An addition to this, from a DragonCon volunteer (specifically kids track):
The con normally is kid-friendly until around 10pm or so, and then the cosplays tend to get a bit more risqué, and the after-dark panels start popping up.
If you have kids under 7, they can come with you for free! There are a bunch of panels and activities aimed at all ages, and the kids track runs panels aimed at kids of varying ages, from toddlers to teenagers!
We have a big meetup for young furries and therians, which I was unable to help run due to scheduling conflicts last year, but I heard it was very popular last year and far more people showed up than expected, so as a furry myself, I am excited help run it this year, and see it returning, now with a bigger room!
We have a family fort-building contest on Saturday where teams compete to make the best fort, with varying goals, and there is an After-Dark version for adults that auctions off fort materials for charity!
Okay, that’s enough yapping about kids track, now to talk about volunteering at dragoncon!
Due to how big of a con it is, we’re pretty much always looking for volunteers. There are some great perks as well- free snacks in the Volunteer Village, a cool volunteer tshirt and lanyard, and while you do need to pay $20 the first year you volunteer, it’s free after that.
After 5 years of volunteering, you get a free pass to skip the line into the vendor hall (anyone who has ever been to dragoncon knows how good of a thing this is, the vendor hall line is AWFUL).
There’s also a volunteer appreciation event in the spring, and the Dead Dog Dinner after the con, which is very nice!
While I can’t speak for the other tracks, Kids Track is pretty flexible schedule wise, and it’s definitely still possible to go to panels, visit the vendor hall (which I definitely would recommend doing that as early in the morning as possible, so you don’t have to wait in line at the hottest part of the day), and pretty much all the fun con things! I do my 20-22ish hours over the course of the five days of con, and honestly, I have a lot of fun with it!
and you mentioned swag and seek! I love swag and seek, y’all- it is so much fun to trade trinkets and see all the fun little things people have brought!
I’ll be doing a bit of cosplay, and bringing lots of trinkets to trade and gift! I plan on cosplaying my Pokemon trainer AU 5am Pearl, complete with Alolan Vulpix Tilly, at the main Swag n Swap meet on Thursday, please come say hi!
I’ll also be doing red Wild Life Gem on Saturday for the Aquarium night (which requires additional tickets and is almost certainly sold out by now), and any Hermitcraft/Life series cosplayers will be given a snail!
