Question Of The Week #9: What is your favorite memory at SDCC?

This year, in an effort to feature more attendees, rather than featuring just one per week — we’re featuring lots of you! We’ll have a new question each week, so be sure to keep an eye on our social media channels for each week’s question. Without further ado let’s get into this weeks question:

Michael Rodgers
Seattle, WA

2023 was actually one of my favorite years with a ton of surprises. One of them was was the Haunted Mansion experience. I’ll never forget seeing the tweet on my way to the convention center and taking a detour to be one of the first in line.

Ashley Laurence

San Diego

I was in cosplay as Delirium and THE DESIRE, Mason Alexander Park, from Netflix’s The Sandman, yelled at me “hey sister!” to stop me to get a photo with them! Magic moments of con are what it’s all about.

Harry Moore

Being invited to my first SDCC by these guys.

Jason Fong
Sacramento

I have so many favorite memories but one of the best ones was last year’s screening of Deadpool and Wolverine in Hall H. I was lucky enough to win a pass and it was my first time ever attending anything in Hall H. The communal spirit of seeing that hilarious, action-packed film with my fellow geeks was amazing. The energy in the room was amped and super positive. We all got the highly-coveted Wolverine popcorn bucket for free with actual popcorn. The whole experience really made it one of the best Comic Cons ever for me. I was so stoked that I went and Funko Popped myself as Wolverine! LFG!!!

Molly
London, UK

Although I’ve got so many from over the years, my favourite memory at SDCC has to be from last year’s event. My fave show is Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, and I was lucky enough to attend TheOneRing’s event with costumes, photo ops, and a cast signing! It took a lot of queuing (and being quizzed on Elvish) to get a ticket in, but it was the best event ever! It meant so much to be able to talk to the cast, sing the show’s praises, and even bond over our shared home of the UK! I’ll never forget it.

Andrew
Mission Viejo

My favorite memory at SDCC: SDCC 2022, the year we returned to SDCC (not Special Edition) after COVID-19. HOTD offsite, also in 2022. Exclusive signing: Jim Lee, Scott Williams, Alex Sinclair.

Michael Richert

One of my favorite memories of SDCC is from 2015. I had a ticket to a party, and then there was an announcement that one of my favorite groups, Cold War Kids, would be performing on the USS Midway during Comic-Con (for a company I don’t think exists anymore). Thankfully, a friend took my ticket for the first party and I was able to go. They were one of my favorite groups (then and now) and to see them perform on the Midway was fantastic. It was also the same night as the Star Wars: The Force Awakens panel in Hall H where they took everyone outside after the panel and had a concert and fireworks show, so we got to watch the fireworks from the top of the USS Midway after an amazing concert.

Deon Sinquefield

First one is from my very first SDCC back in 2010. This was a bucket list dream come true for me and the icing on the cake…? MEETING STAN LEE!!! It was a total fluke because I entered a drawing to meet him and lost. I went to the signing anyway to just be able to see him in person. I cheered, led “Stan” chants, etc, during the signing. His handler apparently liked what I was doing so much that me and the entire front row got to go up and get a picture and an autograph.

The second memory was when I proposed to my wife on the Marvel stage with Cosmo from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. I spent months putting this together and there were some obstacles that almost got in the way: late signings at the Penguin Random House booth, large crowds, and the people from Entertainment Tonight talking about “some guy is going to propose” while we were standing nearby. Luckily my wife didn’t hear them. Everything went off without a hitch and I had a few friends in the crowd to take pics and video. We even made the Marvel website, and the UBLOG gave us a medal and a shout out!

Pam Gould & Nikki Gould
Covington, Georgia & West Hollywood, California

The year my daughter and I were able to speak with Lloyd Kaufman was so breathtakingly wonderful. Troma made some of favorite movies and having my daughter meet the man who made it all happen will always remain with me.

Kim Kunkel

There have been SOOOOO, SO MANY. But my favorites are the unexpected ones!! The year was 2017…I made it into ALL the Conan shows, my friend was in town from Ireland, I had all the Supernatural tickets for NerdHQ, and I made it into SyFy live on the rooftop of the Grand. Hosted by Zachary Levi, with surprise guests being Stephen Amell and other cast from Arrow!! I’m front row, they are walking the stage and Stephen Amell starts walking straight at me!! He gets close, kneels down, and I get this hug!! He liked the shirt I was wearing, a Supernatural one, and he said if I ever see Jared Padalecki I need to tell him Stephen Amell says hi!! A kind person behind me snapped this photo, and I may have cried a little haha. As a bonus the next day at the Arrow panel, he came out the side curtain where I was, I approached to say thank you for the previous days hug, and I promptly got another!! That was a hard year to top!!

Roberta Peters

My favorite SDCC memory was 2006 which was my first SDCC! I got to hang out with three members of Grease! Barry Pearl, Jamie Donnelly, and Annette Charles.

Ariel Estandarte
Orland Park, Illinois

My favorite memory at SDCC was from 2014. I happened to be by the Marvel Booth and I overheard that celebs will be appearing on stage that day. After 8 hours of standing in one place, I was right up front and saw casts from Agents of Shield, Antman and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Sure I may have be dehydrated and starving but it was worth the wait. There was a great group of people around me that made the wait even better. I don’t know if that can ever be topped but it’s Comic Con and anything can happen.

Gina I
Sacramento, CA

My favorite SDCC memory was attending the Her Universe Fashion Show in 2023. I was brave enough to walk the runway during the audience participation portion of the show. That night I wore my own ready-to-wear design based off of ‘Rockin’ Romance Jem’ from Jem and the Holograms. I felt so empowered and I encourage anyone who has ever thought of walking a runway to do it at the HUFS!

