So as anyone who read my review last year might know we were pretty disappointed with AC in 2014. I'm very glad to say that our experience at AC 2015 was definitely better than that! However it should be noted that there are a few reasons we had more fun this year than we did in 2014, so let's get right to the meat of the convention.

The programming as a whole, at its core, was exactly the same as last year. Same types of panels and everything, so the same disappointments there. This was actually why we didn't expect it to be any better this year than it was last year going in. That said, many of the programming conflicts that had caused us so much grief last year were corrected this year so we could actually see the things we wanted to see instead of having to go find food or whatever instead. So that was a relief! We were also rather excited to see there were some astronomy panels this year as well as my mate and I LOVE astronomy but sadly the weather/clouds didn't cooperate so viewing the stars never worked out. Oh well. Maybe next year.

This brings us to what I'm going to call the "Anthrocon Must" #1! An Anthrocon Must is something I feel must be done in order to make Anthrocon even remotely worth going to. And what is Anthrocon Must #1? Uncle Kage ( kagemushi) of course! Uncle Kage's Story Hour was absolutely hilarious! This man is a GENIUS at storytelling! I swear, he could take the most boring of children's lullabies and make it exciting and funny just in the way he tells the story! I reeeeeeally wish we could have seen him last year... I have no doubt our experience would have been much better, and that is why seeing Uncle Kage's Story Hour is an absolute Anthrocon Must!

Anthrocon Must #2 is, of course, 2, the Ranting Gryphon ( 2_gryphon)! We missed seeing 2's Rant last year due to whatever circumstance prevented us from going but we managed to see him this year and OMG he is SO FUNNY!!! We were practically dying in our seats from laughter! AC isn't worth going to if you don't see 2, so his Rant is absolutely Anthrocon Must #2. And anyone who went to his rant this year will understand what I am about to say here: ALL HAIL THE GREAT GIRAFFE!!! BREEEEEEE!!! And to those of you who missed it or couldn't go to AC, find his rant on YouTube when someone puts one up you can hear and find out what that means!!! Oh, 2 -- you will never be able to stop what you've started now!

And that brings us to Anthrocon Must #3 -- Kage 2-Gether, the charity show put on by Uncle Kage and 2 together to raise money for the convention's chosen charity! I really hope this is a yearly thing (I'm pretty sure it is but can't remember if it was called something else last year as we, again, missed it... *Groans*) because these two are funny enough on their own but together are just AWESOME! It was totally worth the charity donation to see these two playing off each other on stage, and kudos to the artists doing the doodles projected onto the screens beside them (sorry, I can't recall the names at the moment) -- you guys were just as funny as they were and kept stealing the show!

Anthrocon Must #4 is the fursuit dance competition finals! I have a GREAT DEAL of respect for anyone able to dance like that in a fursuit. It's something I wish I could do but with my handicap I'm kind of stuck being the Queen of the Hip Shake. All you dancer furs out there that competed in both the Novice and the Experienced categories deserve MAD respect for what you can do on that stage in a hot and heavy fursuit! You guys ROCKED THE STAGE in every sense of the word. Love you all!

As far as programming goes that's about it for the Anthrocon Musts. Anthrocon Must #5 is something I, personally, have found to be a must in order to both enjoy AC/get the most out of it AND have something to do when the programming doesn't appeal to you -- you MUST have and wear your fursuit. At least a few times, and for more than just the parade. Half the fun of going to a convention, for me at least, is making people smile and I can do that best in my suit. When that little kid beams because he sees a pink penguin and gets a hug from her, or I practically get mobbed by excited people all wanting a picture with the fluffy thing that brought joy into their lives for even just a moment -- THAT'S what it's all about. I don't care about popularity. I'm not in it for the fame or anything. I'm in it to make people smile, make them laugh, brighten their day, and spread some love and if I can do that then my time has been well spent.

And now we get to Anthrocon Must #6 -- a VITAL one for anyone, like me, who might be handicapped. If at all possible, stay in a hotel close enough to walk to without having to rely on the shuttle. Don't make my mistake and wait too long to book your room; get something ASAP when you can or room with someone who did. We stayed at the DoubleTree this year and had to rely on the shuttle because my handicap makes walking that far impossible/severely painful. This shouldn't have been a problem with the shuttle service to help out and save my handicapped ankle and my bad knee the walk, EXCEPT for a few problems with the service that made it more of a hassle and time drain than I'd hoped. They only have two shuttles running, each on a different route to ferry passengers between the convention center and their hotels (so only one shuttle running to any given hotel, not two). The shuttles only arrive (approximately) every 30 minutes and are almost never on time or predictable, so if you miss the shuttle or don't know if you have/when it's coming you end up standing there waiting for anywhere from 30 minutes to 40ish at times. This is bad enough when you're handicapped but even worse if you're in suit; it's not like you can run inside aaaaaaaaaaaalllll the way to the headless lounge and have someone HOLD the shuttle for you when it gets there while they go try to find you and get you back to it, so you end up standing there in the heat and stagnation dying. And I'm not even going to get into the misery of being in suit waiting for the shuttle AND being allergic to cigarette smoke with smokers who pay NO attention to no-smoking signs. To make matters worse, after the fursuit parade -- which went OUTSIDE this year -- the shuttle was SO delayed it wasn't even coming and I had to walk ALL the way back to my hotel in suit, limping from my handicap, in the heat, while dying. XP Oh yeah, and the shuttle stops running the second closing ceremonies ends so guess what you're doing if, like me, you went to that and didn't know? Yep, walking. Again. Limping for me. And forget going back for the dead dog dance... So the shuttle service was not quite as helpful as I'd hoped. If we'd been able to stay closer by we probably could have suited more as well, or at least partialed, but as it was it was an hour+ ordeal every time we needed to go back to our room for any reason at all. We spent probably 50% of our time (when not watching the programming Anthrocon Musts) just waiting for the shuttle, trying not to die while doing it, or limping back to our hotel room as my joints all decided to hate on me. XD So staying in a closer hotel is definitely an Anthrocon Must, especially if you're handicapped.

And then there is Anthrocon Must #7 -- If at all possible, go with friends or hang out with friends while you're there! This really goes without saying, but it really does make the experience much, MUCH better! I was overjoyed to be able to see  ino89777 for a little while on Thursday night (Thank you, Ino, for introducing me to gyros!!! They're so yummy!!!), and we got to hang out at various times throughout the weekend with our friends  elbi,  butterscotchbunny97,  frothymess, and  shadow-wolf-legend and her mom -- both of whom were also our roommates for the weekend (love you guys! )! All my love to all of you, and to all my other friends who made it the con and we only managed to bump into once or twice in passing as we all ran around having fun (I'm looking at you,  mangoswirls and  talonbat/ lusela )!

And there you have it -- the Anthrocon Musts that must be followed if you wish to have a good AC! With the exception of #6 (I will be making SURE I get a closer room next year) we managed to hit ALL of them this year and THAT is what made AC worthwhile! If we had missed out on too many of them my report would be very similar to last year's (in 2014 we only managed to do #4-7, and only Buzzy managed to do #5 as I was still recovering from surgery and didn't have my suit just yet). All in all though, AC is absolutely EXPENSIVE to attend but fun if you know what to do and when.

So will the penguins be going back next year? YES! Look forward to seeing you all again in Pittsburgh for Anthrocon 2016!