Overview
MegaCon, short for Mega Convention, is a large speculative fiction convention that caters to the comic book, sci-fi, anime, fantasy, RPG, and gaming communities, often occurring in spring at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The convention is tied with New York Comic Con as the largest fan convention event in North America with an internally reported attendance of 200,000 and generating an economic impact of 405 million dollars in 2026.
Founding
The first comic book convention held in the Orlando area was OrlandoCon, held annually from 1974 to 1994. Regular guests included C. C. Beck, Floyd Gottfredson, and Hal Foster. A competing show, "Mega-Show" was founded by James Breitbiel in December 1993 at the Holiday Inn International Drive (Now the Avanti Palms) Mega-Show would occur a few times a year with a larger show "MegaCon", also by Breitbiel, debuting in 1995 at the Orlando Expo Center (Now the UCF Center for Emerging Media). The convention was acquired by the Tampa-based publisher CrossGen in 1999 with the smaller Mega-Shows being discontinued, with Elizabeth Widera brought on to run the show in 2000 and Breitbiel moving on to become CrossGen's Marketing and Distribution Director. In 2002, the logo was changed to one with rounded rectangular letters with a capital "G" in lowercase size.
2003 introduced after hours entertainment at the convention. This expanded to offsite locations in 2006. In late 2003, Widera purchased the convention from the failing CrossGen, which was restructuring (the publisher went bankrupt in 2004). Widera, who is a board member of the comics charity The Hero Initiative, ran the show along with her daughter Christine Alger until 2016. This was followed in August 2008 with the convention hosting the first inaugural Project Fanboy Awards ceremony, awarding authors, writers and publishers with honors voted on by Internet users on the Project Fanboy website. Following 2009, the Project Fanboy Awards event was discontinued. In September 2008, MegaCon headquarters moved from Safety Harbor to Live Oak, Florida, although the actual convention remains in Orlando.
In 2009, in addition to the main show, held February 27–March 1, convention organizers produced a "mini-MegaCon" held August 22–23 featuring a number of actors from the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show.
Fan Expo
On April 7, 2015, it was announced that MegaCon had been sold to Informa. The con now operates under the auspices of Informa's Fan Expo group from Toronto and a regional office in Sarasota, although it has maintained the MegaCon branding. Following MegaCon 2015 it was announced that for the first time MegaCon will be extended to 4 days in 2016. as well as another mini-MegaCon event, "MegaCon Fan Days" on November 21–22, 2015. Shortly after MegaCon 2016, MegaCon Tampa Bay was announced for October 28–30. MegaCon Tampa last happened in 2018 and has not returned since due to the increasing sizes of convention rivals Tampa Bay Comic Con and Metrocon as well as the size limitations of the Tampa Convention Center. Stan Lee made a surprise appearance at MegaCon Tampa Bay 2017, his last at MegaCon, to raise funds for those affected by Hurricane Irma weeks prior.
Post-pandemic era
The 2020 event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially planned to be held April 16–19 and June 4–7, it was replaced by a smaller "limited edition" "mini-MegaCon" restricted to 25,000 in attendance with the next main event to be held on March 18–21, 2021. These dates were also cancelled with the next date, August 12–15 being a return to operations, though masks were mandated. During COVID, the show's website was redesigned with a new logo introduced as part of a larger rebranding of FanExpo with the text forming an arch. The 2021 event was plagued with many guest cancellations due to pandemic-caused filming conflicts affecting many including Elijah Wood, Brendan Fraser, and James Marsters who were to be among the headline celebrities of the event.
2022 featured a return to normal operations with Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Dominic Monaghan, and Billy Boyd, the Hobbits of the Lord of the Rings, reuniting on stage as well as Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes of the Jay and Silent Bob show, Brendan Fraser, and Gina Carano being other highlight guest appearances. MegaCon inaugurated FanExpo's partnership with virtual auction site WhatNot, featuring a Virtual MegaCon with virtual celebrity signings, comic artist sketch streams, and streams of cosplay contests, as well as a WhatNot booth. Numerous traffic issues in the surrounding areas due to record attendance reached local news headlines. Several tiers of tickets including family packages and youth tickets were sold out on Saturday.
