A Survival Guide to DragonCon
You probably found your way here because you plan to one day attend or somehow scored a hotel and now need help figuring out the convention. As someone who has been going to DragonCon for 15+ years, I know how big and how crazy this con can get. So what exactly is DragonCon and what makes it so different from other conventions? Let's start with...
What is DragonCon
Dragon Con is one of North America's largest multi-genre conventions. Held every year over Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. DragonCon is comprised of 5 hotels and takes up the entirety of the Peachtree Center neighborhood. Back in 2017, DragonCon drew in over 80,000 attendees making it its largest year yet.
What Makes DragonCon Different
Unlike it's brother over on the west coast Comic Con, DragonCon is entirely run by fans for fans. Because of this there is no large influence from corporations and all of the content found at DragonCon was created by the fans.
Because DragonCon does not take place in your typical convention center, the con truly runs 24/7 since the heart of DragonCon takes place in 5 hotels. There is something always going on at every hour of the convention from when it starts Thursday evening to when it ends on Monday afternoon. This aspect of DragonCon is why among the community is known as the "Party Con".
Before I get into the Survival Guide for DragonCon, I wanted to pin point some key things to keep in mind before going:
Have a Plan that is Flexible
2020 marked my 15th year attending (thanks to covid virtually) and even for how long I've been going, I have not done everything that DragonCon has to offer. There is so much that goes on and so many things to do that it is hard to keep to your personal schedule if you made one. Don't stress yourself out if you miss panels or parties. There is plenty to do at this con and you're bound to find something fun and new.
The 3-2-1 Rule
Because DragonCon runs 24/7 and never sleeps, some people really do forget to sleep, eat, and shower. So as a rule of thumb, try to follow the "3-2-1" Rule: 3 Hours of Sleep, 2 Meals a Day, and 1 Shower a Day. Follow those rules and you'll be able to fight off con funk and con crud.
Facebook is Your Friend
Now I am not the biggest fan of Facebook. I personally use Twitter and Instagram. But many DragonCon attendees use Facebook to plan events, and since this con is "by the fans for the fans", a lot of the parties, photoshoots, and fan panels are actually planned on Facebook. There are so many crazy and unique groups for this convention that I actually had to make this Google Doc to keep track of all of them. Feel free to take a look and see if you find groups that may interest you!
DragonCon is Family Friendly (For the Most Part)
Even though many people call this con "Party Con", many are referring to the convention once it is well past sun down. During the day, DragonCon is very much a family friendly convention. I'll cover this subject more in depth later, but after 9pm is when "DragonCon After Dark" begins and that's when, if you have children, may want to get them to bed.
It's Not Impossible to Find a Hotel for the Weekend
I won't lie, getting a hotel for DragonCon is tricky. DragonCon is like Disney World where you need to plan your vacation months in advance due to things selling out. And that thing is hotels in DragonCon's case. So where as most conventions you can still nab a hotel nearby a month out, DragonCon they're booked up 10 months in advance.
BUT! It is not impossible to get a hotel at or near DragonCon. The way I got my hotel is by calling once a week three months leading up to con and I got lucky with a cancelation. (Also the hotel put me on a calling list and they called me.) You can try for the "Hunger Games" when hotel blocks open in October/November. But if you miss out, there's always cancelations.
And with those tips out of the way let's get to the Survival Guide!
Convention Map: The Lay of the Land
DragonCon doesn't take place in one location like most conventions. DragonCon takes up 5 hotels in Downtown Atlanta along with a few other buildings which tend to house the dealers rooms and 24/7 arcade.
As you can see on the map (above), everything in purple is where DragonCon takes place. It's large, spread out, and for someone new it can get over whelming. Don't be afraid to get lost as it will happen. But with 80,000 con attendees in the area there are plenty of people to ask for directions or simply follow the crowd. 9 out of 10 times crowds lead to the Marriott in some way.
