Lots to cover so no fancy intro here, let’s just jump right into my Day Two aka Saturday recap from MegaCon Orlando 2019! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out my Day One Friday recap!
What I Wore
After such a positive response at Wonder Con, I decided to wear my Lara Croft cosplay once again! I tried to recreate everything exactly as I had done last time. The only thing I added were some clip-on bangs (bought on the Wish app for $1) to make myself look more like the character. While the bandage on my pants remained intact from my last wear, I did have to stop at Walgreens to get some new ones for my arm and hand.
To do the blood, I used a ColourPop liquid lipstick (I tried to use it sparingly on my face as it made me break out terribly last time) and my MAC red lip liner in Brick for scratches. For the dirt, I used LOTS of brown eye shadow and the e.l.f. Lock On Liner and Brow Cream (it worked AMAZINGLY on the bandages).
All throughout the day, I got so many compliments on my resemblance to the character, how spot on my cosplay was, and even my blood work – it was all super flattering!
I Am Groot
Mickey Mouse Club Cast Reunion & Q&A
I have to be honest, I’ve never actually watched any of the Mickey Mouse Club. It’s a show that obviously was very popular, launched many careers, and is still held dear to so many fans and the cast members themselves. This year they are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the show (it started the same year I was born!). They had cast members from all seven seasons together for the first time in a panel moderated by N’Sync’s Joey Fatone.
Those who attended the reunion were MMC host Fred Newman and mousketeers Kevin Osgood, Damon Pampolina, Marc Worden, Nita (Booth) Young, Lindsey Alley, Rhona Bennett, Mylin Brooks-Stoddard, Brandy Brown-Pendleton, Jason “Blain” Carson, Tasha Danner, TJ Fantini, Dale Godboldo, Deedee Magno Hall, Chasen Hampton, Raquel “Roque” Herring, David Kater, Tony Lucca, Jennifer McGill-Bohannon, and Jason Minor.
After showing some original audition footage clips, they dove right into some questions. Forgive me as I didn’t know everyone’s name but they were asked what was the biggest prank/trouble they got into and one of the guys told a story that involved them using a 3-man slingshot to shoot jelly donuts against the sound studio.
MMC Crushes/Relationships
The longest part of the panel was when they went around and asked each person who their crushes on the show were/did they ever date anyone from the show. You could tell the audience was very interested in this information and even many of their fellow cast members didn’t know about some of these relationships that happened during the show. There was lots of blushing, and it was all very cute and sweet. Even Joey shared his crush was Brandy.
A few of the names I remembered to write down were: Deedee sharing she and Albert dated but she also went to prom with JC (I’m assuming this is N’Sync’s JC Chasez). David and Brandy dated for about six years. Tasha said there was a lot of truth or dare behind the scenes and and most of the dares were kissing. She said her first kiss ever was Jason, second Ricky, and third Josh. She also said she dated Matt. Marc (who I recognized as Tony Stark’s voice in Ultimate Avengers) said his crush was Deedee – that he had never seen someone so beautiful. There was quite a reaction when it was Tony’s turn – he said he had the pleasure of playing his love interest both on and off the screen. I later figured out he was talking about fellow Mouseketeer Keri Russell. They dated for eight yeas as well as played each other’s love interests on the show Malibu Shoes.
Rapid fire question and answers:
Q: Really memorable episode? A: Motown
Q: Ever keep the outfits? A: Most still have them
Q: Advice if you want to get into acting? A: Always hustle, it’s not easy
Q: Best season? A: First
Q: How long to learn the choreography? A: A week or two
Q: Favorite Disney characters? A: Jiminy Cricket, Dopey, and Jasmine were a couple of the answers
Stage Combat
This panel was completely full! Normally, they would close a room off with this many people but they actually let people stand around in and outside the doorway. I managed to find a small spot to stand in the very back next to the water cooler. The panel was led by fight director Bill Warriner. He talked about Bob Anderson, the original fight director of Star Wars and The Princes Bride. Anderson was the guy in the Vader suit and the one who developed the light saber fighting style (which was inspired by kendo).
Warriner also talked about the importance as a fight director to be able to do both sides of a fight. He also said another thing that’s important for a director to think about is using “the weapon in a way no one ever thought.” A very informative panel, he did a couple demonstrations and took audience questions.
Japanese Origami
On my way to another panel, I passed by a table with a bunch of origami on it. I saw a cute Pikachu and figured since there was a seat open why not sit down and try to make one myself. The instructor, Izumi, who taught me step-by-step how to recreate the Pikachu was super lovely. After I finished my Pikachu (pictured below), we talked about my Asian background and my love for Japanese culture and desire to learn the language and visit there someday. I mentioned how I would love to go there for the Olympics next year and she actually gave me a really cool booklet about it. This was such a nice break and unique activity from the usual con panels and wandering the floor, I’m so glad I did it!
Q&A with Kiefer and Jason
Unfortunately, I can’t find my notes on this “Lost Boys” panel with Kiefer Sutherland and Jason Patrice.
Q&A with Grav3yardGirl
MegaCon was also hosting “DigiCon” that weekend with several big YouTube stars. I’m a bit out of the YouTube world these days so I didn’t recognize many of the names. One that did stick out to me though was Grav3yardGirl aka Bunny, an OG beauty YouTuber that’s been around since I first discovered YouTube videos back in college years ago.