Surpassing Comic Con International's attendance cap of 130,000, MegaCon became the second most attended fan convention in the United States after New York Comic Con. The last day of the 2022 convention hosted a memorial service for the late comic artist George Perez, who was a frequent guest at the convention. 2023 introduced advanced paid parking from several parking lots as well as shuttles to the convention as a way to alleviate traffic issues. A Wednesday pre-launch party was added to the afterhours party line up at ICON Park. Tickets for the 2024 event went on sale the day after the 2023 event ended, a change in tradition from tickets going on sale 5–6 months prior to the event. The 2023 event was plagued by overcrowding in celebrity areas and some hospitalizations occurred while a small fire also occurred in one of the food stands but no injuries resulted from it.
The 2024 event did not see a repeat of these woes due to a redesigned celebrity area. 2024 debuted an afterhours takeover of Universal Islands of Adventure theme park.
Late 2020s
In 2025, MegaCon expanded their exhibit hall to take up the entire North/South Concourse, an area of 950,000 sqft, surpassing New York Comic Con's Javits Center as the largest used exhibition hall of a fan convention in North America. Tattoo vendors on the vendor floor were discontinued after being a mainstay of the exhibit hall. The theme park afterhours event from the previous year was expanded to both parks at Universal Orlando resort. A few events were added to the nearby Rosen Centre hotel including a breakfast event featuring Ashley Eckstein. In 2026, the show further expanded by moving into nearly the entire West building including 1 million sqft of its exhibit hall space, making it the first comic convention in North America to surpass of used exhibit hall space.
The show announced a large Lord of the Rings cast lineup which included several members of Wētā Workshop in a partnership of merchandise. Reaching over 200,000 attendees, the convention rivaled New York Comic Con in attendance to become the largest fan convention in North America.
Notability guidelines for listing guests
's cast in a panel at MegaCon 2019 *Actors and voice actors are to be listed. *Comic guests may be listed only if listed on MegaCon website or noted to have attended pre-2000. *YouTubers may be listed only if they have reached the 100,000 subscribers eligible for a Silver Creator Award. *Music performers may be listed if on MegaCon website as a guest. *Book Authors may be listed only if on MegaCon website as a guest. *Cosplay guests, tattoo artists, other artists, and retailers may not be listed. *Guests partnered with vendor booths may be listed if they are actors/voice actors, renowned comic creators, or have met the 1 million subscribers eligible for a Gold Creator Award.
Mega-Show
Mega Show was the predecessor to MegaCon and 1995–99, was operated alongside MegaCon as a mini comics show by the same organizers.
Early years and CrossGen
11,500 attendees - March 5–7, 1999 Orlando Expo Center Actors: Alley Baggett, Angela Cartwright, Gerard Christopher, Richard Herd, Marta Kristen, DeDe Lind, Janet Luppo, Alisha Oreskovich, Butch Patrick, Debbie Rochon, Brinke Stevens, Paris Themmen, Victoria Zdrok 14,000 attendees - March 31-April 2, 2000 Orlando Expo Center Actors: Gloria-Anne Gilbert, Mark Goddard, Jennifer LaVoie, Sable, Richard A.
Searfoss, Paris Themmen, Nicole Wood 20,000 attendees Last show at Orlando Expo Center - March 2–4, 2001 West Concourse Hall C Actors: Amber Benson, Richard Biggs, Nicholas Brendon, Conrad Brooks, Phil Brown, Jason Carter, Angela Cartwright, Mike Edmonds, Mark Goddard, Jonathan Harris, William Hootkins, Marta Kristen, Richard LeParmentier, June Lockhart, Bob May, Peter Mayhew, Zoe McLellan, Bill Mumy Show moves to the Orange County Convention Center - February 22–24, 2002 West Concourse Hall E Actors: Steven Kent Austin, Kenny Baker, Amber Benson, Richard Biggs, Nicholas Brendon, Paul Blake, Michonne Bourriague, Jason Carter, Mark Goddard, Jenette Goldstein, Erin Gray, Andy Hallett, Virginia Hey, Lloyd Kaufman, Marta Kristen, June Lockhart, George Lowe, Bob May, Zoe McLellan, Jason Mewes, David Prowse, Mike Quinn, Eugene Roddenberry Jr., Mark Rolston, Kevin Smith, Al Snow - February 28–March 2, 2003 West Concourse Hall C Actors: Richard Biggs, Anthony Cistaro, Brian Downey, Jamie Farr, Kathy Garver, Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Jonathan Hardy, Virginia Hey, Lloyd Kaufman, Walter Koenig, Gary Lockwood, Peter Mayhew, Dina Meyer, Nichelle Nichols, David Prowse, Michael Rosenbaum, Paul Schrier, Xenia Seeberg, Robert Trebor, Lani Tupu, Patricia Zentilli Last event by CrossGen
Widera
- February 25–27, 2005 West Concourse Hall D2 Actors: Melody Anderson, Douglas H.