Here are some key elements to help you get around:
Skyways | Skybridges
3 of the hotels along with 1 of the America's Marts and a large Food Court are all connected to one another by skyways. These are very convenient as you can go to and from these locations without having to go outside. The only downfall to them is they do get crowded during peak hours. Sometimes I do opt to head outside and cross the road so I'm not crammed in an over head tunnel full of people, but they are convenient and you should use them when you can.
Stairs and Escalators
Stairs and escalators will most likely be your number one mode of getting around the convention especially if you're in costume. Every hotel has some form of stairs or escalators and usually I just go with which ever is least crowded. Con staff is really good about having people stationed in front of the escalators as to not cause over crowding getting on and off so for the most part I use them all the time. I tend to take stairs to avoid waiting for an elevator.
Elevators
No lie if you can avoid using them do so. There's a joke that you have to "ride up to go down" and really it isn't a joke. I have only ever been able to get into elevators a handful of times during my time at con and it's really not worth it. They're extremely over crowded and you can easily spend 45 minutes in one as there always seems to be someone getting on or off on every floor.
Now for those with disabilities riding an elevator is your only option. I had a family member come one time who was wheel chair bound and waiting for an elevator was an all day event. Eventually a hotel staff member let us ride their emergency elevator and told us if we needed to use it again to just call the front desk. This ended up saving our convention and we were truly thankful for the staff. So long story short, if you can just avoid them.
Navigating Skybridges
Navigating the network of Ariel walkways can be a bit confusing. Here is a timer on how to get from place to place using the walkways primarily:
Hyatt to Marriott -
There are 2 possible routes here:
From the Lobby Level, go to the far left end of the front desk, towards the “Radius” tower. Proceed through the tube to the Peachtree Center Food Court. Once in the food court, another walkway will take you to the Marriott.
From the Lobby Level, proceed to the left of the bar. A walkway will take you directly to the Marriott’s Atrium Level.
Marriott to Hilton -
Proceed to the Marquis Level. If you came from the Hyatt, go down 2 floors. If you came from the Food Court, go down 1 level. Proceed out the back to the bridge, which will bring you out on the Hilton’s 2nd Floor, where many panels are held.
Hyatt to Hilton -
Follow the Hyatt to Marriott and then the Marriott to the Hilton steps. Alternatively you can proceed to the Courtland St. Garage from the Food Court, go down 7 floors to the street level, out the front door, turn right around and cross the street to the Hilton. You can turn left from the garage to get to the Sheraton as well.
Food Court to Hotels -
To go to the Hyatt to Marriott instructions, proceed through the appropriate tube, which is marked. For the Hilton and Sheraton, use the Courtland St. Garage tube and take the elevator to street level. Exit the garage and turn right for the Hilton and left for the Sheraton.
Hilton to Food Court -
There is no direct connection here. Proceed to the Courtland St. Garage. Go to the 7th floor. Exit the elevators and turn right. This tube will take you to the food court. From here, you can take walkways to Hyatt and Marriott. From the Hilton, you can also go to the 2nd floor, across the bridge to the Marriott, up 2 levels, cross the hotel, and exit by the Blood Drive.
Tracks, Panels, and Parties (oh my!)
One of the reasons I, and probably thousands of others, always seem to come back every year to DragonCon is for the content. From panels to parties to contests, DragonCon offers almost anything geek culture you could think of. DragonCon is unique in that there is a large selection of events including: guest panels, fan panels, music performances, wrestling, gaming tournaments, costume contests, workshops, raves, ect...the list goes on!
A personal favorite of mine is the 24 hour game room they have that has both retro and modern video game arcade machines, some of which come from Japan!
But with so much content, it's very easy to lose track of what you want to do. So that brings me to the next item on this survival guide.
