Colossalcon East 2026 Gallery And Writeup Part 2
In this, my second of three articles on Colossalcon East 2026, I’ll be discussing some of the concerns and suggestions for improvement from attendees of this year’s convention. Once again this year, I made a post on an unofficial forum soliciting feedback on the event, and received numerous responses. I will not be mentioning said forum or any of its members by name, per the forum’s rules (you don’t talk about Fight Club), but for those of you that took the time to share your thoughts, I thank you.
A hot topic during and after the convention was the Kalahari’s new plan for parking during the event. As there is a lot to talk about in regards to this, I’ll save my in-depth discussion on that matter for my final article, so stay tuned for that. The extremely abridged version is that attendees not staying at the Kalahari were directed to park at an “overflow lot” which was a somewhat long walk from the venue. While this plan of action was well-intentioned, its implementation left much to be desired.
One of the most widely discussed topics was the after-hours night swim rave/party held at the Kalahari’s waterpark. Perhaps the biggest complaint regarding this event was that there was no DJ during one night of the party. Numerous attendees expressed their disappointment about this, feeling that the lack of a DJ killed the vibes. The ever-increasing price of tickets to this event was another big concern for attendees. The cost has risen steadily at a rate of about $5 per year since its inception, with the price going up to $49 for one night, and $129 for all three nights this year. This was one of the biggest complaints I saw discussed last year as well, with many attendees wondering if it was worth the price for a four-hour event.
Speaking of prices, the high cost of things at the convention and venue was another cause for concern among attendees. The at-the-door pricing for admission was $109/$39/$55/$75/$35 for Multi-Day/Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday admission respectively. Some attendees felt that the pricing was a bit high for a convention of Colossalcon East’s size. The convention does offer more reasonable “early bird” pricing for attendees that purchase tickets earlier in the year, but making a commitment months ahead of time can be difficult for many people due to work and other life commitments. The cost of just about everything at the venue is quite high, including day passes to the water park, locker rentals, food, drink, and more. There appeared to be a consensus that while the price of everything seems to increase every year, there isn’t an increase in value and quality to match that.
Numerous people also questioned why all of the rooms at the venue are not reserved for attendees at the convention rate. The “room block” that is set aside for the convention always sells out quickly, so there is no doubt that there would be ample demand for rooms if the supply was increased. Every year, there are complaints from non-attendees that had the misfortune of booking a room during the event. Yes, the booking website does mention that there is an event being held during that week, and includes a link to Colossalcon East’s website. However, there’s no way that “normies” could REALLY understand what goes on at the venue during the convention without actually seeing it for themselves. This seems to be a no-win situation for everyone, and I can’t think of any reason for it other than the venue being able to make more money charging people that aren’t able to book at the convention rate the regular non-discounted room price.
I don’t want to make it sound like things are all doom and gloom for the convention, as most people, including myself, seemed to have an overall enjoyable experience this year. While I didn’t see as much positive feedback as I did last year, it was a far cry from the overwhelmingly negative feedback from attendees in 2022 and 2023. Here’s hoping that as Colossalcon expands next year with the Virginia convention, convention management won’t lose focus on improving what they can at Colossalcon East, as well as Colossalcon’s other events.
Among the cosplayers in this second of three galleries are xxkohbun, ambilynne, zadrabug, rodimus_cerix, nicoleamazes, givemekashh, xjessekun, mikarizaki, mintomish, yuri.yuja, luvluxcos, captain_berserk, selfisms, mish.mosh.cos, alicensanitycosplay, ikakachan, xpandux, joeycosplay, horsecrazy94, sakuraharunogirl, and many more.
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