If you ever have considered walking to Baltimore Maryland from Chicago Illinois, you should know that the journey will take you approximately 9 days and 6 hours. Google Maps cautions anyone attempting the feat to be aware that some areas will not have correct pedestrian walkways and to stay alert. If you wish to arrive sooner than a week and change, consider flying from O’hare to Baltimore which will only take you an hour and a half at most. We at the Enthusiasts thrive on adventure, decided to split the difference and take a car ride which lasted about 12 hours. Why would we do such a thing? Crispin Freeman and Otakon 2009.
The 16 year old convention, considered the 3rd largest anime gathering in the U.S., in itself was attractive. Last year, 26,262 people attended. However, our conviction to travel in a Buick Century with a sticky leather interior for nearly the entirety of a Thursday was not due to our appreciation of the size of the growing con. It was to meet, nay be entranced by the lyrical, powerful and magical tones of arguably the most famous American voice actor Crispin Freeman. I argue it is nearly impossible to have sat through five different dubs of anime and not come into contact with Crispin’s voice. The actor, whose fan base is massive enough to fill every panel and line that he was rumored to be around at Otakon ‘09, ranks most high in our anime heroes and is my personal favorite.
Four of our group embarked on the trek to Baltimore, leaving at 3 in the afternoon and reaching our destination at 3 in the morning. Our lodging was the Holiday Inn Baltimore/BWI International Airport 890 Elkridge Landing Road Linthicum MD 21090 , located 7 miles from the Baltimore Convention Center. Let me take a moment to reflect on our experiences there. DO NOT USE THIS HOTEL. YOU WILL BE LIED TO. If there was a way to write in blood ominously across the screen to give you a sense of dread, I would do it to convince you not to use this hotel. If you possess any decency in the entirety of your nature, you will turn away from this place. Our experience nearly drove us from our room to the Marriott across the street. In total we were lied to over 5 times about the rate of our room, the accommodations of the hotel, the acceptable times we were allowed to check in and the number of times we would be billed for a room. Perhaps we were just cursed with horrible luck, but our experience was one of the worst we’ve ever had. Just a quick anecdote about the service we received: Before we arrived three people on the phone confirmed that the hotel had a working hot tub. After arriving we were told the hot tub was out of order. Fifteen minutes later we asked another person where there hot tub was and they informed us they did not have a hot tub. We stayed in a hotel of fail. It is our reccomdenation that you do not stay here if you have any other choice. If you must stay, be sure to take some soap with you.
Something to consider if you decide to head to Otakon from a hotel that is in not within walking distance of the convention center is parking. Friday morning we headed to the convention center and ended up leaving our car in a parking structure about eight blocks away because everything in-between was full. The walk was not too terrible in the morning, but by the time we left on Friday , our achey feet didn’t want to carry us the necessary distance. Saturday we took a cab to escape the parking nightmare, but as each trip cost about 35$, the journey turned out being rather expensive. Sunday we wised up and got to the convention center early enough to find reasonably close and relatively inexpensive parking. Learn from our mistakes and go the route of Sunday. It’ll save you some cash and blisters on your heels.
The Baltimore Convention Center is massive. The line outside the center for registration on Friday was equally so. My heart goes out to the stalwart cosplayers and otaku who were rumored to stand in line for 13+ hours only to be turned away and told to return the next day. My hat is ever off to you. As we pre-registered and had to pick up our press badges I have no idea what it was like to experience at con reg. That line looked mighty intimidating though.
Once inside guests of Otakon were greeted with a usually bag of goodies, including a handy pocket guide. This guide was the hand of glory of Otakon, a perfectly condensed map and panel bible that lead the way through the treacherous landscape of the four floored convention hall. Sadly we recognized it for the gem it was after the convention was over, though now we are the wiser to such gifts included in welcome bags. It even came with handy hours of operations neatly printed on the back , something super useful to know.
I would like to be able to list the advantages and disadvantages of having our press badges but that in itself is a problem, since what we were allowed to do as press changed often. We had a significant amount of web communication before the convention giving us the impression that our Crispin Freeman interview was likely, then it wasn’t, then it was something we would figure out on Friday, then we would receive an email about it, and so on. At one point we were allowed to enter the Dealers Room from the exit, other times we were not. Overall, we got the impression that convention staff, and to some degree the press office itself, had no idea what to do with us. This was disheartening, as our long drive had been, in large part, to secure an interview we thought we were sure to have. We even stood in line for the Crispin Freeman autograph session for over two hours, only for the line to be cut seven people ahead of us. Then when our boss had reached his limit and went to talk with staff members to see whether press could get, they said sure and pointed us to a locked set of doors. Turned out he’s already been whisked off to his next panel. Three bunny girls running up two flights of stairs later, we were within feet of Mr. Freeman only to be turned away by angry staff. Thus our Crispin Freeman adventure ended. Broken promises and lost dreams I suppose. Hopefully we’ll get our glorious interview at some later point.
Though our plan was uprooted after our realization that the Press Office was about as lost as we were, Otakon did not lack fun things to do instead. We attended an absolutely brilliant Steam Punk panel, were able to work with some fun cosplayers during the Macross Photo Shoot, and enjoyed the opportunity to show off our new cosplays. By far the best event of the weekend was our dinner meals. As we were on the East Coast, we were bound to sample some of their famed seafood. We were not disappointed.
6490 Dobbin #G Columbia
401-997-1269
It sounds like a cop out, but really there’s no way for me to describe this restaurant other than to tell you we ate there every night we were in Maryland. Their sushi is incredible, the atmosphere is wonderful, the staff sweet and accommodating and the experience superb. Sushi boat our first night completely knocked us into a wall with how tasty everything was and shabbu-shabbu the next night was a messy but enjoyable food experience. Be sure to call first though and ask for a reservation. Your forward thinking will be be rewarded since, if you ask, they put you in a a private room, complete with sliding paper doors and shoes off Japanese flair. Freaking magic. Please go and enjoy. We swear you won’t regret it.
Otakon was an adventure in a very true sense. There were ups and downs, and luckily we stayed around the middle most of the time. It was a massive, squawking, partly disorganized party of a convention that we had a good amount of laughs during. Not our favorite, but still a blast. Whether it was worth our gas money and cramped car ride is still out with the jury. In the meantime, enjoy our photo gallery and soon to be updated videos.
Quick Recap:
The Goods-
Otakon 2009 Pocket Guide
Food Available to buy within the convention center most of the day
Excellent Variation of Cosplays Characters and levels of skill
Loads of Panels and Events to Attend.
Sushi King
The Bads-
Staff disorganization
Fire Code Violation Amount of People
Expensive Taxi Ride
No Crispin Freeman 
Terrible Hotel Service
Long drive there and back
Tags: Convention, Otakon, Otakon 2009, Review