The App (And When it gets Updated)
The DragonCon App is a huge life savor and will be your best friend during the weekend. Back before 2011, the only way to know what was going on at the convention was to pick up (I kid you not) a yellow pages sized booklet that had a schedule of everything happening. My friends and I used to grab one of those bad boys and go grab lunch at the Hard Rock using sticky notes and highlighters to mark what we wanted to do.
Fast forward to 2011 and DragonCon did away with the large booklets and introduced the DragonCon App. The app is extremely user friendly and allows you to filter content by day, track type, panel type, and more making it easier to find what you want to do. The app also contains helpful maps, hours of operation for certain vendors and rooms, let's you see if any panels or parties you're interested in are over lapping (very common at DragonCon), and a list of all vendors and where they're located which always comes in handy.
A cool feature of the app is if your friends are tagging along, you can share friend codes with one another and see what content they're interested in. But probably the MOST helpful thing the app does that a booklet schedule couldn't is be UPDATED! The app is always being updated as panels get cancelled or times/locations get moved about. As long as you have notifications on, you'll be alerted of said changes.
The best part about the app is it usually comes out 2 weeks before con so all of you early planners can get scheduling out of the way.
***Something to Note*** The DragonCon app only contains information for OFFICIAL panels and parties hosted by the con itself. Content like fan parties and cosplay photoshoots are NOT included on the app and can only be found on Facebook through groups and events. I highly suggest looking through the Google Doc I included in the beginning tips to join groups and see what fan content is planned for the weekend.
Food: Where to Get Grub
As a local to Atlanta, we've got a lot of great restaurants with many from out of town loving the southern food they can only get here. DragonCon happens to be in a great location with a lot of food choices from quick services like Chick-fil-A to sit downs like Max Lager's.
Your best friend for if you need a quick bite for cheap without wandering off from the convention will be the Peachtree Center Food Court. This food court is smack dab in the middle of 3 of the main hotels and is connected by Skybridges to both the Hyatt and Marriott.
Back in 2018, this food court went under some major remodeling which added more seating and more food options in which you are bound to find something you'll like. (See map below.)
In 2020 due to covid, the Peachtree Center Food Court had more time to expand and add new things including an escape room! Check out the website here to use their interactive map: Peachtree Center Food Court Website
Or check out this PDF of the floor plan: PDF of Peachtree Center Food Court
A quick note on the food court is that it does get crowded and there are 80,000 other people trying to eat too. Grabbing food at DragonCon does take time and you may not be able to find a table to sit. Usually in this case I'll grab my food and head back to my hotel or head to the Hilton and sit outside. But this is normally only ever an issue during lunch time.
If a sit-down restaurant is more your speed then below are some options I recommend that are in or close to DragonCon:
Big Kahuna Atlanta
Cuts Steakhouse
Gibney's Pub **if you're a fan of reubens try theirs**
Hard Rock Cafe
High Velocity **located in the Marriott Atrium**
Max Lager's Wood-Fired Grill & Brewery **amazing pizza that usually sells out by Sunday evening**
Meehan's Public House Downtown
Pittypat's Porch
The PokeSpot
Tin Lizzy's Cantina
Trader Vic's **amazing cocktails and requires a reservation**
The Crowd: The Never Ending Sea of Bodies
I'm going to start off by saying this...if you are afraid, have a phobia, or have anxiety attacks that are triggered due to large crowds, then you may want to skip out on DragonCon. The crowds are HUGE! The image above is not fake, that is what DragonCon looks like at every hour of the day all weekend long.
With 80,000+ people crammed into 5 hotels in downtown Atlanta, things can get pretty crowded. A plus side is being of a geek culture crowd, people tend to be very nice and apologies when they run into you. But there's only so much they can do when everyone is being squeezed into one another.