Arthurs, Julie Benz, Jackson Bostwick, Jeff Breslauer, Thom Christopher, Devin Devasquez, Lou Ferrigno, Gil Gerard, Erin Gray, Richard Hatch, Richard Herd, Sam Jones, Sam Jones III, John Kassir, Mercedes McNab, Debbie Rochon, Felix Silla, Michael Bailey Smith 22,000 attendees - February 24–26, 2006 West Concourse Hall D Actors: Tony Amendola, Steve Bacic, Julie Benz, Jason Carter, Cleopatra, Alexis Cruz, Mira Furlan, John Kassir, Lloyd Kaufman, Clare Kramer, Cirroc Lofton, Mark Lutz, Chris Rankin, John Schneider, Tracy Scoggins, Marina Sirtis, Arne Starr, Brinke Stevens, Cathy St George, Jamie Yeates - February 16–18, 2007 West Concourse Hall C Actors: Sean Astin, Jamie Bamber, Brian Downey, Gigi Edgley, Lou Ferrigno, David Franklin, Mark Goddard, David Hedison, Virginia Hey, Lloyd Kaufman, Margot Kidder, Bob May, Mary McDonnell, Michael McManus, Noel Neill, Wayne Pygram, Efren Ramirez, Xenia Seeberg, Kevin Sorbo, Arne Starr, Cathy St.
George, Vergil, Michael Winslow - March 7–9, 2008 South Concourse Hall B Actors: Steve Bacic, Leah Cairns, Trish Cleveland, Jarrett Crippen, Adam Danoff, Erica Durance, Gil Gerard, Mark Goddard, Erin Gray, Lloyd Kaufman, Gail Kim, Peter Mayhew, Cindy Morgan, Dylan Neal, Noel Neill, Jack O'Halloran, Adrian Pasdar, Pete Postiglione, Jon Provost, Jennifer Rhodes, Kyle Schmid, Mark Sheppard, William Morgan Sheppard, Marc Singer, Arne Starr, Kristy Swanson, Adrienne Wilkinson, Dan Williams, Nell Wilson First in North/South concourse - February 27–March 1, 2009 West Concourse Hall D Actors: Melody Anderson, Dirk Benedict, Traci Brooks, James Callis, Luciana Carro, Gareth David-Lloyd, Darcy DeMoss, Ami Dolenz, Micky Dolenz, Lou Ferrigno, Jennifer Halley, James Hampton, Tricia Helfer, Christy Hemme, Alaina Huffman, Herbert Jefferson, Jr., Charlotte Kemp, Margot Kidder, Richard LeParmentier, Anne Lockhart, Peter Mayhew, Cindy Morgan, Phillip Morris, Aaron Pabon, Michael Papajohn, Felix Silla, Al Snow, Arne Starr, Mia St.
