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FWA 2016 Report
9 years ago
Well another con and come and gone, so it's time for me to talk about my experience at Furry Weekend Atlanta 2016.
This is my second FWA and the first time where it's actually been a couple years since I've been to a con. The last time I was at FWA was 2013, which was the first year at the Westin. That year was pretty infamous due to the challenges that hotel provided, and that was the first time I had a emotional breakdown. (More on that later) But even with that said, I really enjoyed the con and was wanting to return sometime, especially with the rumors the con would be moving into the Marriott Marquis.
Flash forward to now, where the con is now currently in the Marriott Marquis and my budget fell into place to return. So how was this year? Let's start with a major difference...
The Hotel
The Atlanta Marriott Marquis, a hotel with a jaw-dropping atrium and wide open floors which you can look down into to see who's roaming about. This hotel is soooo much better then the Westin, it's great for pictures, it's easy to see where people are and there's no russian roulette on trying to figure out what lobby floor to try to get onto the elevators. As a added bonus the hotel is connected to the Peachtree Center food court via a skybridge, so a whole smorgasborg of food options are within easy walking distance. An' considering the Marta station is connected to the mall, getting to and from the hotel to the airport is easy as well.
When the con was back in the Westin, something that me and others discussed was if FWA had a hotel like the Hyatt Regency O'Hare like MFF has, they'd be set. Amusingly enough, both the Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt Regency O'Hare were designed by the same person. So to be blunt, they're all set hotel-wise!
The Food
Out of all the cons I've been to, FWA is top tier in terms of food. What I look for is variety, a abundance of cheap eats (After all, not everyone can or wants to have a sitdown meal for every meal), and close proximity to the hotel. The Peachtree Center mall alone which is only a couple minutes away and connected to the hotel via skybridge meets those three requirements right off the bat. Walk a little bit farther and you're going to run into even more options. When it comes to food, Atlanta has you covered.
While there's a vast abundance of options, there's three I want to highlight.
Aviva by Kameel - This Mediterranean resturant is actually the first place you'll see when you walk into the food court from the skybridge. I've heard really good things about it, and I can confirm this place is a winner. I had the chicken shawarma sandwhich and the Falafel wrap, and they were both fresh and flavorful as all heck. An' the food isn't the only special thing at this place, but also the owner himself, Kameel. This guy does his best to make you feel welcome, like you're eating at his house. He's absolutely a wonderful character and when I told him I had to eat there one more time before I left, I swear if he wasn't holding a couple plates of food he was gonna' hug me. Though he did pull out a big tray of his vegan Baklava for me to try and that was downright delicious as well. Either way next time you're at this con, give this place a try. It's now my favorite spot to eat at the mall.
Tin Lizzy's - Since this place opened last august, it's brand new for the con. This is a Mexican Cantina which specializes in unique taco's that you can mix and match. I saw the menu before I went, and me and my roomies gave it a try. We all agreed this is a welcome new addition that's not only good, but also quite cheap as well. Case in point I had one of the specials which gave me three big tacos of my choice, rice & beans for $9.99. My favorite taco from there was the Southern Comfort, which had grilled chicken, grilled onions, fried pickles, goat chees and a honey chipotle BBQ sauce.
The Vortex Bar & Grill - Anytime I'm in Atlanta, I will always go here as this is one of my personal favorite food places anywhere. This is the bad-ass adults only bar that serves up killer burgers and drinks with a "The Customer is NOT always right" mindset. (The staff are not rude, far from it actually. But if you give them shit, they're not gonna' take it that's for sure.) I'm so glad my roomies got to check this place out since this is a twisted Atlanta institution. This time I tried the Fat Elvis burger which had bacon, fried plantains and smooth peanut butter. (Don't knock it til you try it, it's quite good.) I also had myself some funnel cake fries which were also quite tasty. If you're ever in town, take a Uber over since it's totally worth it.
The Dances and Fursuit Dance Competition
FWA is a con that delievers on dance events, and this year was no expection. First off the nightly dances, I gotta' congradulate
rahne for his first time as the dance cordinator. An' second I gotta' give HUGE kudos to each and every DJ who rocked the house the whole weekend. I enjoyed every single one of them and I'm quite happy a lot of you uploaded your mixes shortly after.
Now as for the Fursuit Dance Competition, I won't lie in the weeks coming up I was pretty nervous. For back when I auditioned for it a couple years ago I honestly felt like I screwed up my audition and it hit me hard. As in after that I went to the back of the room and cried till auditions were long over. I've never had a emotional breakdown like that at a con, and it's always lingered in the back of my head as I worked on this years routine. Hell about a week before the con I had a bad dream about trying out this year and fucking it up AGAIN, that's how much that affected me. All I really wanted to do at this point was just do a audition I was happy with.
