This weekend, guests traveled from all over to attend MegaCon Orlando 2024 on February 1 through February 4 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. This year their guest list did not disappoint with many panels that included stars from popular franchises including Star Wars, Stranger Things and more. Plus, you know that there are always going to be guests that cosplay and their costumes and creativity are truly out of this world.
Day 1:
We started the convention by seeing Loretta Swift and Jamie Farr from M.A.S.H. You can tell that these two have such an incredible friendship from over the years and hearing stories from their time on set was incredible.
Day 2:
On the second day we got there early so we could catch the panel featuring Anthony Daniels. As many of you know he played C-3PO in Star Wars. If you have ever seen him live, he is absolutely hilarious. He enjoys roasting the crowd but still in a tasteful way. The audience likes to give it back to him as well. Any opportunity you have to see him is well worth it.
We then attended the panel with Rainn Wilson who is best known as Dwight Schrute from The Office. He shared memories of his times with the cast and answered questions from the crowd.
On day two this was also my first time ever cosplaying myself. I decided to dress up as a character that meant so much to my childhood and that was Loonette from The Big Comfy Couch. I even had the opportunity to meet Alyson Court, who played the actual Loonette. What other opportunity would you have to meet Loonette dressed up as Loonette? This '90s kid had to do it!
Day 3:
On day three we attended the panel of Butch Hartman who was the creator of the Fairly Oddparents and Danny Phantom. He was extremely inspirational to those in attendance encouraging everyone to go after their dreams and never give up no matter how many trials you face. It's also interesting to hear stories of how he came up with some of the characters and different ideas that never made the cut.
That night was the panel that I was looking forward to the most. As a lifelong Star Wars fan, of course I would not want to miss the double feature with Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen. Although there would be a stand by line, we didn't want to take any chances missing this panel so we did pay the extra for reserved seating. Although I have seen them before and met Hayden Christensen last year at MegaCon it never gets old to see these two incredible actors live.
Day 4:
And last but not least we hit the fourth day and started our morning out with a panel featuring Clone Wars characters. Ashley Eckstein and James Arnold Taylor are two of my favorites who I am grateful to have seen many times. Anyone remember Star Wars weekends? James Arnold Taylor and Ashley Eckstein reminisced about those memories and told everyone to write to Disney to bring it back. Matt Lanter and Dee Bradley Baker were also there as the cast all talked about their memories over the years. You can tell these four have a truly special bond.
The final panel we attended was with the cast of Stranger Things featuring Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo and Grace Van Dien. They talked about how cool it is that they grew up on the set of the popular Netflix series and how excited they are for the upcoming season. The audience was trying to get them to give any information about the next season but they kept it top secret.
The dates for MegaCon Orlando 2025 have already been announced so mark your calendars for February 6 through 9, 2025.