MegaCon Orlando 2021 wrapped up its four day event today, and I can confirm this powerhouse of an event has returned to it’s pre-pandemic form. It was not an easy comeback for MegaCon as it had to face a virus variant, threat of a possible tropical storm named Fred over the weekend, and many cancelling celebrity guests. Even with everything going in the wrong direction, MegaCon kept moving forward with the event and everything worked well in their favor.

MegaCon required masks to be worn inside at all times. They also had hand washing stations and hand sanitizing dispensers in key locations at the Orange County Convention Center. Celebrity guests that wanted a plexiglass barrier were granted that extra protection. Regular face mask reminders were made over the loud speaker, but for the most part all of the guests in attendance wore face masks. Many of the guests dressed in cosplay integrated their face mask into their costumes. I am fully vaccinated, but I applaud MegaCon for making the decision to require masks for everyone’s safety. Event attendees were really courteous to one another and left their masks on to keep themselves and others safe.

Tropical Storm Fred decided to go vacation elsewhere. MegaCon usually takes place in the Spring season so tropical storms and hurricanes are usually not an issue.

All conventions have celebrity guests cancellations due to production schedule changes with their different projects, but this year was insane with the number of cancellations coming in as the convention dates drew near. MegaCon did their best to find backup guests when other guests could not attend. Throughout the past few months of MegaCon celebrity announcements, there were quite a few guests that I was excited to see that were not able to attend. I could see how this could be a bummer for the convention attendees. The celebrity guests that did attend were a lot of fun. Charles Martinet who has provided the voice of Mario and other favorite Nintendo voices since the early 1990s was a highlight for me. Mary Poppins himself, Michael Rooker, was a fan favorite at MegaCon. Late added guests Bob Saget, Dave Coulier, and Jesse Stamos extended their previously announced commitment to an additional day. You could tell from the look on all of the guests in attendance that they were having fun and their autographs were in demand from the amount of people in line. 30 celebrity guests and nearly 100 comic creators were in attendance.

I have to admit that celebrities in attendance and panels are a really nice draw, but what I really enjoy about going to conventions is the show floor full of vendors and artists. The below recap is from Saturday (Day Three) of the four day event, MegaCon Orlando 2021.

This was my third MegaCon Orlando and also my first time attending a convention since the Covid pandemic hit and caused most conventions to cancel or postpone in 2020 and 2021. Going to conventions was something that I really enjoyed doing so it felt great to make a return to MegaCon Orlando 2021.

I didn’t know what to expect as far as attendance due to the three unfortunate circumstances mentioned above, but Saturday was absolutely packed. It had been a while since I had seen that many people in the same place, and I go to the Disney theme parks in Orlando frequently.

These were my fellow geeks, and it was great to be among them. You could really tell that everyone in attendance including guests, celebrities, and the vendors were having a great time and smiling behind their masks. Everyone had been waiting so long to hang out in this setting together. The vendors in attendance on the show floor had to have been happy with the turn out on Saturday.

The cosplayers showed up in full force to show off their creativity. I have to say the most popular costumes on Saturday were Scarlet Witch and all of the different variants of Loki. Alligator Lokis were everywhere on art in the Artist Alley vendors and with guest attendee cosplay.

There were unique picture taking opportunities with scenes and props from Star Wars and Ghostbusters.

There were also vehicles from Fast and the Furious, Jurassic Park, Batman, Back to the Future, and Ghostbusters on the show floor.

Masters of the Universe fans could even take a picture on a massive Battle Cat or Panthro.

I learned that there is a WALL-E Builders Club just like the popular Star Wars droid building clubs. You can find out more about the WALL-E Builders Club on the forums of their website.

There were plenty of locations selling food on the show floor so there was never really a long line for food anywhere. I had a delicious BBQ pulled pork sandwich for lunch.

One of my favorite things to do is to talk to the artists in artist alley. A lot of them have used their time during the pandemic to spruce up their online shops. I want to highlight some of my favorite art vendors that I met as well as give you links to their web stores.

The first vendor booth that caught my eye was Michael McElroy Studios. Michael had amazing Shadowbox Cels of many of the franchises that I love including Roger Rabbit, Darkwing Duck, and the Muppets. He also had one of his newest art pieces on display of the famous Haunted Mansion stretch portraits recreated with Muppets.

You can find all of the art that Michael had at the convention on his website. It wasn’t until after I checked out his website on one of my convention breaks that I found out that he had DuckTales (2017) art. I went back to his booth later, and the DuckTales (2017) was front and center. I would have a tough purchase decision to make later between DuckTales (2017) and Darkwing Duck.

Another great art booth that I wanted to highlight was the Dan the Doodle booth. Dan had some great character mashups that included some interactions of Goliath from Gargoyles with the gargoyle Hugo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame and art of Huey, Dewey, and Louie trick or treating with Sam from Trick ‘r Treat. His Haunted Mansion art is also to die for.

You can find some of Dan the Doodle’s art on stickers, prints, and shirts on his Link Tree.

Another magical art booth that I really enjoyed was the PescEffects Booth featuring the art of Jerry Pesce. His art was available on both prints and metal.

I really wish Jerry had Darkwing Duck art featuring the Darkwing Duck Fearsome Five as that would be a metal print that would be a must have for me. All of Jerry’s art can be found on his website. You really must check out his website to appreciate the beauty of his art. You can even get an Alligator Loki.

What did I end up buying? I went back to the Michael McElroy Studios booth and made my decision to bless my bagpipes and get dangerous with the purchase of both the DuckTales (2017) and Darkwing Duck Shadowbox Cels.

MegaCon Orlando 2021 was a very fun event. I very much look forward to attending MegaCon Orlando 2022!