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Megaplex 2017: Post Con report...
8 years ago
So Megaplex 2017 has come and gone, having taken place this past weekend at its new/old location at the Doubletree Resort SeaWorld. Its been a while since i have done a post con report so heres my attempt for this con.
So the con this year was definitely a special one this year having taken place at a full blown resort, steps from I-Drive, Seaworld, Aquatica Waterpark and so on. What also made it special was the air of "homecoming" to it as the venue in question was a former location that played host to Megaplex back in 04-05. On paper the con enjoyed a big success having experienced a 30% growth (2400+ attendees), and almost 20 grand donated to the C.A.R.E. foundatiion. And of course there was the entertainment the con brought to the regular patrons of the hotel. Being a resort the hotel was flocked with families on holiday and the kids ate it all up getting pics with fursuiters. A significant event in relation to this was the inclusion of a visiting Make A Wish foundation kid in the fursuit mingle, who got to meet the staff and suiters alike and who, according to the testimony of the staff smiled for the first time in a long time. There was also the traditional Megaplex pool party which is where the vanue realy shone with its gigantic main pool featuring a cabana bar and flowing waterfall, and a full dessert and ice cream buffet which has become a staple of Megaplex
Unfortunately despite all these plus points there were a few flies in the ointment in relation to the con, and its venue unfortunately the reaction to those issues by many of the attendees led to a less than con-ish weekend. Fortunately they weren't anything damaging to the reputation of the con with the hotel nor damaging to the image of the fandom, so nothing like the Rainfurrest, Furry Raiders, Rebel flag suit drama, however people say these issues might be damaging to the future attendance numbers of the con.
At the time of announcement of this years con, lat year, the staff had mentioned that the resort was just starting construction of a new conference area space that would add more square footage to what was there and that most of the programming would be in there. However, i learned that 3/4 of the way through the remodel, the work had to be halted then reversed and started over tdue to mistakes pointed out by the fire marshal during an inspection. As a result instead of brand new, awesome con space, the building was still very much in process so all we had in there was the original con space the building had which was the original ballroom, one of the 2 headless lounges and a panel room. As a result of that the con had to utilise space in other areas.
Now the way the resort is laid out is different from your standard hotel. Its made up of a series of 2 and 3 floor motel style buildings with outward facing rooms, a tower building with regular hotel rooms, as well as the conference building and the main check in building. Besides the conference building the tower had two panel rooms, the 2nd headless lounge, the Furshoot room, and gaming room on 2 floors and the check in building had one panel room, the registration area, tournaments and karaoke, and the Dealers Den/Artist Alley. Problem is that these three buildings are not connected to eachother nor to the motel style buildings. Two of them are in the middle of the complex and the conference center is on the east side so to get to any of them you have to go outside and walk to where you want to go. On tp of all this the Megaplex room block was spread out across the entire complex so some people were in the 2 floor buildings, some in the 3 floor ones, and some in the tower, so for some the walk was short, for others, like my room group it was really really long being on the exact opposite from the conference room building .
Now normally walking outside wouldnt be so bad. Were furries and we like to do some outdoor public suiting and entertain people. So really this crazy logistical mazewouldnt be so bad if not for prople the most glaringly obvious elephant in the room, which was the time of year and the weather. I have to agree with alot of people here. Orlando, Florida, the HOTTEST city in the Sunshine State in the middle of summer, at an outdoor resort, may not be the ideal situation for a con featuring people wearing essentially head to toe fur blankets. It was beyond Africa hot the whole weekend. Put alot of people off fursuiting. I actually didnt suit at all as a result. It would explain why there were two headless lounges. Youd have to stop at the tower to cool off before getting to the conference center and using ITS headless lounge. The staff did try to make the most of the situation by having things like the pool party and fursuit parade take place at night, which would of worked if a thunderstorm didnt come along and cancel the fursuit parade for us.
For me the con was just a mixed bag. I really wanted to enjoy the con and fursuit like i had planned to do but honestly the weather and the heat just put me off. And as i said alot of people felt this way, even saying that the hotel was a mistake on Megaplex's part, or they shoulda picked a better time of year to have it. Alot of them were loyal MP attendees. Even in my room there was a alot of negativity. One of my roomies was on the phone when the rest of us got to the room talking about how the place wasent right for a furcon and how he wasent coming back until the con moved again. Again i heard this a couple times in passing by from others. And it all realy just killed the mood for me and i reverted back to normal mode, basically letting the rest of the room dictate what we did at times, often leaving the con to go eat or do somethin on since i was the only one with a car.
On the plus side there were a few good moments to the weekend even if some didn't have anything to do with the con. My friends
antimon and his fiancee 
~AriA celebrated their 2nd year together and 1st year engaged by a dinner with me and 
lordnegaduck at Texas De Brazil, I got to see Majira Strawberry and Marks Barks againn and formally meet Telephone, who are all awesome people. I also got to hang on stage with Antimon during his DJ set and that was fun. And then we finally decided to perk up the weekend at the end by goin to Universal City Walk.
So honestly all in all the con itself was a mixedbag but really it was all down to my attitude and the way i approached it. Im still coming back next year just because MP is m home con and still love it even if the hotel may not be the best choice. But to be fair they did ASK us if we wanted to have the con there and honestly thats a rarity nowadays. And honestly the resort itself is beautiful! The pools are nice, theirs outdoor billiards, ping pong and Mini Golf. Next year i definitely want to be into the con more often. I want to suit and i want to hang with my friends and cuddle and play with paws and all that fun stuff i didn't do this year.
