I’m back baby!
After a very long hiatus filled with plot twists, filler episodes, and surprise guest appearances, I’m excited to get back on the road again.
While graduating college in 2023 was an accomplishment (Go Tritons!), the real crowning jewel of my time away from this keyboard was my very first trip to BlizzCon in Anaheim, California.
I’ve always considered myself a very casual member of the WoW community.
I’m very invested (can you tell?), just not super active.
I don’t belong to a huge active guild, nor am I constantly talking on Discord.
Going to BlizzCon was by far my biggest active step into the community so far, and it was awesome.
From meeting and greeting my favorite WoW youtubers, to seeing the announcement of an expac IRL, it was truly one of the best weekends of my life.
And with BlizzCon 2026 just around the 365-day corner, it’s a great time to reminisce and reflect about the last time we all gathered to celebrate the Blizzard games we love.
So whether you’re a Blizzcon vet or a first timer, I hope you enjoy the ride that was my first ever BlizzCon!
BlizzCon Day 1: A Flippin’ Awesome Friday
By 8 a.m. Friday morning, my husband and I were marching happily down West Katella Avenue heading to the Anaheim convention center.
After grabbing our badges and browsing the merch displays, we headed for the general admission line. And boy, was it long.
Little did I know that this would be a sign of things to come. Thankfully, we came prepared with books and handhelds to keep us busy.
Double-thankfully, without our books I would’ve had nothing to get signed! So that brings me to Takeaway #1: Bring stuff you want signed. You never know who you’ll see!
At 10 a.m. they finally opened the doors, and we booked it for Hall D –the Warcraft hall (AKA the best one!).
We were in awe at the size of the production. We’ve never been to such a large con before so it was a real and welcome culture shock to see how much work goes into them!
Since we only got one ticket for the opening ceremony, we planned to skip it and spend the first morning sightseeing together.
That was, until I got a text from a friend saying, “THEY’RE LETTING EVERYONE INTO OC. COME NOW!!!”
Following that, we very casually ran for our lives to the arena, and our timing couldn’t have been better.
That’s Takeaway #2: Prioritize what’s important to you! Attending the opening ceremony was a lofty dream until that text, so naturally we dropped everything to try and make it.
And wouldn’t you know it, we managed to snag literally the last couple of good seats in the house.
In short, the ceremony was epic.
Feeling that classic Metzen energy saturate the crowd was a thrill, Phil Spencer was a nice surprise, and the announcement of the shiny new World Soul Saga couldn’t have been more exciting.
We left the arena already having the best day ever.
Back on the floor, we spent the rest of the day doing typical epic con stuff.
We gawked at cosplays, made new friends, toured the tournaments, and did our best to avoid as many long waits as possible.
As we wandered, I realized I was totally oblivious to the popularity of pin and patch trading in the community.
We didn’t have anything to trade, but it was interesting to see just how deep some folks get into it.
So Takeaway #3 is: Bring things to share with the community! Whether you make stickers, crafts, or art, BlizzCon is a great opportunity to share your creativity with those who will appreciate it most.
Con freebies are great, but con freebies handmade with love by real fans are treasure!
Blizzcon Day 2: A Star-Studded Saturday
The next morning we were outside the convention center again, waiting eagerly for the clock to hit 10.
We could live with skipping the WoW deep-dives, happy to catch the recordings on Youtube later. So, we built our day around the meet-and-greets.
A little background on me, I’ve been reading and enjoying the WoW novels since I was 13.
So I mean it when I say that meeting Christie Golden was an unreal experience.
She’s one of the main reasons I became interested in writing. She even signed my copy of Arthas Rise of the Lich King, (which I will need to have buried with me now).
To make a great day better, two of our favorite WoW Youtubers, Taliesin & Evitel and Platinum WoW, were also holding meet and greets later.
We’ve been big fans of Taliesin and Evitel for years, and we felt super lucky to snap a quick picture with them.
Meeting Platinum WoW was definitely one of our highlights of the weekend. He’s our favorite WoW Youtuber, and it was a delight to know how funny and nice he is in real life!
Having walked our feet to the bone, we spent the last two hours camping in line for Community Night.
The time passed pretty quickly as we met new people around us and also cheered on the March of the Murlocs.
For Takeaway #4: Meet and talk to everyone you can! Loving Blizzard games is a cool thing to have in common, so every person you meet is an opportunity to make a new friend.
We even ran into one of our TikTok favorites, Carlos Castillo (IG: @thenostalgiclatino)!
Community Night was a blast. Seeing all the amazing art, shorts and cosplays created by the fans was so amazing and inspirational.
We ended the night at the famous Hilton afterparty, where drank cheap wine, danced, and welcomed that post-con bliss.
And finally Takeaway #5: Take lots of pictures! The Con is over tragically quickly, so take pictures to save the moment for years to come.
My 5 Biggest Takeaways
Many who’ve been to previous Blizzcons seem to say that 2023 was a bit of a letdown.
Even though we had a great time, I see their point.
Between the Darkmoon Faire closure, poor queue management, the crowd crush at the food trucks, and more, there was a lot that went not-so-good.
But despite all the issues, I’m glad I went. I left with nothing but wonderful memories, new treasures to cherish, and my five biggest Blizzcon takeaways:
- Bring stuff you want signed.
- Prioritize what’s important to you.
- Bring goodies to share with the community!
- Meet and talk to everyone you can.
- Take lots of pictures – It’s over before you know it.
Though the wait for BlizzCon 2026 will be long, for me the hype is already rampant! I hope it’s everything we want it to be and more.
Until then, you can catch me in Azeroth, sharing my travels with you all!
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