So for this year I picked the first audition timeslot with my roomies, and there was only a handful of people in the room besides the judges. However they were all my dancer family, we've all seen each other dance and for me this was like a fun little intimate show between friends. As it turned out, I was the very first to kick it off. I did the routine, may have bobbled one little thing but I quickly recovered and you know?...I was happy with it! I was a lot more prepared for this, and it showed. You have no idea how much weight fell off my back after that happened, the monkey was off my back and I could enjoy the rest of the con with no worries.
While I didn't make it into the dance comp, I'm not letting it bring me down. Heck, it sounded like I was just on the edge of getting in. I got some really good feedback and hearing that I improved a lot just drives me even more. An' I'm not throwing the routine away either, I had a lot of fun putting it together and you guys WILL see this in a future dance comp. <3
As for the Dance Comp finals, everybody knows how to bring it to this comp since honestly, this was the best dance comp I've seen so far. The amount of A-Game's that were brought were just insane, I was really proud of the dancer fam for sure, and I look forward to seing what's brought next year!
Shout Outs
To
, thank you for being awesome roomies for this con! It was fun going to dinner with you guys, chill and share stories, and keep me constantly amused with "beans" and other shinanigens.
To the whole big dancer family, thank you so much for the laughs, the creative drive and the inspirations. You've always made me feel welcome ever since I've started this way back in 2009/2010/2011. It's always great hanging out with you, and thanks to
& 
for the inspirational talks.
An' of course, to all my friends (including all the new ones I met). You all make this fandom, and it's always a pleasure hanging out for a weekend where the surrounding area goes surreal and you never know what kind of amazing thing you'll see around every corner. Stay awesome you big, crazy fluffballs. <3
Closing Thoughts
All in all, FWA 2016 was a fantastic con for me. I was really happy to return after a couple year hiatus, and hopefully I don't have to wait another couple years to return.
As always, if you got any pics or videos of me be sure to send them my way. Finally, I end this with one of the more amusing ideas that came to fruitition during the dance comp. and I came up with the idea to make a couple signs for the dance comp. So amongst the insanity we added a couple lines to add to it.
"<3 ATSU <3 IS 'HOT'SU!" & "LOOK AT THAT BOOTY!!!"
This is my second FWA and the first time where it's actually been a couple years since I've been to a con. The last time I was at FWA was 2013, which was the first year at the Westin. That year was pretty infamous due to the challenges that hotel provided, and that was the first time I had a emotional breakdown. (More on that later) But even with that said, I really enjoyed the con and was wanting to return sometime, especially with the rumors the con would be moving into the Marriott Marquis.
Flash forward to now, where the con is now currently in the Marriott Marquis and my budget fell into place to return. So how was this year? Let's start with a major difference...
The Hotel
The Atlanta Marriott Marquis, a hotel with a jaw-dropping atrium and wide open floors which you can look down into to see who's roaming about. This hotel is soooo much better then the Westin, it's great for pictures, it's easy to see where people are and there's no russian roulette on trying to figure out what lobby floor to try to get onto the elevators. As a added bonus the hotel is connected to the Peachtree Center food court via a skybridge, so a whole smorgasborg of food options are within easy walking distance. An' considering the Marta station is connected to the mall, getting to and from the hotel to the airport is easy as well.
When the con was back in the Westin, something that me and others discussed was if FWA had a hotel like the Hyatt Regency O'Hare like MFF has, they'd be set. Amusingly enough, both the Marriott Marquis and the Hyatt Regency O'Hare were designed by the same person. So to be blunt, they're all set hotel-wise!
The Food
Out of all the cons I've been to, FWA is top tier in terms of food. What I look for is variety, a abundance of cheap eats (After all, not everyone can or wants to have a sitdown meal for every meal), and close proximity to the hotel. The Peachtree Center mall alone which is only a couple minutes away and connected to the hotel via skybridge meets those three requirements right off the bat. Walk a little bit farther and you're going to run into even more options. When it comes to food, Atlanta has you covered.
While there's a vast abundance of options, there's three I want to highlight.
Aviva by Kameel - This Mediterranean resturant is actually the first place you'll see when you walk into the food court from the skybridge. I've heard really good things about it, and I can confirm this place is a winner. I had the chicken shawarma sandwhich and the Falafel wrap, and they were both fresh and flavorful as all heck. An' the food isn't the only special thing at this place, but also the owner himself, Kameel. This guy does his best to make you feel welcome, like you're eating at his house. He's absolutely a wonderful character and when I told him I had to eat there one more time before I left, I swear if he wasn't holding a couple plates of food he was gonna' hug me. Though he did pull out a big tray of his vegan Baklava for me to try and that was downright delicious as well. Either way next time you're at this con, give this place a try. It's now my favorite spot to eat at the mall.
