Is VIP Worth the Cost at FanExpo Events?
We recently made a glorious return to the convention scene, this time in the heart of the City of Brotherly Love! FanExpo Philadelphia is a pop culture convention brought to you by the same company that hosts Megacon in Orlando every winter, as well as other FanExpo events across the United States and Canada. Although we have been to Megacon, this was our very first experience under the official ‘FanExpo’ brand name - and luckily, it was a bit closer to home than Orlando!
When we made the decision to attend FanExpo Philadelphia, there were a number of headlining celebrities that we were excited to meet, and - consequently - we decided to budget for VIP weekend admission. VIP is the highest tier of admission to FanExpo events and the cost for 2024’s Philadelphia VIP admission was $449 per person. We knew that guests might cancel at any time, but VIP tickets are extremely limited and we had to make the decision to commit several months before the event. Sadly, most of the guests we did want to meet were not able to attend the convention for one reason or another, which left us weighing the remaining value of the badges we had pre-purchased.
Weeks before the convention, our badges and wristbands were mailed to our home. We also got a welcome email with details about what to expect in our VIP merch package and other perks such as early entry, VIP Lounge privileges, and exclusive concierge services. The expo floor officially opened on Friday May 3 rd at 4:00PM, but VIP attendees were granted entry two hours early at 2:00PM. When we arrived at around 1:45PM, we headed straight for the VIP lounge so that we could pick up our VIP swag bags. These bags included a poster, lanyard, Marty McFly vinyl figure, FanExpo T-shirt, and a one-time use 20%-off coupon for the FanExpo merch booth. We estimated the value of the swag at around $70.
The VIP lounge was quiet and almost never full, and there always seemed to be a place to sit and rest for as long as we desired. There was also a water cooler that we utilized over the course of the weekend to refill our own water bottles. The staff of the lounge were very approachable and helpful. One of the VIP perks that surprised us was bag check. The VIP staff gladly took our swag bags back to keep them for us for the rest of the day, and we could then return as many times as we wanted to drop off more merch after shopping. This was a great service, especially while we were vlogging because we only had to carry around our filming equipment and personal items.
Once we were done with our first visit to the lounge, it was time to check out the Expo Floor! We still had a little over an hour before the rest of the attendees could get in, so this was a great opportunity to explore the vendors and get our bearings before crowds got wild. We liked that the main stage was easily accessible and that the panel schedule was posted daily. It was nice to catch a few minutes of a panel and then move on without disturbing other people. The main vendor aisles were labeled with huge banners, and it was relatively easy to navigate the exhibitor floor. We also made sure to check out the celebrity autograph area to double check who had actually made it to the convention. Many guests were not to arrive until Saturday, so it was not as busy during this first day. However, we did take this opportunity to test out how VIP privileges work at FanExpo. I decided that I wanted to meet prolific voice actor Dee Bradley Baker, who had quite the long line…the perfect test run!
We approached the VIP services table in the autograph area, and we were escorted directly to the front of Baker’s long line. It became apparent that VIP was going to save us a significant amount of time in lines over the course of the weekend. Throughout the day, we saw (and heard) envoys from the Furiosa film’s booth, making a ruckus and recruiting attendees to “join the rebellion.” Visitors to their booth would receive a free hair and makeup transformation to help them channel their inner road warrior. I volunteered to model while Tim captured the experience. This was one of the most fun and engaging activities we have ever participated in at a convention, and it was totally free! The team - many of whom were haunters who had been recruited for the convention during their offseason(s) - did an excellent job transforming me into a Mad Max character. Participants were given a free Furiosa t-shirt and got to pose with the other road warriors for sick pics.
Shortly after the epic transformation, we decided to head out for some food and rest. We returned the next morning to an incredibly busy Saturday convention. Anyone who has been to a pop culture convention before will know that Saturday is likely to be the busiest and most-attended day of the weekend, and FanExpo Philly was no exception. The VIP lounge was a much need respite from the crowds during this day. And, as it turns out, the VIP privileges associated with our badges also allowed us to get first crack at celebrity photo ops, even though our assigned window was group 2 and/or 3. This got us through multiple photo op lines very quickly. We estimated that VIP saved us (at minimum) 3-4 hours of lines over the course of the weekend.
We captured what we could of a crazy Saturday on the show floor, which seemed to lure some of the best cosplays of the weekend, in between our photos with Chloe Bennett and Marisa Tomei. It’s worth noting that Saturday was also May the 4th, fondly known as International Star Wars Day, and fans were going hard on the Star Wars cosplays. FanExpo also set a up a special scavenger hunt where fans could look for different cardboard cut-outs of Star Wars characters. We managed to spot Ahsoka Tano, but we failed to find the rest before our day ended. After all, there’s only so much time in the day, and we had a lot of celebrity line-jumping to do! After a very busy day collecting photo ops and autographs and avoiding choke points on the floor, we wrapped up our day by returning to VIP concierge to collect all of our goodies and broke off a little bit early so that we could get to our next destination.
So, in the end, was VIP status at FanExpo worth it? The simple answer is, “it depends.” If you are going to the con to do some shopping, look at cosplayers, and simply enjoy the vibes - then a VIP badge would be a bad investment. On the other hand, if you are coming specifically to meet and greet with multiple celebrities - particularly the headliners - then VIP might well be the way to go. We probably won’t dish out the cash for it next time, but it was nice to live the high life for our first-ever visit to FanExpo Philadelphia! Check out our vlog for the realtime, first-hand account of our VIP experience and see what FanExpo Philly 2024 had to offer us during a busy star(wars)-studded weekend!