A tip I can give is if you want to avoid the worst of the crowds, like the image above, simply DON'T attend DragonCon Saturday afternoon. Saturday attracts the most single day attendees due to many of the big naming guests being scheduled for that day along with the DragonCon Parade happening that morning. I've learned over the years to avoid hitting the convention floor Saturday from Noon till around 6pm. Once evening hits the crowds begin to thin out as most of the single day ticket and parade watching people leave for the day. Saturday morning is safe because most everyone is watching the parade. But you'll want to get to where you're going before they block the roads or you'll be trapped for the next hour.
So again, if large crowds scare you or you can't handle them, just skip DragonCon.
Cosplay and Photoshoots
Now if you are a cosplayer yourself, I HIGHLY recommend checking out the Facebook Group "DragonCon Group Photoshoots". This group is where group leads and organizers submit their information for group photoshoots and the admins keep a Google spreadsheet of all of the photoshoots pinned to the top of the group. I love photoshoots as they're opportunities to get your picture taken in costume for free and you get to meet like minded people who are into the same thing as you. Many of my life long friends I have meet through DragonCon group photoshoots and are so much fun to attend.
The DragonCon Parade
Ask any local to Atlanta about DragonCon and their first comment will likely be about the parade. The spectacle of thousands of cosplayers, young and old, dressed as their favorite pop culture characters marching down Peachtree Street is simply too much to resist. With an estimated attendance of some 75,000 people, the annual DragonCon Parade is the city's best attended parade.
The DragonCon Parade first matched down the streets of Peachtree in 2001 and has since been going.
The parade takes place from 10am-12pm Saturday morning of DragonCon and is a little over a mile long. People line up on the side of the road as early as 6am to watch the costumes and cars come through.
Now if waking up early and sitting outside in the Atlanta heat isn't your cup of tea but still wish to watch the parade you're in luck! The parade every year since 2015 is broadcasted live on the Atlanta's CW69 so you don't have to worry about missing the parade. If you want to see what the parade is like, check out the video above! The parade starts at the 14:15 mark.
DragonCon "After Dark"
As mentioned earlier, DragonCon for the most part is family friendly. But it becomes not so family friendly when the sun begins to set, or in this case, 9pm. DragonCon After Dark is what the convention is referred to as once the sun has set and the children are (hopefully) asleep. Much of the content that happens at DragonCon late at night is geared towards an older audience from burlesque shows to raves and dances.
So if you're a party goer, love to drink, or are just a late night owl, be sure to check out what DragonCon has to offer when the sun sets. It turns into a completely different convention at night.
Night at the Aquarium
When people come to visit Atlanta, two main things come to mind: the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. DragonCon happens to be a 10 minute walk from both of these iconic Atlanta attractions and even went as far as to partner with one of them.
Saturday night of the convention, DragonCon offers, for an extra fee, the opportunity to visit the world famous Georgia Aquarium for A Night at the Aquarium. Cosplay is welcome to this event which offers amazing photo opportunities for cosplayers looking to have a whale shark as their back drop. The event takes place from 7-11pm which is after hours for the aquarium. As a local I will say hands down this is the best way to experience the aquarium. The animals are more active at this time and being surrounded by costumes and an event DJ makes the experience so unique.
This event is separate from DragonCon so it does require a separate ticket to get in. It's $30 for general admission or, if you're wanting a private lounge featuring the beluga whales and an open bar with snacks, there's the $90 VIP option.
More info on this event can be found here. I highly recommend purchasing tickets in advance as they tend to sell out the week before DragonCon.
Dragon’s Nectar - The Official DragonCon Drink
In 2021 when the convention had finally returned from the covid shut down, attendees noticed a new drink being served at many of the restaurants and food carts around the convention. It was then confirmed that DragonCon worked with local a local meadery called Monk’s Meadery to create what is now known as the “Official” drink of DragonCon.
Cases can be purchased online, at local beverage stores around Atlanta, or at the convention and are exclusive to DragonCon. In 2021, the flavor was known as Dragon’s Nectar. A season mead made with passion fruit, hibiscus, and dragon fruit. It is extremely refreshing with a bit of a fruity twist to it.