Tin Lizzy's - Since this place opened last august, it's brand new for the con. This is a Mexican Cantina which specializes in unique taco's that you can mix and match. I saw the menu before I went, and me and my roomies gave it a try. We all agreed this is a welcome new addition that's not only good, but also quite cheap as well. Case in point I had one of the specials which gave me three big tacos of my choice, rice & beans for $9.99. My favorite taco from there was the Southern Comfort, which had grilled chicken, grilled onions, fried pickles, goat chees and a honey chipotle BBQ sauce.
The Vortex Bar & Grill - Anytime I'm in Atlanta, I will always go here as this is one of my personal favorite food places anywhere. This is the bad-ass adults only bar that serves up killer burgers and drinks with a "The Customer is NOT always right" mindset. (The staff are not rude, far from it actually. But if you give them shit, they're not gonna' take it that's for sure.) I'm so glad my roomies got to check this place out since this is a twisted Atlanta institution. This time I tried the Fat Elvis burger which had bacon, fried plantains and smooth peanut butter. (Don't knock it til you try it, it's quite good.) I also had myself some funnel cake fries which were also quite tasty. If you're ever in town, take a Uber over since it's totally worth it.
The Dances and Fursuit Dance Competition
FWA is a con that delievers on dance events, and this year was no expection. First off the nightly dances, I gotta' congradulate
rahne for his first time as the dance cordinator. An' second I gotta' give HUGE kudos to each and every DJ who rocked the house the whole weekend. I enjoyed every single one of them and I'm quite happy a lot of you uploaded your mixes shortly after.Now as for the Fursuit Dance Competition, I won't lie in the weeks coming up I was pretty nervous. For back when I auditioned for it a couple years ago I honestly felt like I screwed up my audition and it hit me hard. As in after that I went to the back of the room and cried till auditions were long over. I've never had a emotional breakdown like that at a con, and it's always lingered in the back of my head as I worked on this years routine. Hell about a week before the con I had a bad dream about trying out this year and fucking it up AGAIN, that's how much that affected me. All I really wanted to do at this point was just do a audition I was happy with.
So for this year I picked the first audition timeslot with my roomies, and there was only a handful of people in the room besides the judges. However they were all my dancer family, we've all seen each other dance and for me this was like a fun little intimate show between friends. As it turned out, I was the very first to kick it off. I did the routine, may have bobbled one little thing but I quickly recovered and you know?...I was happy with it! I was a lot more prepared for this, and it showed. You have no idea how much weight fell off my back after that happened, the monkey was off my back and I could enjoy the rest of the con with no worries.
While I didn't make it into the dance comp, I'm not letting it bring me down. Heck, it sounded like I was just on the edge of getting in. I got some really good feedback and hearing that I improved a lot just drives me even more. An' I'm not throwing the routine away either, I had a lot of fun putting it together and you guys WILL see this in a future dance comp. <3
As for the Dance Comp finals, everybody knows how to bring it to this comp since honestly, this was the best dance comp I've seen so far. The amount of A-Game's that were brought were just insane, I was really proud of the dancer fam for sure, and I look forward to seing what's brought next year!
Shout Outs
To
, thank you for being awesome roomies for this con! It was fun going to dinner with you guys, chill and share stories, and keep me constantly amused with "beans" and other shinanigens.To the whole big dancer family, thank you so much for the laughs, the creative drive and the inspirations. You've always made me feel welcome ever since I've started this way back in 2009/2010/2011. It's always great hanging out with you, and thanks to
& 
for the inspirational talks.An' of course, to all my friends (including all the new ones I met). You all make this fandom, and it's always a pleasure hanging out for a weekend where the surrounding area goes surreal and you never know what kind of amazing thing you'll see around every corner. Stay awesome you big, crazy fluffballs. <3
Closing Thoughts
All in all, FWA 2016 was a fantastic con for me. I was really happy to return after a couple year hiatus, and hopefully I don't have to wait another couple years to return.
As always, if you got any pics or videos of me be sure to send them my way. Finally, I end this with one of the more amusing ideas that came to fruitition during the dance comp.
and I came up with the idea to make a couple signs for the dance comp. So amongst the insanity we added a couple lines to add to it."<3 ATSU <3 IS 'HOT'SU!" & "LOOK AT THAT BOOTY!!!"
For the nostalgia trip and being a great guy in general, thanks. 'Twas a swell time.
I also find it amazing that we both discovered the fandom not only due to the same intrest, but also due to discovering the same website because of said intrest. Werewolves, one of the gateways to this wild n' wacky fandom.
An' yes, Bunny Boyz Forever!