They were doing a Q&A, and I decided to hop in line and ask her a question. I asked if she could do any cosplay, what would it be? (Seemed like an appropriate question for the setting.) She initially seemed stumped but then answered Sailor Moon. A couple other questions she answered were “What kind of collab would you like to do?” She said she’d love to do a YouTuber ghost stories series. When asked about fandoms, she said she was excited to meet the Back to the Future cast and said the first one is her favorite from the trilogy.
Live Voice Actor Script Reading of Willy Wonka
I really love these live voice actor script readings! I’ve seen them done at a few different cons and they’re always hilarious and so much fun! This time was no difference. How it goes is that they have a funny script of some popular story (the last one I saw did Cinderella). They then have the voice actors read scenes in different character voices, changing them up for every scene. Usually, they’ll have the voice actors use the voices of their most popular roles or do impressions of celebrities or other pop culture figures.
This panel included the voice acting talents of Jess Harnell (Wakko in Animaniacs, Crash Bandicoot), Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck are just a couple of the 400+ roles he’s voiced, he also did the singing voice of Scar in The Lion King and Rasputin in Anastasia), Maurice LaMarche (Scuttle in The Little Mermaid, Brain in Pinky and the Brain, and a variety of voices on Futurama which earned him two Voice Acting Emmys), and Todd Haberkorn (Natsu in Fairy Tale, Death the Kid in Soul Eater).
Here are just some of the voices they had these guys do: Mr Miagi, the Cowardly Lion, Inspector Gadget, Death the Kid, Scary Terri, Darkwing Duck, Adam West, Owen Wilson, Italy (Hetalia), Richard Pryor, Yoda, Christopher Walken, Tom Brokaw, Foghorn Leghorn, Doc Brown, Tigger, Arnold Schwarnegger, Donald Trump, Sean Connery, Pepe LePew, Bullwinkle, Natsu, and Winnie the Pooh.
Q&A with Fan Favorite John Barrowman
Oh boy, John Barrowman’s panels are always a TRIP. You never quite know what you’re going to get but you know you’re in for a treat. They don’t put “Fan Favorite” before his name for nothing! You can tell he’s enjoying himself just as much as the audience and really feeds off their energy. The entire hour was filled with non-stop hilarity – his stories, jokes, and one-liners had my mouth sore from laughing/smiling so much.
My dad and I in line for John Barrowman.
John talked about his lost baggage from his flight along with another funny flying story with his daughter Kelsey. He said he’s a “Game of Thrones slut” and is hoping for the Iron Throne to go to either Jon and Dany together or Aria and Gendry. He also said he likes all the characters when asked about his favorite, and said Joffrey had the best death. Someone asked him what’s his favorite story to tell and he shared the most entertaining “No Dumping” story (hopefully it’s somewhere on Youtube).
He did his best to answer as many fan questions as he could. A few I jotted down were… He doesn’t know if he’ll be in the last season of Arrow. If he could be any animal, it would be a dolphin because the freedom of swimming is the closest to flying. If he could send Captain Jack to any fandom, it would easily be Supernatural. He said he would certainly go on David Tennant’s podcast if asked. He’s working on a project for Netflix. He’s got a musical in the works but can’t yet say what for.
At the end of the panel, he treated to us all to a performance of Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years.” You may or may not know this about me, but I was a HUGE John Barrowman fangirl back in the day and I had all his singing albums. Listening to his singing always helped me when I was stressed or feeling sad. I also would always listen to him when I was driving in bad thunderstorms (which happened quite a lot in Florida) to calm me down. To hear him perform a song live (and a song I love so much) was such a surreal joy.
He’s definitely got style! Look at that bejeweled TARDIS suit and those heels!
Q&A with iZombie’s Rose McIver
It’s been so long since I’ve watched iZombie (I think my dad has kept up with it though). After this panel, I definitely want to jump back on it and see how the series ends. I’ve attended a couple iZombie panels in the past and, of course, someone always has to ask Rose about her favorite “brains.” She said she had a lot of fun being the D&D guy, frat guy, and doing the salsa dancing in the current week’s episode. Concerning her character, Liv’s future with Major, she says she doesn’t want them to get together if he’ll have the same fate as the rest of her past boyfriends.
Cosplay/Floor
Today, I had a little more time to explore the floor and take photos of other cosplays.
Princess Zelda and Princess Ariel
YESSSS. Sailor Freddie Mercury!
How adorable are these two couples?
I missed the actual photoshoot but here’s the aftermath of the huge Spider-verse cosplay meetup.
Star Wars cosplay meetup
They were selling fudge on the floor and giving free samples!
Jedi Disney princesses Aurora and Belle
Wrap Up
I met up with my dad to grab some last minute dinner on the con floor – I stuck with my usual pulled rotisserie chicken (in my opinion, not just one of the healthiest choices, but at $10.50, also one of the best values). Once the floor closed, we took a couple cosplay photos of me as Lara outside then went back to our hotel room so I could change and take off all the “blood.” I debated going to the Cosplay Contest as I had last year but I was just too exhausted. Once I got back to the room, I should’ve known right away, there was no way I was leaving it again that night. My body was ready to pass out and that it did!
That concludes Saturday! Hopefully, I can get my final recap post up ASAP then I’ll start editing the hundreds of cosplay photos from each day!
