That time I sat 10 feet away from William Shatner (Motor City Comic Con 2015)

*Disclosure: I received media credentials to attend MCCC. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

I wasn't sure what to expect from the Motor City Comic Con, since my only experience thus far with fan conventions was Walker Stalker Con in Atlanta last October. MCCC had a lot more "cosplay" (people dressed up in costumes) than WSC did, which was fun, but was also a bit smaller, although I've heard it's twice the size it was in previous years.

On Friday, the first day of the convention, I walked around to get a feel of the place and check out where everything was located. I saw many Walking Dead cast members, such as Chandler Riggs (Carl), Steven Yeun (Glenn), and Scott Wilson (Hershel), and other oldies but goodies like Lou Ferrigno (the "Hulk") and Dawn Wells (Mary Ann from Gilligan's Island).

On Saturday, I came back with my friend Sarah, who loves Dean Cain, so we attended his panel, as well as Andrew McCarthy's. McCarthy had some interesting things to say about the film and TV business, and it was fun to learn more about Dean Cain's life nowadays. We also caught the end of Jodi Lynn O'Keefe's panel (click HERE for my interview with her) with Emma Caulfield.

L to R, clockwise: Andrew McCarthy, Dean Cain, Scott Wilson (Hershel, TWD), Wilson + Chad Coleman (Tyreese, TWD)

On Sunday, I brought my dad along with me, because he wanted to see William Shatner's panel. We also attended a few minutes of the "Dead of the Walking Dead" panel, but the room was so packed that we couldn't find seats.

Dead of the Walking Dead panel - insanely packed!

The highlight of the comic con, for me, was Shatner's panel. Although I haven't seen any of the Star Trek episodes (gasp, I know), I'm a HUGE fan of his from Boston Legal, and he was as personable in real-life as I had hoped he would be. He spoke about everything from poker to his love of motorcycles, and it was a highly entertaining panel.

Things to know if you go next year:

• I'd highly recommend buying your pass before arriving (online, on their website). The lines to buy passes there were huge. 
• Parking at Suburban Showcase Collection (Novi) is $5 per day. Saturday parking, as well as Grand River Ave. traffic, was kind of a nightmare, as it was very crowded, and we had to park in an overflow lot and trek over to the main building/lot. 
• If you can only spend one day at the comic con, check out the panel schedule ahead of time. I'll also say that although Sunday was less crowded than Saturday, a lot of the media guests (celebs) seemed to not attend that day.
• Friday is definitely the least crowded day, if you are looking to get in and out of the comic con quickly. However, the best panels (IMO) were on Saturday and Sunday.
• Ticket prices ranged from $25+, and you get a $20 discount if you go all three days. They also did free tickets for children age 12 and under on Sunday, and free tickets for children ages 5 and under all three days with a paid adult admission.

• As with most conventions, autographs or pictures with celebs were an extra cost. You could choose to do a selfie or informal photo with a celeb at their booth, which was usually less, or one of the more formal photographs taken by the photographer on-site. 

Billy Boyd's booth (Pippin from LOTR). Not sure why it says Liz in the bottom left corner!

Overall, I had a fun time at the convention but if I was paying to go, I'd probably just pick one day that had the most panels I'd want to attend. By Sunday, I had already browsed the booths and seen which media guests were in attendance. However, William Shatner was a Sunday-only guest, and I also didn't get to do any interviews until Sunday, so in this case it was good that I went the whole three days.

Have you ever been to a comic con? If so, which one, and what was your favorite part of it?