John, Cathy St.George 32,000 attendees - August 22–23, 2009 West Concourse Hall E1 Actors: Amber Benson, Adam Busch, Charisma Carpenter, Emma Caulfield, Dorian Gregory, Jackie Haas, Hannah Hindi, Hillary Hindi, The Kat, Lisa Loring, Shelly Martinez, Sylvester McCoy, Tarah Paige, Terri Runnels, Felix Silla, Arne Starr, SoCal Val, Sean Waltman "mini-MegaCon" -
Pre-Informa
42,000 attendees - February 17–19, 2012 West Concourse Halls D-E Actors: David Anders, Bruce Boxleitner, Paul Bradford, Nicholas Brendon, Charisma Carpenter, Tia Carrere, Lauren Cohan, Brennan Elliot, Tom Felton, Stephen Furst, Peter Jurasik, Richard LeParmentier, Daniel Logan, Peter Mayhew, Eddie McClintock, Paul McGillion, Cindy Morgan, Joseph Morgan, Corin Nemec, Valerie Perrine, Robert Picardo, David Prowse, Saul Rubinek, Tim Russ, Matt Senreich, Michael Bailey Smith, Brent Spiner, Arne Starr, Scott Tepperman, Zeb Wells 51,000 attendees First time a separate hall, D1, is used for ticketing and entry que - March 15–17, 2013 West Concourse Halls D-E-F Actors: Paul Blake, Blixx, Paul Bradford, Jeremy Bulloch, Levar Burton, Dean Cain, Denise Crosby, Huggy Cub, John De Lancie, Michael Dorn, Ellen Dubin, Gigi Edgley, Lou Ferrigno, Jonathan Frakes, Johnny G, Morgan Gendel, James Hampton, Michael Hogan, Jersey Jess, Lloyd Kaufman, Michael Koske, Jimmy Mac, Gates McFadden, Meatball, Larry Nemecek, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, David Prowse, Sampson, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Arne Starr, Daniel Stewart, Patrick Stewart, Sunshine, Tanaka, Scott Tepperman, Wil Wheaton 66,000 in attendance - March 21–23, 2014 South Concourse Actors: Aaron Ashmore, John Barrowman, Dirk Benedict, Manu Bennett, Ming Chen, Lauren Cohan, Gareth David-Lloyd, Eliza Dushku, Jason David Frank, John Glover, Burn Gorman, Danai Gurira, Richard Hatch, Jon Heder, Richard Horvitz, Herbert Jefferson, Jr., Bryan Johnson, Emily Kinney, Anne Lockhart, Allison Mack, James Marsters, Sonequa Martin-Green, Peter Mayhew, David Morrissey, Eve Myles, Rob Paulsen, Ron Perlman, Mike Reed, Michael Rosenbaum, Matthew Senreich, Arne Starr, Karl Urban, Laura Vandervoort, Wil Wheaton, Stephen Yeun, Mike Zapcic 80,000 attendees - April 10–12, 2015 West Concourse Hall B-A3/4 Actors: Robbie Amell, Adam Baldwin, Mark Boone Junior, Clifton Collins Jr., Tony Curran, Lou Ferrigno, Sean Patrick Flanery, Karen Gillan, Summer Glau, Jimmy Hart, Hulk Hogan, April Hunter, Alex Kingston, Danielle Panabaker, David Ramsey, Norman Reedus, David Della Rocco, Michael Rooker, Ryan Stratis, Alan Tudyk, Milo Ventimiglia 97,000 attendees - November 21–22, 2015 West Concourse Hall C Actors: Karen Allen, Billy Boyd, Ryan Hurst, Jason Isaacs, Sean Maher, James Marsters, Paul McGann, John Rhys-Davies "MegaCon Fan Days mini event" 12,000 attendees
Four days and Tampa Bay
First 4-day event. First to reach over 100,000 attendees - October 28–30, 2016 (Tampa Bay) Tampa Convention Center East Hall Actors: Levar Burton, Brett Dalton, Rick Danford, Robert J.
Emery, Will Friedle, Krista Grotte, Lynne Hansen, Matthew Lewis, Graham McTavish, John Mocsary, Rosemary Orlando, Mitch Pileggi, Billie Piper, Glenn Register Sr., Wallace Shawn, Kevin Sorbo, Brent Spiner, Kevin Sussman, David Tennant, Verne Troyer, Henry Winkler debut of MegaCon Tampa Bay, 30,000+ attendees - May 25–28, 2017 (Orlando) North/South Concourse Hall A, South B Actors: Richard Dean Anderson, Catherine Bach, Barry Bostwick, Nicholas Brendon, Nell Campbell, Tom Cavanaugh, Cyndi Crotts, Tim Curry, Jason Daly, Rick Danford, Felicia Day, Eliza Dushku, Elyes Gabel, William Grefe, Shandi Hampton, Hannah Hindi, Hillary Hindi, Famke Janssen, Matthew Lewis, Caity Lotz, Kyle Marlett, James Marsters, Robert Massetti, Gaten Matarazzo, Dave McElfatrick, Caleb McLaughlin, Meat Loaf, Danielle Panabaker, Ray Park, Patricia Quinn, Matt Reynolds, Jeri Ryan, Aaron Sagers, John Schneider, Ian Somerhalder, Brent Spiner, Gina Torres, Joel Watson, Spencer Wilding, Tom Wilson, Justin Woods-Robinson, Tom Wopat - Sept 29–Oct 1, 2017 (Tampa Bay) Full Tampa Convention Center Actors: Dr.
