Our last experience of con registration at the ExCeL centre was WorldCon last year. We were fortunate enough to make it through early registration the evening before the con, but on day 1 the queues were long and the registration process was messy. Even Minecon 2012 in Paris was scrappy. With 10,000 attendees for this year’s Minecon, we wanted to get there early so we’d have plenty of time to wait in line. Turned out not to be necessary – registration was fast and easy, using barcode scanners and assembly lines of people handing out lanyards, bracelets, and goodie bags. Very efficient.
The big stages were set up in the South halls of the ExCeL, while the North halls held the Expo stands. There was a giant statue of Big Ben with an Ender Dragon wrapped around it in the centre of the Expo.
Abi and I split our time with Alex and Fiona, but they also decided that there were some panels and events they wanted to see on their own. Which was great – independence quests are paying off!
The evening entertainment was a fantastic Minecraft-themed live show put on by Cirque Bijou: dancing, synchronized trampolining, aerial silk, stunt bicycle tricks, and lots and lots of fire. It was pretty spectacular.