Wizard World NOLA Part 1: Wizard World vs. San Diego Comic Con

It was a gloomy November day as I made my way to my friend's house. We were working on a small project for my university's charity event. During a lull in our progress, I lazily scrolled through my Tumblr dashboard on my phone when I saw a banner for Wizard World New Orleans. And on that banner was my number one favorite celebrity and favorite meatball, Chris Evans.

Image from Wizard World New Orleans

My head perked up as I excitedly told my friend that Chris and the other Civil War cast members would be within driving distance. Looking at the convention dates, I was so happy to see that I would be on winter break. I drove home and told my family and somehow convinced them to drive my sister and myself to NOLA. My sister was surprisingly not enthused to partake in a photo with Chris and Hayley but they allow 2 people in a photo so, hey why not? I told my parents I would pay for my admission ticket and photo op ticket myself. A few hours later, a hotel was booked and tickets were bought and we were ready to go.

I have only ever been to San Diego Comic Con and was unsure the procedure to go about WW. Let me first lay out a few differences:

• Dates and Times
•  WWNOLA ran from Friday, January 8 to Sunday, January 10. SDCC runs from Thursday to Sunday, with the addition of a Wednesday preview night
• WWNOLA begins at 3:00 PM on Friday and ends at 4:00 PM on Sunday. SDCC opens its doors at 9:00 AM on Thursday and closes at the earliest 6:00 on Sunday (other nights are usually open later until at least 7:00).

•  Prices and Tickets/Badges
• WW individual day prices vary depending on the day (like SDCC). Saturday is the most expensive ($60) and Thursday the cheapest ($40). Friday and Sunday are $50 and you can get 4-day package for a little under $100. SDCC badges cost $55 for Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and $40 for Wednesday and Sunday. There is not a discounted price for buying a 4-day badge + preview night.  
• SDCC uses a lottery system where as WW is first-come, first-serve. It does not seem to be common that WW general tickets sell out.
• WW offers VIP passes that include access to panels, signings, and photo ops. 
• The photo ops ranged from $80-$300 depending on who you saw. Ours was $250 plus $15 for a digital copy. At SDCC, photo ops and autographs are also a lottery system (MARVEL being very popular and despite standing in line all night to get to the MARVEL desk, they capped the line at my arrival).

• Process
• This year SDCC will be mailing badges. For WWNOLA, we had to print all of our tickets ahead of time and present them to a desk. They gave us a wristband and schedule and that was that. 
• To redeem our photo op tickets, you had to arrive at the photo op section to redeem your tickets. The monitor had the updated schedule for the stars that you had to constantly check for changes. Once redeemed, you were handed a ticket telling you who you were taking a picture with and which group you were in. You also received a ticket for a digital copy of your photo if you purchased one. (Heaven forbid you lost those tickets).
• Panels
• I'm not sure if it was just our facility but you didn't even need a wristband to go into a panel. No one was there to check. WW had a decent schedule for Saturday but we only went to one panel. There were no big TV show or movie panels except for...
•  the Captain America: Civil War panel was by ticket only. Those who purchased VIP tickets were allowed in. Platinum was given 4 panel tickets, Gold was given 2, and Silver given 1. If there were extra seats, those in line could enter. Unfortunately, we drove in that morning and the panel began very early (I want to say 9:00 AM).
• At SDCC, there are tons of panels happening all the time ranging from artists, to TV shows and movies, to cosplayers and fandom gatherings. Someone is always there to check your badge and the the only panels that come close to being restricted to VIP holders only are those in Hall H. 
• Exhibit Hall
• SDCC has hundreds (possibly over 1,000) booths in the exhibit hall. It's a madhouse that is constantly moving (unless you're waiting in a line). There are no outlets to be found and no seats to sit in. The exhibit hall showcases big name companies to small independent vendors. Items range from FREE STUFF to $100 toys and collector items.
• At WWNOLA, all the exhibitors seemed to be independent and selling stuff. No company was there to promote their next movie and definitely no free stuff. 

•   Lines
• The line to wait for our photo op was well organized. However, because Chris had individual photos, photos with Mackie, photos with Renner, photos with Grillo and Renner, and photos with Renner, Mackie, and Grillo, it took a long time for anything to even happen. We sat in line for about an hour before we actually went behind the curtain (more on this in Part 3).
• SDCC has less people per meet and greet lines (the OUAT signing I went to was limited to 100 tickets). The cast was only there for an hour and the line moved swiftly. People could really take their time to talk to cast and take some selfies.
• Schedule
• The WW schedule is posted online about a week before the event. They have the panels and times listed. However, it isn't categorized like SDCC's.
• The autograph schedule was also posted online, but you had to constantly check it to make sure your time didn't change. To be safe, check the screen monitor about an hour early at the convention center. I believe the website said you could only begin lining up 30 minutes prior to the scheduled time but I can't find that information on the website or my email.

Those are the major differences between WW and SDCC. If you are going to your first con, WW is a good stepping stone. It's easier to get to, relatively cheaper if one comes to a city close to you, and it still has a good con vibe. If you're wanting to have a guaranteed chance at meeting someone, maybe paying $250 plus admission is worth it instead of leaving it up to chance at SDCC (again, the MARVEL line was crazy). There are pros and cons to both, but I would have to say SDCC really gives the best experience. I was a little bored at WWNOLA since none of the panels interested me. WW is a good place to meet celebrities and have more time with them (you could purchase all the photo ops and autograph signings available if you were really ambitious), but SDCC has better panels, fan interaction, and things to do.

Stay tuned for Part 2 to learn about our FitzSimmons cosplay!