Introducing Georgia

BEST.WEEKEND.EVER.

Walker Stalker London 2017 was not only my first time at this convention, it was my first convention ever. I went to the convention alone as none of my friends wanted to go and I was very late in booking tickets so I just panic bought them for myself whilst they were still available. Initially I only managed to get a Sunday general admission (GA) ticket as the Saturday had already sold out, however, they released a BOGOF offer on GA tickets and in that ticket wave, Saturday became available so I grabbed one of those too. I am so pleased that I did this as Saturday was the only day that Andrew Lincoln attended this year.

The next thing to buy was photo ops. I knew that I wanted to meet Norman Reedus and JDM, however, as I was so late in finding out about the convention, tickets for their photo ops had already sold out. The first op that I bought was a duo photo with Josh McDermitt and Michael Cudlitz. I also got a photo op with Scott Wilson. Not too long after I had bought tickets they released a duo op with both Norman and JDM, and I managed to grab one of those too. It was a very intense few minutes but it paid off I was able to meet two of my most favourite people ever. Eventually, Andrew Lincoln got announced and his photo ops were announced to come on sale at a specific time. Only 25% were allocated to GA ticket holders and so the chances of me getting one were extremely slim. Nevertheless, I persevered and refreshed the page for over an hour until one became available and I snatched it up immediately. I was buzzing for days knowing I was going to meet the 3 main men of the zombie apocalypse. And so it was time to begin saving for the autographs that I was going to purchase on the day.

Months later and it was time to head down to London on Friday 3rd March. I would 100% recommend going the day before the convention if you can as you can collect your tickets at will call on the day before. This makes it so much easier on the day as you just head straight to the entrance queue with your already collected wristbands and photo op vouchers.

Saturday morning I arrived at around 9am to Olympia. As a GA ticket holder you get let in at 10.30am, however I had seen many advise to get there early as there will be long queues. Luckily, I met two girls in the queue who kindly let me tag along with them for the day so I wasn’t alone!
I knew I would get in on time as I had my Andrew photo op and it had been stated that you would be allowed in early to allow you time to get to this. Surprisingly we were allowed into the convention around an hour early which meant we had time to look around a few stalls and queue a guest before our op. We queued to meet Ross Marquand first, but due to him arriving late we had to leave his queue to go to our Andy op.

Standing in the line for our photo, my excitement was building so much. The first guest I was going to meet was Rick Grimes himself, and I was both nervous and excited all at once. Once we got nearer we could see him through the door into the photo op room and then I was just excited. It all moves very quick in photo ops. You are basically in and out within 1o seconds. When it was my turn I walked up to Andy and said hello to him then we took our photo. In the photo we are hugging and after it was done he said to me “I love how you instinctively knew we were going to hug!” That was my day made.

The next guest I went to was David Morrissey. I really wanted to meet David, I loved him playing the Governor and after seeing him in the BBC drama ‘The Missing’ earlier in the year it made me want to meet him even more. The queue was pretty long and I had a photo op scheduled for Scott Wilson in the afternoon. As it was getting nearer the time of my photo op I told one of the volunteers that I was going to have to leave and asked if I could re-join the queue with my friends but instead she took me out of the queue and put me to the front of the VIP one which meant I was seen immediately. I was so thankful for this as it saved me so much time. As for David he was so lovely, he seemed to show a genuine interest in everyone, asking where I was from and if it was my first convention. We talked for a bit while he signed the picture I had chosen then we took our photos. He was definitely the total opposite of his character!

 

Next up was my Scott Wilson photo op. He is such a legend. I was so devastated when Hershel died in the show as he was one of my favourite characters so I knew from the start that I wanted to meet Scott during the convention.

 

Later in the day I went to Scott’s autograph booth as his line was short and I wanted to get my photo of us signed. He asked me my name and when I told him it was Georgia he said that he grew up in Georgia. He also called me pretty, saying ‘a pretty name for a pretty girl’ *blushes*. FYI, he gives great hugs!

I then went back to Ross Marquand’s booth to see if I could successfully meet him this time. I didn’t have to wait too long before meeting him. I decided only to get a selfie rather than both a selfie and an autograph as I didn’t want to blow all my money on the first day! He was well worth the wait to meet. He talked to his fans for ages and takes great selfies. He is also great at giving hugs. My friend managed to take a few photos of me meeting him too which I was so grateful of.

Another guest I met on the Saturday was Freddie Highmore. I randomly walked past his line when there was barely anyone in it and so I decided to just go for it and get an autograph as I am a huge fan of his in Bates Motel. He was also really lovely. It was his first convention too so we at least had that in common! He showed genuine interest in everyone and talked to you for ages. I got both a selfie and an autograph with Freddie.

Finally it was time for me to go to my Norman/JDM duo photo. I was so excited as this was the one I had been looking forward to the most. The queue took quite a while but it was so worth the wait. Photo ops move even faster for these two as there are so many people they need to get through. I walked into the room and my turn came to get my photo taken. As I walked over to the two of them Norman danced towards me and said ‘What’s up cutie?’ I swear it took all my inner strength not to have a complete melt down there and then. It was all over before I knew it and I thanked them both and they said bye before I went and collected my photo. And I LOVE it!