Paul Bearer II, Walt Belcher, John Barrowman, Katie Cassidy, Ruth Connell, Rick Danford, Krista Grotte, Alex Kingston, James Marsters, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, Jason Mewes, John Mocsary, William Shatner, Kevin Smith, Ian Somerhalder, Ed Tucker 45,000 attendees - May 24–27, 2018 (Orlando) West Concourse Hall A-C Actors: Amy Acker, Alexa Bliss, John Cena, Moises Chiullan, Charlie Cox, Michael Cudlitz, Rick Danford, William B.
Davis, Keir Dullea, Cary Elwes, Joe Flanigan, Annabeth Gish, Jeff Goldblum, Amy Jo Johnson, Lucy Lawless, Gary Lockwood, Jason Mamoa, China McClain, Jennifer Morrison, Stephen Moyer, Shinsuke Nakamura, Devin Pike, Mitch Pileggi, Jeff Rector, Norman Reedus, Paul Reubens, Aaron Sagers, Chris Sarandon, Wallace Shawn, Jewel Staite, Brinke Stevens, Braun Strowman, Joonas Suotamo, Catherine Tate, Billy Dee Williams, Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, Elijah Wood - Sept 21–23, 2018 (Tampa Bay) Full Tampa Convention Center Actors: Manu Bennett, Corbin Bernsen, Peter Capaldi, Jonny Cruz, John de Lancie, Michael Dorn, Jason David Frank, Summer Glau, Pearl Mackie, David Mazouz, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Sean Pertwee, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Christian Serratos, Marina Sirtis Final MegaCon Tampa Bay event, 22,000 attendees - May 16–19, 2019 (Orlando) North/South Concourse Hall A, South B Actors: Stephen Amell, Sean Astin, John Barrowman, Mark Brooks, Lynda Carter, Mike Colter, Corey Feldman, Danielle Fishel, Dan Fogler, Michael J.
Fox, Jason David Frank, Will Friedle, Tyler Hoechlin, Kristin Kreuk, Zachary Levi, Christopher Lloyd, Rose McIver, Lana Parrilla, Jason Patric, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ke Huy Quan, Michael Rosenbaum, Ben Savage, Mark Sheppard, Rider Strong, Kiefer Sutherland, David Tennant, Lea Thompson, James Tolkan, LeeAnna Vamp, Peter Weller, Tom Welling, Tom Wilson 120,000 attendees -
Post-COVID
NOTE: The Wayback Machine has been unable to properly archive the MegaCon guest lists since the 2021 event due to a page script and all guests were added here shortly before each event. "mini-MegaCon" planned after cancellation of the 2 dates for the main 2020 event. April 16–19, 2020 June 4–7, 2020 - Aug 12–15, 2021 West Concourse Halls A-C Actors: Kevin Alejandro, Stephen Amell, Leslie David Baker, John Barrowman, Mark Boone Jr, Katie Cassidy, Dave Coulier, Ray Fisher, Aimee Garcia, Ryan Hurst, David Koechner, Robert Patrick, Ron Perlman, Michael Rooker, Bob Saget, Adam Savage, William Shatner, John Stamos, George Takei 100,000 attendees Originally scheduled for March 18–21 but pushed back.