End of report...
So the con this year was definitely a special one this year having taken place at a full blown resort, steps from I-Drive, Seaworld, Aquatica Waterpark and so on. What also made it special was the air of "homecoming" to it as the venue in question was a former location that played host to Megaplex back in 04-05. On paper the con enjoyed a big success having experienced a 30% growth (2400+ attendees), and almost 20 grand donated to the C.A.R.E. foundatiion. And of course there was the entertainment the con brought to the regular patrons of the hotel. Being a resort the hotel was flocked with families on holiday and the kids ate it all up getting pics with fursuiters. A significant event in relation to this was the inclusion of a visiting Make A Wish foundation kid in the fursuit mingle, who got to meet the staff and suiters alike and who, according to the testimony of the staff smiled for the first time in a long time. There was also the traditional Megaplex pool party which is where the vanue realy shone with its gigantic main pool featuring a cabana bar and flowing waterfall, and a full dessert and ice cream buffet which has become a staple of Megaplex
Unfortunately despite all these plus points there were a few flies in the ointment in relation to the con, and its venue unfortunately the reaction to those issues by many of the attendees led to a less than con-ish weekend. Fortunately they weren't anything damaging to the reputation of the con with the hotel nor damaging to the image of the fandom, so nothing like the Rainfurrest, Furry Raiders, Rebel flag suit drama, however people say these issues might be damaging to the future attendance numbers of the con.
At the time of announcement of this years con, lat year, the staff had mentioned that the resort was just starting construction of a new conference area space that would add more square footage to what was there and that most of the programming would be in there. However, i learned that 3/4 of the way through the remodel, the work had to be halted then reversed and started over tdue to mistakes pointed out by the fire marshal during an inspection. As a result instead of brand new, awesome con space, the building was still very much in process so all we had in there was the original con space the building had which was the original ballroom, one of the 2 headless lounges and a panel room. As a result of that the con had to utilise space in other areas.
Now the way the resort is laid out is different from your standard hotel. Its made up of a series of 2 and 3 floor motel style buildings with outward facing rooms, a tower building with regular hotel rooms, as well as the conference building and the main check in building. Besides the conference building the tower had two panel rooms, the 2nd headless lounge, the Furshoot room, and gaming room on 2 floors and the check in building had one panel room, the registration area, tournaments and karaoke, and the Dealers Den/Artist Alley. Problem is that these three buildings are not connected to eachother nor to the motel style buildings. Two of them are in the middle of the complex and the conference center is on the east side so to get to any of them you have to go outside and walk to where you want to go. On tp of all this the Megaplex room block was spread out across the entire complex so some people were in the 2 floor buildings, some in the 3 floor ones, and some in the tower, so for some the walk was short, for others, like my room group it was really really long being on the exact opposite from the conference room building .
Now normally walking outside wouldnt be so bad. Were furries and we like to do some outdoor public suiting and entertain people. So really this crazy logistical mazewouldnt be so bad if not for prople the most glaringly obvious elephant in the room, which was the time of year and the weather. I have to agree with alot of people here. Orlando, Florida, the HOTTEST city in the Sunshine State in the middle of summer, at an outdoor resort, may not be the ideal situation for a con featuring people wearing essentially head to toe fur blankets. It was beyond Africa hot the whole weekend. Put alot of people off fursuiting. I actually didnt suit at all as a result. It would explain why there were two headless lounges. Youd have to stop at the tower to cool off before getting to the conference center and using ITS headless lounge. The staff did try to make the most of the situation by having things like the pool party and fursuit parade take place at night, which would of worked if a thunderstorm didnt come along and cancel the fursuit parade for us.
For me the con was just a mixed bag. I really wanted to enjoy the con and fursuit like i had planned to do but honestly the weather and the heat just put me off. And as i said alot of people felt this way, even saying that the hotel was a mistake on Megaplex's part, or they shoulda picked a better time of year to have it. Alot of them were loyal MP attendees. Even in my room there was a alot of negativity. One of my roomies was on the phone when the rest of us got to the room talking about how the place wasent right for a furcon and how he wasent coming back until the con moved again. Again i heard this a couple times in passing by from others. And it all realy just killed the mood for me and i reverted back to normal mode, basically letting the rest of the room dictate what we did at times, often leaving the con to go eat or do somethin on since i was the only one with a car.
On the plus side there were a few good moments to the weekend even if some didn't have anything to do with the con. My friends
antimon and his fiancee 
~AriA celebrated their 2nd year together and 1st year engaged by a dinner with me and 
lordnegaduck at Texas De Brazil, I got to see Majira Strawberry and Marks Barks againn and formally meet Telephone, who are all awesome people. I also got to hang on stage with Antimon during his DJ set and that was fun. And then we finally decided to perk up the weekend at the end by goin to Universal City Walk.So honestly all in all the con itself was a mixedbag but really it was all down to my attitude and the way i approached it. Im still coming back next year just because MP is m home con and still love it even if the hotel may not be the best choice. But to be fair they did ASK us if we wanted to have the con there and honestly thats a rarity nowadays. And honestly the resort itself is beautiful! The pools are nice, theirs outdoor billiards, ping pong and Mini Golf. Next year i definitely want to be into the con more often. I want to suit and i want to hang with my friends and cuddle and play with paws and all that fun stuff i didn't do this year.
End of report...
Next year, I decided to return as Staff, possibly helping in Reg. I want to help streamline everything as I helped run the Con Store and saw a few glitches in the way it was run.