As it was nearing the end of the day I was wandering around one last time to see if there was anyone I could squeeze in meeting before the convention closed. Josh McDermitt still had a full line but it was considerably shorter than it had been throughout the day so I jumped in line for one last guest interaction of the day. I am so glad I did because he was the highlight of my day and my whole weekend. I met another girl in the queue for Josh who happened to be staying at the same hotel as me and so I made another friend there. She also managed to get lots of photos of me meeting Josh which I love so much. When I got to his table he was very complimentary, which coming from him was such an ego boost! He was one of the nicest guests I met all weekend, he made me feel very special in the few minutes I spent with him and although deep down I knew he said the same things to everyone it really didn’t matter because it was my time with him and I enjoyed every second. He was also wearing a ‘team Eugene’ badge which I told him I liked and after a while he said ‘Oh wait, you said you liked my button? Do you want it?’ and gave it to me. Not going to lie, that made my whole day. He also takes lots of selfies and talks for ages. I met him three times over the course of the weekend because of how amazing he was, but more on that later!

The next day I got there really early as I had an autograph with JDM very first thing and I didn’t want to be at the back of the GA line as I had a photo op later on that I didn’t want to miss. We queued for a few hours in the rain (damn British weather) but we got let into the convention early again which was great. I didn’t have to wait long in JDM’s line at all which saved me a lot of time. I got him to sign my photo op from the previous day. Honestly, his voice is even nicer in person, and (I know I have said this about everyone) he gives the best hugs! I didn’t get to spend as long with him as some of the other guests due to just how popular he is but he still made time to have a little chat whilst signing my photo. Unfortunately he doesn’t do selfies as he has to see so many people in a day, but I wasn’t too devastated about this as I had my photo from the day before.

Chandler Riggs’ line was really short when I walked past him later on in the morning so I decided to get a few photos with him before my photo op with Josh and Michael later in the afternoon. It was very awkward as we both went in for handshakes using opposite hands which makes me cringe when I think about it, but he was still lovely, and also taller than I expected! I also met Dennis O’Hare during the time before my photo op. He may be the cutest person I have ever met. He was really really lovely, the guy in the queue before me wanted to show him a magic trick and he took part in it and played up to the camera for his recording.

It was now time for my photo op. I was very excited for this op (mainly because I wanted to see Josh again :)). The queue took a really long time for GA as there were so many people in line, but with the help of a little ‘Easy Street’ being played over and over the time flew in!

I love this photo so much. I wanted to meet Michael properly at his autograph booth since the photo op was such a fleeting visit so I went straight over to his table to start queueing. He was still in photo ops when people started queueing but I knew his line would get long so I decided to wait anyway. In total I waited for around 4 hours until I finally got to meet him. I know that’s pretty extortionate but I knew that I wanted to meet him properly and he was the only person that I had not yet had the chance to. Plus I wanted him to sign my photo op. He was definitely worth the wait, although you could tell he was tired as he wasn’t as bubbly as I had heard he usually is. Although this can be understood, since he and Josh had both stayed hours after the con had finished to make sure that everyone was able to meet him. He also took lots of selfies and signed my picture, I asked him to write his favourite Abraham quote, which he did, and it turned out to be the one that was on my t-shirt.

Since I had one out of two autographs on my photo, I knew that I needed to get Josh to sign it too. So, after the long wait for Michael, I joined Josh’s queue in order to get the last autograph of the weekend. I was amazed that he remembered me from the day before, remembering giving me the badge. He signed the photo for me and chatted a little. I didn’t get selfies this time since I already had them and my budget was running out! The final signed photo is probably my favourite thing from the weekend and I’m glad I decided to get both of them to sign it as it wouldn’t be the same with just one. Meeting the iconic duo that is Abraham and Eugene was the perfect end to the best weekend ever and I can’t wait for next years con; it can’t come soon enough!

My advice for first time con goers!

If you can, get at least a VIP ticket. This will save you so much time over the weekend when it comes to queueing up for autographs/selfies. I plan on going at least VIP next year. Nevertheless, I went GA and managed to meet everyone I wanted to, and more, so with some planning and budgeting, GA is definitely doable for meeting the big name guests!

Save up lots of spending money! The tickets can be cheap if you just go GA, but on top of that the photo ops are expensive, depending how many you want of course. Autograph and selfie prices vary depending on the guests. For example, Freddie Highmore was £50 for an autograph and you got a free selfie, where as Josh and Michael were £50 for an autograph and selfie separately or £70 for a combo. Chandler was the most expensive I saw there, with autograph and selfies being £60 each or £100 for a combo!

Get to will call on the Friday! I can’t stress how much easier this will make your life when it comes to the day of the convention. If you can’t make it, then on the Saturday you will have to queue for will call to collect your tickets and then join the entrance queue.

Take food with you. Food and drink inside the venue is very expensive; a bottle of water cost over £2! *faints* If you’re going to WSC London, then there is a Tesco express across the road from Olympia which a lot of people go to to purchase snacks and sandwiches etc. for throughout the day. It also means you can eat your snacks in the queues rather than having to go to the cafe inside the venue to eat.

Don’t worry about going alone. I definitely know how daunting this can be. I am such an introvert and I don’t really do well approaching new people. However, you easily make friends at these things. You at least have one thing in common that you will spend the whole weekend talking about. I made three friends during the weekend and talked to lots more people in the queues, so don’t worry about going alone because there are plenty of others who are happy to talk to you!