Masks were required. - May 19–22, 2022 North South Concourse Hall A, South B Actors: Jeff Anderson, Sean Astin, Britt Baker, Dante Basco, Brie Bella, Nikki Bella, Alexa Bliss, Billy Boyd, Lorraine Bracco, Tanner Buchanan, LeVar Burton, Gina Carano, Carmella, Adam Cole, Ashley Eckstein, Giancarlo Esposito, Trevor Fehrman, Ric Flair, Brendan Fraser, Nathan Fillion, Martin Kove, Jerry Lawler, Matthew Lewis, Caity Lotz, Jes Macallan, Ralph Macchio, James Marsters, Jason Mewes, Dominic Monaghan, Mary Mouser, Rey Mysterio, Brian O'Halloran, Kevin Owens, Chris Sarandon, Adam Scherr, Mark Sheppard, Kevin Smith, Mike Smith, Brent Spiner, John Paul Tremblay, The Undertaker, Robb Wells, Elijah Wood, William Zabka >140,000 attendees - March 30-April 2, 2023 Whole North South Concourse Building sans part of North Hall B Actors: Dana Barron, Brec Bassinger, Jon Bernthal, Jacob Bertrand, Christie Brinkley, Steve Burns, Neve Campbell, Chevy Chase, Hayden Christensen, Gwendoline Christie, John Cleese, Charlie Cox, Rosario Dawson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ashley Eckstein, Giancarlo Esposito, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Anthony Michael Hall, Garrett Hedlund, Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Kennedy, Martin Kove, Zachary Levi, Mario Lopez, Vivien Lyra Blair, Matthew Lewis, Matthew Lillard, Ralph Macchio, Xolo Maridueña, Sonequa Martin-Green, James McAvoy, Gates McFadden, Anson Mount, Lana Parrilla, Ethan Peck, Sam Raimi, Emilio Rivera, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Swallow, Skeet Ulrich, Mercedes Varnado, Cerina Vincent, Carl Weathers, Henry Winkler, William Zabka >160,000 attendees Prepaid parking introduced - February 1–4, 2024 West Concourse Halls A-D Actors: Robbie Amell, Stephen Amell, Paul Bettany, Don Bluth, Johnny Yong Bosch, Gina Carano, Hayden Christensen, Holly Marie Combs, Kevin Connolly, Anthony Daniels, Keith David, Geena Davis, Felicia Day, Kevin Dillon, Shannen Doherty, Cary Elwes, Eman Esfandi, Giancarlo Esposito, Jamie Farr, Jerry Ferrara, Michael J.
Fox, Mckenna Grace, Adrian Grenier, Sean Gunn, Butch Hartman, Tom Hiddleston, Michelle Hurd, Ke Huy Quan, Diana Lee Inosanto, Jason Isaacs, Alex Kingston, Jason Lee, Juliette Lewis, Matthew Lewis, Christopher Lloyd, Daniel Logan, Gaten Matarazzo, Rose McGowan, Ewan McGregor, Vivienne Medrano, Alyssa Milano, Cameron Monaghan, Shameik Moore, Temuera Morrison, Jaime Pressly, Jason Priestley, Randy Quaid, Jacob Romero, Eli Roth, John Rhys-Davies, Katey Sagal, Chris Sarandon, Susan Sarandon, Aidan Scott, Greg Sestero, William Shatner, Wallace Shawn, Joonas Suotamo, Ethan Suplee, Loretta Swit, Lea Thompson, Marisa Tomei, Danny Trejo, Alan Tudyk, Grace Van Dien, Jeff Ward, Ming-Na Wen, Rainn Wilson, Thomas F. Wilson, Finn Wolfhard, Robin Wright >190,000 attendees -
Whole building
>190,000 attendees First full building event - March 19–22, 2026 West Concourse halls A-E1, Rosen Plaza Actors: Gillian Anderson, Sean Astin, Alec Baldwin, Stephen Baldwin, Jennifer Beals, Catherine Bell, Thora Birch, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, John Boyega, Cara Buono, John Carpenter, Nick Castle, John Cena, Arden Cho, Mike Colter, Jake Connelly, Dean Cundey, Robert Davi, James Denton, Giancarlo Esposito, Oded Fehr, Corey Feldman, Jonathan Frakes, Brendan Fraser, Annabeth Gish, Heather Graham, Frank Grillo, John Hannah, Lena Headey, Josh Holloway, Helen Hunt, Omri Katz, Dafne Keen, Walter Koenig, Christopher Lambert, Nicholas Lea, Tommy Lee Wallace, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Lewis, Diego Luna, Bailee Madison, Jason Marsden, James Marsters, Gates McFadden, Dominic Monaghan, Jamison Newlander, Dean Norris, Colin O'Donoghue, Joe Pantoliano, Robert Patrick, Ron Perlman, Mitch Pileggi, Martha Plimpton, John Rhys Davies, Wyatt Russell, Angela Sant'Albano, William Shatner, Vinessa Shaw, P.
