Dallas Fan Days 2014

This past weekend was the October edition of Dallas Comic Con! It was originally called “Fan Days” but I just learned that they will be renaming their 3 conventions. (If you’re curious – February’s will be Fan Days, May’s will be Dallas Fan Expo, and October’s will be Dallas Comic Con) But anyway I will probably still refer to this one as Fan Days for now 😀

They had announced early on that Elijah Wood and the Phelps twins from Harry Potter would be attending! I immediately bought a premium badge because I knew I would want to meet them. They also announced Alex Kingston (Doctor Who), Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy), and Burt Ward and Adam West (Batman and Robin) but they all sadly had to cancel. There were still several other great guests from Indian Jones and The Goonies as well as some big named comic book artists. I am totally blaming the Ebola scare that happened in Dallas this month for the cancellations. Thankfully I think it’s all under control now!

Fan Days was a 3 day convention so on Friday I wore my new Princess Peach cosplay! I had made a tutorial for the crown over a year ago (you can read it here), and I bought the fabric then, too. I finally made the dress in September this year to wear to Anime Fest, but ended up not going on the Sunday I had planned to wear it. So instead I debuted it at Fan Days! I loved being a bright pink princess!

 

Since there weren’t many guests there on Friday, we took advantage of the smaller crowd to do some shopping and scope out the dealer’s room. I was super happy to see new vendors and artists this time.

On Saturday I wore my Legolas cosplay again. I actually made this for last year’s Fan Days and have a full tutorial posted here. I chose to wear it again so I could meet Elijah Wood (who played Frodo in the Lord of The Rings.)

When I got to his autograph table I told myself to “play it cool” and not freak out. Well that didn’t work at all. I was so overwhelmed with excitement that I started tearing up. As soon as he saw me he said “That’s an amazing Legolas cosplay!” and that’s when I totally lost it. I told him how great it was to have this chance to meet him because I really never thought I would ever meet FRODO!

He was super incredibly nice but to be honest I don’t remember much else.. which makes me mad because I didn’t “play it cool” at all. Haha.

I just tried to hold back my tears so I wouldn’t ruin my makeup and the pictures my mom was taking. Luckily Elijah Wood was awesome and fanned my face to help me calm down. Gosh, I can’t believe I looked like that..

So eventually I managed to smile, and I thanked him again for this opportunity. I am a really really big LoTR fan and looking back at these photos nearly has me in tears again.

After I got his autograph, we went straight to the line for his panel. Even though it didn’t start for 2 more hours people were already trying to form a line. It was a mad house! The place was so crowded and there was no where to sit. But I was determined to get a good spot in the theater room. Sean Astin (who played Samwise) was also in attendance! I met him in 2012 in my Zelda cosplay you can read about here. We sat in the second row from the front! I loved hearing them talk about their experience on set.

Sunday I wore a Hermione cosplay so I could meet James and Oliver Phelps who played the Weasley Twins in all the Harry Potter movies. I already owned a Gryffindor tie and a Time Turner necklace so I paired it with one of my handmade wands and brown Ferrari wig from Arda Wigs. I didn’t get a wizard robe like I was hoping to so instead I wore my graduation gown from college!

You couldn’t pose with the twins at the table but my mom was able to snap these pics from the side. I actually managed not to cry until after I exited – thank goodness. They were so HANDSOME! I’ve been a Harry Potter fan since the beginning, and again I never thought I’d get to meet them. HP cast members rarely make appearances here. Although, I did get to meet Tom Felton last year! Now, I am hoping more of the cast will come to Dallas!

I spent the rest of Sunday in line again for the Twin’s Q&A panel. It began forming nearly 2 hours early, too. They talked some about funny twin pranks they have done, cleared up some HP rumors, and what it was like to read the final book and their character’s fates. I was mesmerized listening to them refer to Alan Rickman (Snape) and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) like they know them.. WHICH THEY DO! Omg it was incredible!

So even though I was mostly stuck in lines this whole convention I tried to snag a few pics of some great cosplays. I have all my photos posted in my Facebook Album!

And if you’re curious, this is what I look like after I take my cosplays off! Haha! I wear my Teemo hat to hide my wig hair.

Some loot I picked up was a Legolas Funko Pop, a mini Hunger Games poster, and the most magical unicorn shirt I’ve ever seen! My mom also won a drink koozie from the Scarborough Renaissance Festival’s table by spinning their prize wheel! Woot!

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Dallas Comic Con put on a great event again! Even with several cancellations and ridiculous lines, I still managed to have a great time. Thank you to everyone that asked for my picture or complimented my cosplays. I’m sorry I had to turn down some photo shoots this time – it was very busy and by the end of the day I was exhausted! My next con is probably PAX South in January. So I hope to see you there!