Fan Expo Dallas
Feature 1
Fan Expo Dallas occurred on June 17-19 2022, also known as Father’s Day weekend. It is located in Dallas, Texas at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. Covid Policy is starting to get relaxed at large conventions which is common in Texas. Fan Expo had an amazing lineup of guests from the Lord of the Ring cast, Cobra Kai, WWE Stars, and more. The cosplay at this convention consists of Five Nights of Freddy, Genshin Impact, Hobbits, marvel characters, and DC superheroes. See the day-to-day pages for more cosplay. The most amazing thing I saw was via social media of the poster of “What makes a Super Dad?”
Prices and Recommendation
So how much did it cost to attend the convention? Luckily Dallas is only a three-hour drive which is about a tank and a half. At this time of year, gas is around 4 dollars and 60 cents. The hotel to stay at while at this convention center is the Aloft. It will force you to walk a block outside, but at least it is cheaper than the Omni Dallas Hotel and an easier walk than the Fairfield Suites and Inn Marriott. It has parking lots that are also close which beats waiting in line to park your car on a Saturday morning rush. Food in the Dallas area is around $12 for a full meal but you can also find yourself in an All-you-can-eat Brazilian steakhouse for $50. We tried IN and Out which was a 15min drive to keep costs down.
Convention Layout
The convention layout was very similar to last year with the improvement of moving the VIP closer to the window and putting the cosplay red carpet in front of the tables by the eating area so more people can see everyone’s beautiful cosplay. Also, all the sponsors for the event were located in the main event area with the Star Wars group. Sadly, the area of the beautiful light was not used again this year.
Saturday
We drove to the event early Saturday morning and arrived at the convention center around 930 to find a line to park in the convention center. If you pass by this line and go past the convention center it is easier to park if you are willing to walk. The convention already started by the time I had settled in the room and dropped off my stuff but the line to get in was still short. The prop check line on the other hand was already past the hallway. So, note to self, get prop check done earlier. A majority of the day was walking around taking cosplayers’ pictures until the cosplay contest. The contest had some returners from last year with a new build and even had a catchy halftime Disney sing-along with Zac Effron. The contest best in the show was won by builtbybrit, with a Tiny Tina who will be representing Fan Expo Dallas at Toronto to compete in the Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix Finale. The show was still not over yet as one final event was still ready to go. The Lord of the Ring cast was giving some hobbit content at the main event area that had a line that went from the door to the main event all the way down the steps and back 4 times.
Sunday
Sunday was light and everyone’s focus was shopping. Due to Father’s Day, I left a little early to spend time with my family as I felt the cosplay content was dying down. I did venture into the family area which had plenty of boxes forts and Lego for any child or adult to enjoy.
Pros: a strong niche for being designed for the Fans. As there was always a large line for VA, Actors, and stars. The red carpet was now facing the dining area so everyone eating can view all the cosplayers. Whatnot had a booth with a selfie area with LED lighting.
Cons: The convention does not have a variety of natural light scenery. In the past, they had a fence off area for meetups which are now conducted in the exhibit hall.