J. Soles, Brent Spiner, Mr. T, Karl Urban, Patricia Velasquez, Jodie Whittaker, Sam Witwer, Elijah Wood, Cedric Yarbrough, Ji-young Yoo >200,000 attendees, First fan convention in North America to surpass exhibition space - May 20–23, 2027 West Concourse
Exhibit hall
MegaCon since 2012 has had an exhibit hall sectioned into many different sections listed below: Ticket Hall: The ticketing hall is where attendees pickup their badges required for attendance or buy new tickets. The lines are separated by ticket type. Past the ticketing booths is the show waiting area where attendees await the show's opening hours. The MegaCon store is in this area and sells convention themed merchandise as well as convention exclusives. Retail: The retail section is home to shops numbering in the hundreds. This section is often subdivided into comics and anime sections. While a majority of the businesses are small, some larger vendors also appear with more frequent ones including NASA and Dragon's Milk. Artist Alley: A section where several hundred artists are given a booth to sell their wares.
This section is surrounded by a ring of comic book guests ranging from independent publishers to writers for DC and Marvel. Community: The community section is home to life-size replica exhibits from many fan organizations including the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, Daleks of Florida, the 405th, and the Delta Fleet. These groups often raise funds for local charities via voluntary donations or paid photo ops. Celebrity: Actor guests of MegaCon have booths in this area. The booths form a ring that is empty in the center to allow for longer lines for the more popular stars attending the convention. A separate area adjacent is used for photo ops of more popular celebrities. Food Courts: Multiple areas of the show floor and lobbies contain food courts with food options provided by the convention center.
Cuisine options often include: Chinese, Papa John's, barbecue, Starbucks, Häagen-Dazs, and Tex-Mex.
Events and panels
Outside the exhibit hall, the show has many events in the convention center lobbies and panel rooms. Panels: MegaCon is host to panels of many genres relating to cosplay, anime, gaming, and world building among many other subjects. Celebrities attending MegaCon may also star in their own panels. Gaming: Several RPG games are hosted at MegaCon including Dungeons & Dragons living campaigns, Living Forgotten Realms, Pathfinder Society and Legends of the Shining Jewel. Non RPG gaming is also hosted at MegaCon ranging from the card-based Magic: The Gathering to strategy games. E-gaming arcades are available and tournaments are held at the event for games like Super Smash Bros. Cosplay Contest: Since 2018, MegaCon has been home to the FanExpo Masters of Cosplay Grand Prix Sunshine Qualifier where dozens of cosplayers display their talent in costume construction.
Family Zone: The MegaCon family zone is hosted in a large panel room with activities directed towards preteens and younger. Activities include a kids cosplay contest, a sorting hat ceremony, and padawan training. Afterparties: MegaCon has been host to afterhours entertainment since 2003. These events grew to include offsite locations in 2006. Since 2010, Moshi Moshi Productions has handled offsite after hours events with a kickoff party in the Icebar Orlando on Thursday, and themed parties on Friday and Saturday at the Rosen Plaza and Rosen Centre respectively. In 2023, a Wednesday afterparty was hosted at ICON Park. In 2024, the convention booked an exclusive afterhours event at the nearby Universal Islands of Adventure theme park.
Celebrity guests
MegaCon brings in large numbers of celebrities of various professions for fans to meet and receive autographs and photos with. Actors: Since its migration to the Orange County Convention Center, MegaCon has drawn in celebrities who have starred in various films and television shows. Some years may see a collection of actors from a particular franchise like the four Hobbits from Lord of the Rings in 2022. Voice Actors: MegaCon is frequented by voice actors from various western animated and anime shows as well as video game characters. Comic Artists: From its beginning, MegaCon has had a large number of comic guests both veterans of the industry from Marvel and DC as well as indie publishers wishing to use the convention to kickstart their jump into the comic scene.
Other guests: In some years, MegaCon has been host to popular guests of other professions including authors and internet celebrities. Some vendors at MegaCon like RangerStop may also share their table space with a few non-actor celebrities.
External links
* ** Celebrity guests ** Show events ** Mobile app *