EdKitten 66 Posted June 19, 2023 Report Share Posted June 19, 2023 I can't say that any of this will be the same for Otakon, but just made some observations from being at the WEWCC during June 16-18, 2023. Nothing was mentioned about covid or checking vaccination cards or wearing masks. Most people did not wear masks. A few here and there did wear them. Food prices went up a little. Chicken tenders with fries was around $15.50. Cheeseburger with fries was $14.00. Beyond burger (I think came with fries) was $18.00. Bottled water didn't go up (I think), at $4.75. I didn't eat at all the places selling food inside the WEWCC, but I did at a lot of them -- NONE of them accepted cash! Just cards. Luckily, I'd bought a gift card days earlier, and just used that. They did have a machine at the Food District (can't remember WEWCC's name for that food court -- the one near the Hall which Otakon usually uses for video gaming). The machine turned cash into a card. Halls B and C concourses for entrance and exit: At Otakon, usually Hall B is an exit only, and Hall C is an entrance only. Awesome Con's attendance is much bigger (sorry to say that), but they do not separate any concourse's hall for entrance or exit. People come and go at both concourses for Halls B and C. And the flow of people does not jam up. To use the concourse as an entrance, people just naturally stayed to the right and used the escalator or stairs. To use it as an exit, people naturally walked on the other side. I never saw a collision. I just wanted to mention that, hoping Otakon might like to adjust their rules for those entrances/exits. Also, last year I mentioned to watch out for bird poop on the handrails of the escalators coming out of the metro's Mt. Vernon Sq. station. I only saw a tiny bit of poop on Sunday evening. And have noticed the handrails are pretty clean when the WEWCC has an event going on. But when using those escalators on regular days, the bird poop can add up. So, just wanted to mention that again. I can't wait for Otakon to happen! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
windseeker 80 Posted June 20, 2023 Report Share Posted June 20, 2023 I don't usually buy con food but on Saturday last year I didn't dare leave the building due to the lines and risk being stuck outside so I ended up eating a $15 sandwich lol. It was good at least. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zeeba Neighba 22 Posted June 21, 2023 Report Share Posted June 21, 2023 22 hours ago, windseeker said: I don't usually buy con food but on Saturday last year I didn't dare leave the building due to the lines and risk being stuck outside so I ended up eating a $15 sandwich lol. It was good at least. Same here, only I had to settle for a $17 pizza, and that wasn't even any good. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdKitten 66 Posted June 21, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2023 Yeah, the lines to get back into Otakon -- that's why I eat con food too, especially on Saturdays. $17 for pizza that wasn't even any good? 😲 Last weekend, I got a pizza but I think it was around $12 or $15 (can't remember exactly). Who knows -- the line was so long, things just seemed like a blur, it might have been $17. I just couldn't believe I FINALLY had a pizza in my paws, so didn't even look at the total -- just swiped the card and hurried to find a place to sit down and pig out. The pizza tasted good though. Sorry yours didn't taste good. Usually each day after Otakon I go to Union Station via the metro, get food and bring it back to the hotel room, to kind of celebrate. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Revan 38 Posted June 21, 2023 Report Share Posted June 21, 2023 You wouldn't happen to know if the... Moroccan(?), Mediterranean(?) place is still there? IIRC it was in the food court next to the Video Game area. They had something on the menu there last year looked interesting - rice, vegetables, hummus, etc. (I want to say chicken tagine, but I don't think that's quite it.), but I had already stocked up my meals for the con at the Safeway on Thursday. (I can't think of the last time I paid convention center prices for food. I still have money on a Visa gift card that I didn't spend when I went on vacation last year, so I might just drop the money to at least try the meal if it's still around. Do they have anything in the area near the Marriott Marquis entrance? It had the anime themed food places there the first few years, but I don't recall anything being there after that. (Though that could be my clueless self missing the obvious.) 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Zeeba Neighba 22 Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 17 hours ago, EdKitten said: $17 for pizza that wasn't even any good? 😲 'Fraid so. There was very little pepperoni, the cheese and tomato sauce were stretched out rather thinly, and the crust tasted like cardboard. Bleah. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdKitten 66 Posted June 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 On 6/21/2023 at 7:04 PM, Revan said: You wouldn't happen to know if the... Moroccan(?), Mediterranean(?) place is still there? IIRC it was in the food court next to the Video Game area. They had something on the menu there last year looked interesting - rice, vegetables, hummus, etc. (I want to say chicken tagine, but I don't think that's quite it.), but I had already stocked up my meals for the con at the Safeway on Thursday. (I can't think of the last time I paid convention center prices for food. I still have money on a Visa gift card that I didn't spend when I went on vacation last year, so I might just drop the money to at least try the meal if it's still around. Do they have anything in the area near the Marriott Marquis entrance? It had the anime themed food places there the first few years, but I don't recall anything being there after that. (Though that could be my clueless self missing the obvious.) Sorry it took a few days to respond -- I use public computers, so it's hard to get in front of a monitor/keyboard sometimes. Yes, they had the Moroccan/Mediterranean place in the food court next to the Video Game area. I was in the pizza line, and the Moroccan food pictures looked so good, I wanted to try it out, but all the lines were so long, I just stayed in the pizza line. The food court near the Marriott Marquis was still closed. 🙁 I haven't seen it open for a long time. I kinda miss it, the atmosphere there was fun -- low ceilings and dimmer lights. Hopefully it'll be open for the next Otakon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Attendee7000 18 Posted June 26, 2023 Report Share Posted June 26, 2023 The food court in the convention center near the Marriott entrance has been remodeled and is open again. It must be on an event by event basis whether or not it's used now. The dining area now has a long window that overlooks the main hall (what in the past was the Artists' Alley hall). I got some pictures of it open at last winter's auto show. https://ibb.co/jRc9YNn https://ibb.co/0nsptxh 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EdKitten 66 Posted June 30, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2023 On 6/26/2023 at 6:12 PM, Attendee7000 said: The food court in the convention center near the Marriott entrance has been remodeled and is open again. It must be on an event by event basis whether or not it's used now. The dining area now has a long window that overlooks the main hall (what in the past was the Artists' Alley hall). I got some pictures of it open at last winter's auto show. https://ibb.co/jRc9YNn https://ibb.co/0nsptxh Thanks so much for the info and pics. It looks great! Hopefully, Otakon will have it open for us to munch out! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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