In 2022, they introduced a new flavor called Dragon Blaster, a mead with a remarkable lemon twist and glittery galactic metallic flakes. But to be honest, compared to last year’s drink, it was, as other’s put it, tasted like Goblin piss.
New for 2023, the Dragon’s Nectar is making a return along with an exclusive shirt that can be purchased over on their Etsy page.
The Cults
DragonCon can get weird due to the fact that this convention is "by the fan for the fans" to the point that this convention has it's own Cults. Now these cults aren't anything to fear as many of them revolve around innocent icons such as the beloved Marriott Carpet that was replaced back 2015 or the FedEx cardboard cut out that by the end of the convention had a following.
The first cult mentioned is the Cult of the Marriott Carpet. That's right! The Marriott Marquis in Atlanta for the longest time had a very interesting (yet ugly) carpet pattern that over time became an icon for the convention. I could easily tell that a photo had been taken at DragonCon by the carpet alone. But come 2015, when DragonCon descended upon Atlanta as it always did, the carpet had been replaced with something even more of an eyesore. Fans were so upset that locals to Atlanta began to dumpster dive for any remains of the old carpet (image on the right) while others recreated the pattern digitally to be used to make clothes and costumes. Thus started the Cult of the Marriott Carpet.
The other cult is younger in that it began in 2019. Long story short, there was a FedEx cutout located near the skybridge that takes you from the Marriott to the Peachtree Center Food Court. Everyday of the convention, the cutout would have something new on it from googly eyes to stickers. Then during the last night of the con, the cutout went missing and convention goers mourned the loss of the cutout. The person on the cutout had a name tag that read Jon so the Cult of Jon was formed Sunday night of DragonCon.
There are other cults but those two are the biggest ones that you will most likely find someone at con sporting the pattern of.
Swag N Seek and Badge Ribbons
The last thing I will go over in this survival guide came about recently as a lot of DragonCon attendees love to make SWAG and small items to hand out to people. I personally love to hand out buttons and badge ribbons to people who take a picture with me or are dressed from the same series. It's just a fun little extra thing to make people's convention more rememberable.
Swag N Seek is a group where attendees leave small items around the convention in hopes of someone finding it. This can be anything from keychains to buttons to small toys. One year I found a hand made fanny pack and a unicorn toy just hiding in a fake tree in the Hilton. The goal of the group is to spread happiness around the convention through random acts of kindness in the form of a treasure hunt. The group idea originally steamed off from another group that would paint rocks and hide them all through out the convention. That slowly evolved into other items being hidden and formed the Swag N Seek group. The group 100% operates through Facebook and can be found here.
Another fun item you'll see around con are called Badge Ribbons. Badge ribbons are a small piece of imprinted ribbon that attach with an adhesive strip to the bottom of your membership badge or at the bottom of the next ribbon in the chain. They are a tradition at many science fiction conventions and have been slowly making a come back at DragonCon.
In years past, ribbons were handed out to attendees for special events and were commonly used in contests to spot who was competing. But over time people began to make their own for fun and the badge ribbon culture returned to the con. Some collect so many that their ribbons drag on the floor.
Just like Swag N Seek, there is a group for those who create badge ribbons on Facebook called DragonCon Royal Order of the Ribbon. Here people post what ribbons they are making as well as schedule meetups for people to swap and hand out their ribbons.
The Verdict
DragonCon is a crazy, whacky convention with a lot to do. And as you can see with this Survival Guide, there truly is a lot to do. That is why so many people find themselves coming back to Atlanta every Labor Day Weekend again and again.
With a little bit of something for every nerd and geek of all fandoms, it’s where you can truly let your geek side show and even pick up a new series or two for when you get home.
Remember with any convention to always pace yourself. Let your schedule be flexible to allow you the opportunity to explore as some of my most memorable DragonCon memories weren’t something found on a schedule.