This year I spent my Birthday at Cardiff Comiccon, which happened to fall exactly on my Birthday this year.
Birthday at Cardiff Comiccon
I hadn’t been to Cardiff comiccon before, or the Utilita Arena, so I wasn’t sure how big it would be, or how well it would go.
My PA’s all gave me great support. One agreeing to do an extra shift and another coming in early to help.
I wanted to be out the door by nine a.m. so I could be there for eleven a.m. opening time. Of course nothing ever runs entirely smoothly, my ventilator mask decided to split and I was getting no air. We managed to find a spare and used that instead, but not a great start.
The drive there was good, with not too much traffic. I had scouted out parking places a couple of weeks before, so luckily we got a space near the Arena. My PA did have to get out and ask a taxi, without a blue badge, to move out of a disabled bay though. Luckily they were fine about it.
Cardiff has great rules for Blue Badge holders. Parking is free all day in disabled or pay and display parking bays. This is really useful as my wheelchair accessible vehicle doesn’t fit in multi-story car parks, or most height restricted car parks.
Cardiff Comiccon
Entry to the arena was a bit confused. They had decided to put the extra help desk by the main entrance, rather than the accessible wheelchair entrance. The staff were helpful though and it was all sorted out.
The arena itself was packed with stalls and people, another reminder of why my wheelchair seat riser is so useful. The riser allows me to raise my height so I can be at eye level with the crowds and actually see where I am going.
Millie Gibson
My main reason for visiting this time was to see Millie Gibson. I’m not a huge fan of Disney Dr Who, but I thought she was a great companion and actress. I really wish they had dived deeper into her backstory. Unfortunate new Who really doesn’t have enough episodes per season to do this.
In the afternoon I watched her give a talk, she seemed very genuine and friendly. She mentioned that Matt Smith was her favourite Doctor, which was good to hear as I had coincidentally decided to cosplay the eleventh Doctor. This is a slightly tweaked version of my cosplay from 2023.
It felt like they had really underestimated how popular Millie would be. The room for her talk was packed and it was hard to see here from my position, hence me taking no photos. To be honest both the hall and main stage weren’t big enough for the event, making accessibility tough. Having only one lift (elevator for my American readers) was also not great when you have many wheelchair users.
After this I wandered around the arena for a bit. Then tilted and reclined my chair to relax and ease my aches and pains.
Then it was time for my photo with Millie, the queue was huge. After waiting a while another convention attendee said that there had been putting wheelchairs to the front so as not to block the queue and get us through more quickly. My PA mentioned this to the red shirt as he walked past, he apologised and escorted us nearer to the front of the queue.
Photoshoots are always a quick in and out, but Millie did make time to welcome me and compliment my cosplay. She seemed genuinely nice and probably would have chatted had the organisers not been so rushed.
I looked around the stalls a few more times but couldn’t find anything that I really wanted to buy. So I decided to leave a bit early.
Final Thoughts
It was a lovely day out and great to be among fellow geeks and cosplayers. The event itself wasn’t great accessibility wise and as usual not that well organised. All the staff were friendly and pleased to help though, I can’t fault them on that and really appreciate them. I think many were volunteers though and likely didn’t have much of a training session beforehand, which really isn’t fair on them.
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