out and such.
Of course, just as we were getting kind of close to home, we hit
horrible traffic problems.
Right when we got back to I90 things came to a stop due to an
accident 2 exits ahead.
Then that cleared up, and we hit another jamb just after passing
the Geneva exit.
But yeah. Another Wonderfest in the books.
4 days down the tubes.
Over $1000 too.
But man, the good times and memories are more than worth it.
(not to mention all the cool kits)