Robert
Tijuna

I have several good memories of SDCC but for me the best would be that in 2016 I took my whole family with me outside for the first time. My oldest boy who is now 15 had a suit we had made for his birthday a month before. He loves Pokémon so he cosplayed as Ash for his birthday and since he only used it once, he wanted to use it again, and SDCC was perfect for that.

We took pictures with the Superman statue, with the Batmobile, and he decides he wanted pictures with every Pokémon trainer he could find (they were a lot, since Pokémon Go was at its prime).

So we took a lot of pictures with Pokémon trainers and then, right there no the corner at Gaslamp some Lady Loki came out of nowhere and said she loved the Ash cosplay (I had to tell my kid what she was saying since he doesn’t speak English) and just said: hold on for a second. She searched in her bag and got a lil box and she gave the box to my kid, it was a set of Pokémon badge pins from the Kanto region!

So now he was not only Ash, but he was a Pokémon Master, and my kid was thrilled, and he was happ,y and that is why that is my favorite SDCC memory.

LeRoid David

Sacramento, CA

So many fave memories at SDCC, especially representing with my Kid Heroes Productions crew! However, one unforgettable memory was finally meeting childhood idol, Ernie Reyes, Jr., in 2024. And to have him sign my fan art. It was seriously decades in the making!

Pamela
(IG:@pams.youniverse)
Las Vegas, NV

I’ve attended SDCC multiple times, but 2024 was the first time I cosplayed. That’s my favorite SDCC memory: the first time I cosplayed.

James

(IG: @sambalduky58)

One of my favorite memories from San Diego Comic-Con was meeting Rick Geary, the renowned cartoonist, illustrator, and creator of the Toucan. It was especially memorable to cosplay as the Toucan, particularly during SDCC’s 50th anniversary.

Damian Da Cruz
DC Metro

SDCC is full of great memories for me but one of my favorites has to be from my first con. I was so excited. I was still on east coast time and so I woke up early and went down to the convention center first thing in the morning. I remember I wanted to go to see John Barrowman at the Indigo Ballroom. I’d already been in awe of how the con had taken over the Gaslamp and was so excited by all the sights.

As I walked up to the Indigo, I saw a small group of about 4 or 5 people with tents, seats, and big sun umbrellas sitting against the sea wall, slightly away from the crowds. They were clearly set up for the long haul but I couldn’t see anything they would be waiting for as they were not near any of the lines, so I went up to ask what they were doing. Turns out they were waiting to be first in line for Hall H and Marvel on Saturday. This was 7am on Thursday morning!!!

It was at this moment, I realized that SDCC was not like other cons and I’d found my people!

Elizabeth Rueda
California

My favorite San Diego Comic-Con memory is: being able to officially attend INSIDE the SD Convention Center for the first time ever in 2024 with my son, Roman.

My son, since he was little, has been a big time comic / super hero fan. We’d always come to SD on the Convention weekend to check out all the cosplays and events outside on the streets. As a single mom, it was a little expensive, but we managed because ticket purchases were a little too much for what I could afford. Then, I had a better paying job and we tried to obtain tickets, but they were hard to obtain as they’d sell out.

Finally, in 2024…. by the grace of God… we got tickets! For only one day and on a Sunday (last day of the convention) … but we got them!

I always say that I pretty much grew up with my son, and he’s made being a parent an amazing experience. He’s my son…. and my best friend too. We cosplayed as Deadpool and Wolverine and what a time was had! We got to experience the X-Men 97 voice Character panels, saw the cool displays, participated in a Cobra Kai trivia contest (my son won!), we purchased Funko Pops, pins, and comic books. However, only getting tickets for the last day of the convention, we missed out on the Deadpool and Wolverine movie presentation. The people that attended were given a Wolverine popcorn bucket that my son wanted and was sold out at the movie theater we went to go watch the movie at. Well…. to add to our memory… a group of convention attendees came up to us and told us we looked so cool in our cosplay outfits. They asked if we had seen the movie at the convention. My son answered “no”. These awesome people then gifted us their Wolverine popcorn bucket they got at the screening and which was sold out everywhere. We have no clue who they were.

This year the mom and son tradition continues and we are returning for SDCC 2025 and we got 2-day tickets …. Friday and Saturday! We can’t wait to see what we’ll see… and we are planning to spread some cheer to random convention goers with some gifts … just as we were last year.

Christina Sinwelski
(@Lastmealcosplay)
Brooksville, Fl

ALL OF IT! Last year was our first time attending, and it was amazing. My absolute favorite would be attending/cosplaying with my nephew. We went to our very first convention together ever at Tampa Bay Comic Con when he was in elementary school and now we have attended SDCC together and also my amazing husband for making it all possible!!! Can’t wait until this year!!

Suzette Valle

It’s a toss up. Meeting Mark Hamill or the cast reunion which included Aaron Paul’s baby in a hazmat suit!

We couldn’t let the readers have all the fun, so some of the team here at the Unofficial Blog wanted to get in on the action as well. Let’s see who some of their favorites are.

Johnny Du

Hours circling the WB booth for autograph signings (pre-wristbands and portal) at my first SDCC without much of a clue as to what was going on, but that core memory somehow sealed the decision to come back for more.

Evic Oropilla

The ability to buy the following year SDCC tix on preview night.

Thank you to all our readers for all the great replies to this week’s question!

Next Week’s Question: What’s The Best Free Swag You’ve Received At SDCC?

Please send in your Name, Location, Picture, and your response to [email protected] by Tuesday, July 15th to be featured! (If you have submitted for past questions you are free to submit again!)