SWC17 Con Essentials

What are your go to items you bring with you when you hit the con floor? My wife hasn't been to a con of this magnitude before. I'm doing my best to prep her.

My must haves are:

1. Battery case for my iphone 7 plus. This one doesn't make the phone much bigger and has worked well when I travel for work.
2. My con plan. I'm sure you are going to be like me and will want to plan out your days to the hour. I always take a picture of my paper schedule to keep on my phone too in case I lose my paper one.
3. Ibuprofen, I get a lot of headaches so this is a must for me. Insert your essential pain killer of choice

 

Con schedule, if not included in the plan.
Comfortable shoes and clothes. This isn't the time for killer high heels or new shoes. I spent all three days of CE this year in trekking sandals that were very broken in - worked fine.
Cash - preferably from an ATM outside the venue. ExCel in London had ATMs but the lines were long. Most of the established vendors take credit/debit cards but not all. See if there's one in/near your hotel.
We both had backpacks but ExCel did bag searches and the lines were long here as well. For days 2 &3 I had a plastic bag stuffed in a pocket for purchases/handouts etc..

 

Water! (Although yes, you really can't carry too much unless you want to be loaded down like any pack mule) running or walking sneakers, lots o' cash to avoid ATM lines. A "loose" plan to follow that doesn't try to squeeze too much into the day. I find things always take longer than you think they will. My goal is to walk around taking in other cosplayers, hitting a couple podcast panels, shopping for vintage action figures, and a meetup with other "skywalkers". (Oh and witnessing the ice cream run) Other than those essentials- I'll just go with the flow as to what to see and do.

 

As others have said, a plan is extremely important. I can't stress that enough to first timers.

 

I can't emphasize enough about having a "loose" plan of what you want to do. You can have a great plan of what you want to do before the Con start but the moment it starts everything thing everything will change. Always plan for double the amount of time something will take. If you think it should take only 1 hour for you to do something plan for 2 hours.

 

Also if there is a panel you really want to see get there early. Some of the real popular ones at CE you had to queue for armbands to get in. We didn't do that but we tried to get in line around 20-30 minutes early for the ones we wanted.

 

Yeah - my partner and I didn't queue for wristbands at CE this year - we were staying at a hotel over in Southwark so we weren't real close to ExCel.

 

Would you think they will take credit or debit? I dont like carrying cash if I can help it

 

Often times at cons the major booths will but you might end up paying more for using your card. Cash is king at these events. Like the official store will take card but the merchants out on the con floor might not.

 

I hear you, but at any con, it's a good idea to have cash. More people take cards than they used to, but I still recommend having cash on hand.

 

Yeah - vendors representing a store will probably be set up for cards but someone selling part of a collection might not - best to have some cash. You'll probably need it for stuff like food/drink as well.

 

Appreciate the insight. I am mostly in the market for the exclusive pops, hasbro, and unique shirts so I will make sure I have cash in hand

 

Caffeine. I actually hoarded a bunch of these caffeinated Crystal Light packets in my bag throughout SWCA. Just mix with water and you've got a nice jolt of energy.

Also: external battery for phone and phone charger, a book/Kindle for if/when you're waiting in line alone, and cash from your bank's ATM so you don't have to keep paying ATM fees at the convention center.

 

Do they really let you bring in snacks and water? Usually convention centers do bag checks and make you throw away that stuff.

 

I had lots of snacks in Anaheim. Wasn't a problem. Not sure if Orlando will be different.

 

Things can always change from year to year and from venue to venue, but I am fairly sure Celebration, on their official site, recommended fans to bring water and snacks for Celebration Europe London 2016.