Any convention attendee can vouch for the 100+ degree weather during Anime Vegas. Matt and Ryan got the car from valet and we were on our way to Anime Vegas. It was a short five minute drive from Harrah's to the Alexis Park Resort.

Plenty of cosplayers were already gathered at the lobby. Events did not start up until noon. People were still picking up their badges. Jared and I had to look around for the next available staffer to find out where we should pick up our press badge. We were told to stand in the registration line, but by the time we got to the end of the line, they just pointed us to go straight to the pre-registration line. When did finally recieved our badge, we decided to split off and enjoy what Anime Vegas had to offer.

Jared and Them Gundams

While Victoria went to see Hetalia and Opening Ceremonies I went to the Gundam panel.  I was expecting the panel to be like the Gundam panel from Anime Expo featuring news and recommendations of obscure Gundam material.  This panel was more of a synopsis of (nearly) all Gundam series in chronological order (as opposed to release order).  Overall it was a fun panel, but not what I was expecting.  However, the comprehensive timeline they provided was great.

After the panel, I discussed Gundam with a few other attendees before taking a quick stop at the game room.  This year the video game and table top game rooms were mixed and there was plenty of room for everyone to enjoy themselves.  They also had a dealer set up in the room featuring toys, models, and TCG sets.  I did not have much time for exploration so I just did a quick run through the room before tying to make the meet up with Victoria in the lobby.

Back to Victoria and Them Hetalia Folks

I decided to go to the Hetalia: Ask a Nation panel. The panel was set up in a way that 20 or so Hetalia related nations acted as panelists and answered questions. Though Hetalia has a heavy boys love fanbase, questions had to be kept to PG-13.

Matt was cosplay as OC Philippines and he asked America a question concerning independence.

I also decided to hit Opening Ceremonies at the main events room. Opening Ceremonies ran into some delays, so I came in just in time as things were about to start up. The focus on Opening Ceremonies was introducing the various guests of honor at the convention. Some were able to show up, while others were still in transit. The most memorable introduction was Kaiji Tang's small ancedote about sending drunk texts the previous night to other guests. This year, people were very excited about meeting Little Kuriboh (YuGiOh: The Abridged Series), the return of Vic Mignogna, and cast members of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

I decided to check out the dealer's hall. It was very cramped. I thought Anime Expo 2010's dealer's room was claustrophobic, but people were sardined in the small ballroom of Alexis Park Resort. There seemed to be less dealers this year and not much of a selection of anime goods. However, there were plenty of cosplay and Japanese fashion on sale at decent prices. Cosplay.com Shopping was there with plenty of discounted wigs for the weekend. However, cramped spaces did not allow me to really take a closer look at things.

Jared and I decided to take a brief look around the Alexis Park Resort. It did seem like a nice place for cosplay photos, but unfortunately, 100 degree weather is not cosplay friendly. The exterior of the guest rooms reminded us of low income apartments and college dormitories. The hotel claimed that the rooms were newly renovated, but we found that some rooms were still being remoddled. We also found unfinished paint on the buildings.

The best part of the Alexis Park Resort hotel was the wedding garden. Jared and I took a few photos of ourselves at the wedding garden area. I was cosplaying as Rei Hino (Sailor Moon) that day. Only a handful of attendees knew what I was from. I was confused for cosplaying as Kagome (Inuyasha).

Jared was cosplaying as the evil variation of Walter (Hellsing). We only stayed outside for less than half an hour because of the heat was getting to our heads. Thankfully, the Alexis Park Hotel was stocked with gallons and gallons of water.

We decided it would be in our best interest to stay in doors where the AC would cool us all off. At 2PM, we went to Jason David Frank's Martial Arts Demonstration. There were people crowding up the tiny panel room. People were standing in the back and people started lap sitting and fitting two butts into a chair to make room for more people.

Jason David Frank was running late to his panel. Because he was not too crazy about the panel room set up, he just turned it into a Q&A session about the Power Rangers franchise and his mixed martial arts career. Our favorite story was when Jason David Frank talked about a joke he played on Amy Jo Johnson on a Christmas episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. While they were about to do a romantic scene under the miseltoe, Jason David Frank pulled down his pants because he thought that's what people did under the miseltoe.

Because of the overcrowding of Jason David Frank's panel, the cool air was sucked dry. The next panel was voice actress Mary Elizabeth McGlynn in which she answered questions from fans about her voice acting and directing life.

After the panel, we decided to watch the director's panel that was hosted by Jonathan Klein, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn, Mike McFarland, and Chris Cason.

After the panel, we decided to wander around. I found fellow Sailor Moon cosplayers to pose with.

Even in the later part of the day, plenty of otaku were just hanging out in the lobby. If it's one bonus point I will give to the Alexis Park Resort, there were plenty of seats and AC in the hotel's lobby. Unfortunately, we went to the hotel's so-called buffet. In my ten years of attending anime conventions, it was the biggest rip off as far as food goes. $15 for a very simple, bare bones, and bland breakfast food was not worth it. Not to mention, the service was horrible. We had to flag a waitress down five times before they took our bill.

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