A positive review from a disabled attendee

[simon_etheridge]

I normally have 10-15 autos and photos to do and normally just go Sunday as it's quieter as I get disabled priority it's possible but I knew it was going to be extra busy and I had a list of about 19 of each so decided to go all three days get my Stan lee auto out the way in the afternoon on Friday get as many autos as possible try and concentrate on photos most pre booked on sat so I could stay in photo area and not have to fight my way through the crowds as my wheelchair is huge and get the auto of guests like Jenna who's not there on Sunday unfortunately that went a bit wrong as it was too busy even at half nine in the morning to get the extra photos tickets I wanted for sat and some for Sunday I'd decided to get to avoid having to get them on Sunday morning in case I have same problem. I tried all morning between photo shoots but was impossible so Only real free moment to go get them was 11am when the mass crowd was let in so total nightmare but got there in the end. Got as much done as possible amongst the chaos as I knew I had Sunday to get the rest done. Sunday I bought both mum and dad incase it was same as sat. Plus I'd got stans photo to get which I was told by most staff who know that even though I could straight to the front because of I'm disabled I very rarely do because it's unfair on people who have been queuing not to do this with stans photo shoot and also make sure I go to his first shoot so I did. Got everything done plus got wear my deathstroke cosplay Sunday afternoon for last hour of show getting photo with summer and with Jeremy bulloch dressed as boba fett and a storm trooper plus some shots with dragons head. With careful planning and with getting most stuff pre paid like photos and early entry and ok being disabled helped but usually try and not use that most time I get told off by staff and the organiser him self

 

So had 2 fun days Friday and Sunday and actually enjoyed Saturday despite the chaos around me and even some of the guests commented on Sunday that they been keeping an eye on me and don't how I survived Saturday and were genuinely worried including micheal madson who called me a legend and asked me about my condition and milo ventimigla who reckoned I was a real hero.

 

So thank you showmasters for bringing such lovely guests over and giving me some precious moments.

[DavidB]

Glad to hear many things went well for you, and was good to have a chance to talk to you :)

[MrsEllacott]

I think I saw you about this weekend! Please don't ever feel guilty for needing extra help from the crew. They have put it in place to make sure people like you and my son are able enjoy the show with minimal problems! I don't think my son would have coped this weekend without all the fantastic help from the crew, especially like the pit boss on TJ Thyne's queue, who allowed us to move further up the queue to reduce our waiting time, something I never usually ask to do, but did as it was our final one of the weekend and my son was on the verge of a meltdown!

[simon_etheridge]

And you david

[RedSimon13]

As someone who has had limited mobility the past 2 or so years and now use a walking stick all the time (when walking obviously), I was a bit concerned about going as it was going to be my first big event attended in quite a while. I have always known Saturdays would be busy from my days of attending Collectormania at the old shopping centre, so I attended on Sunday and was happy to be able to potter around getting what I wanted. I was glad to line up, and only a couple of times was I invited forward due to my use of a walking stick. I guess I am in the stage of my life where I do not want to become 100% reliant on my walking stick and what lines it may get me through quicker at the cinema or anywhere else. I feel that I may miss something and yesterday was brilliant chatting to fellow fans.

 

I only had a few that I wanted to see and I managed that. This was a taster event for me to see if I was up to the crowds now that I am apparently not as nimble on my feet as I once was. Next event will be the whole weekend I think and photos!! Must do photoshoots.

 

Despite the chaos for some, I was happy and loved the day. Thankyou to the crew who helped me when I was a little tired (age catches up on you!!), and thankyou for a great list of guests. My time away from events has been too long and it is great to have that excitement back.

 

Next event please Showmasters. Oh yeah, you have one or two lined up I see. Off to book a few I think.

Edited July 14, 2014 by RedSimon13

[peeka85]

I had an overall very good experience too with the majority of the day. It didn't start well though because I went straight to the main desk to get my "extra help" pass as I'd been told to do and the lady on the desk was extremely unhelpful and it felt like I was being judged for having a disability. Just because you can't see a physical disability, doesn't mean it's not there. It really put my back up straight away and my boyfriend had to step in because he could see I was getting annoyed with her dismissive responses and complete lack of any help (let alone extra help!)

 

Luckily this was only one out of many. I'd like to say a special thank you to the stewards on the door of Photo shoot B & Photo Shoot D (I think - the one which had Kristian Nairn in!) who were both very helpful.

 

I am very glad we had the extra help as it was very busy and there's no way we would've been able to do everything had I not had this. Unfortunately we had to hang around for 2 hours longer than we were planning on doing because Carrie Fisher didn't turn up in the morning so was quite difficult at the end of the day but can't blame SM for that!!

 

 

[Dannycarroll2007]

SM are great with disabled guests, my son's registered disabled and the crew are brilliant.