![]() ![]() ![]() The huge space that hosts the convention makes it feel a lot smaller, or perhaps just more bearable. This year, AWA had over 20,000 attendees- A number that’s pretty shocking, when you’ve been in the hallways. The hotel bars average ~$1-2 more per drink than you see in Colorado, but the prices are on par with those found in Seattle and LA. Many local restaurants offer delivery to the hotels, and the convention center proper has restaurants to choose from, as well, with very reasonable pricing on entrees. None of the official convention hotels have any reports of bedbugs, which is always a bonus, and all hotels are within walking distance of the convention center and the large mall nearby. The hospitality tax in Smyrna is only 8%, which is pretty low compared to some other cities Seattle’s is ~16%, for instance, while Los Angeles hovers around 12%. ![]() The nightly rate at most AWA hotels was $135/night plus tax this year, though some hotels have lower rates with special group discounts (i.e. (I paid about $7 for a taxi ride from the convention center to the Hyatt Place/Wyndham at 10:15, but other cabs may choose to charge more or less.) Unfortunately, many events at the convention run past this time (like the cosplay contest), and the convention runs 24 hours, which makes renting a car of your own or employing a taxi to take you across the highway more feasible for scheduling. If you choose to stay in a hotel away from the convention center, most have free shuttles that run until about 10 pm. The convention center is too far from the airport for hotels to provide shuttles, but taxis can be employed for about $50 one-way, and shuttles can be reserved for about $65 round-trip (it’s about 30 minutes each way, more with traffic). The ATL airport is very clean and well-furnished with many restaurants and shops, and you can grab a smoothie while you wait for your baggage or sit down for a real meal before heading out to the hotel. As for the details, I’ve broken everything down so you know what to expect from each aspect of your Anime Weekend Atlanta experience.Īirfare to Georgia will vary based on your point of origin, but by shopping ahead and keeping an eye on airfare, you can snag roundtrip tickets for around $200 from most other places in the United States. Sunday afternoon felt somewhat slow, and I felt that I could have taken a flight out that evening instead of Monday morning and not missed a lot. Events start on Thursday evening, though the largest crowds of people don’t show up until about 2 pm on Friday (according to convention sources, who refer to this rush as the ‘college crowd’). A month and a half later, with a mostly-finished new costume, I found myself on a plane to Atlanta, on the way to one of the best convention experiences of my life.ĪWA is a four day convention, technically speaking. I had a room by myself, and jumping in headfirst with no security net was scary- But jumping in turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made. I knew absolutely nobody in Atlanta I had no friends going. Instead, I applied for a badge, and decided that if the universe wanted it to work out, I would go to Anime Weekend Atlanta. I didn’t go to the con I’ve been attending for 10 years. I gave away my room at the major local con. I decided to do something crazy, something out of my comfort zone. I’m not sure what straw broke the camel’s back, but in August, I realized that I had been saying the same things for too long: Each year would be my last year, then the next year would be the last, hoping it would improve every time and being let down each time I gave my home state another chance. After three years of bad experiences at my local conventions, I had decided that this would be my last year going to local cons. It’s been a rough couple of years, after all: A year of mediocre convention experiences, cosplay friendships ending, and general disappointment. When I decided to go to Georgia for the largest anime convention on the Gulf Coast, I was disillusioned with con life. ![]()
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