How Cosplay Conventions SAVE You Money!

Cosplay conventions save you money.

As cosplayers, we usually think that going to a con + staying at a hotel = wasting money. While that is true in many situations, in some cases we are actually saving money.

“Wait Senpai, what the hell are you talking about?!”

Here me out…

Let me explain my experience one time going to Mont Tremblant, which is a ski resort that’s owned by the same company that owns Blue Mountain (where YetiCon takes place).

Don’t get me wrong; Mont Tremblant is gorgeous and a perfect getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city. I enjoyed my time at Mont Tremblant and it was beautiful up there.

But one thing I absolutely hated was the price gouging; EVERYTHING at Mont Tremblant Resort was not expensive per se, but just a RIPOFF.

The food

Unlike Blue Mountain where there were a couple of cheap restaurants on the resort, Mont Tremblant seemed to be void of restaurants that didn’t break your wallet. For example, I paid over $13 for a shitty sandwich and a bottle of water. The cheapest dinner I got was a burger and fries for just over $20. I actually went down to the village down the mountain far away, just to get cheaper food. I just couldn’t bother paying inflated prices.

The activities

Every single activity (e.g. mini-golf, gondola ride, go-karting, laser tag, night walk) was insanely expensive. I’d be okay with paying 5 or 10 bucks. But all of these activities started at over $20. So if you were to do a full day of activities, you’re looking at spending at least $100 alone. My wallet would be crying if I had a family of kids as well.

The hotel and amenities

You’d think staying at a resort, you would get a bunch of amenities? Nope. It sure didn’t feel like it. While I did get a good rate for the hotel, it was pretty bare bones. And if I wanted extra stuff, you have to pay separately. If I stayed at a hostel, I’d get some of these things for free.

TLDR: Mont Temblant Resort was beautiful and lovely. But while I don’t mind spending money on a trip, I don’t appreciate it when I get nickeled and dimed for every little thing. It kind of ruins the experience for me. So not sure if I’d ever go back! Maybe I’m just the typical cheap/stingy cosplayer that doesn’t like spending money. But getting price-gouged irks me the wrong way more so than others would. Even if I was making a 6 or 7 figure salary, I would still get annoyed by this!

So what does this have to with how cosplay conventions save you money?

Let’s use YetiCon as an example.

If you attend YetiCon and stay under their hotel block, you get to enjoy the Blue Mountain Resort AND avoid most of the price gouging that normally takes place.

Here’s how:

Access to Blue Mountain activities for FREE.

This is the best part of having a YetiCon pass; at a certain time, you can do Blue Mountain activities without having to pay extra! Yes, instead of having to pay $20-$30 each to do a single activity like most people would have to, you can ride on the mountain coaster, go mini-golfing, zip lining AND ride on the gondola FOR FREE. And starting in 2019, they had the pool aquatic lounge booked only for convention attendees for pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday. The only downside is you can only do these activities for free at a specified time. But chances are, you were only gonna ride the gondola or play mini golf once anyway. So to me, this alone makes YetiCon worth going to.

Cheaper hotel rates.

Last time I checked, Blue Mountain hotels were STARTING around $300/night, even during the pandemic and during the offseason with no actual skiing involved. That is crazy expensive. But during YetiCon you can get a hotel room at a large discount…closer to $175-$200 a night! On top of that, you can cancel your reservation up to 10 days in advance with YetiCon. If you go to Blue Mountain normally, then it’s nonrefundable. Even if you stay in the village which is more expensive, you’re getting a bargain deal compared to going at any other time.

And of course, access to convention activities!

I feel like many YetiCon attendees only think about which Blue Mountain activities you get to do with the YetiCon pass, and that’s understandable. But they forget that it gives you access to the con activities as well! Things such as the rave, panels, photoshoots, the bar party on Friday, and more. Man I miss conventions so much writing this. 🙁

So if you want to experience a ski resort without breaking your wallet, YetiCon is the way to go. The pass is only $60 and the hotels are cheaper during the convention. Because if you went to Blue Mountain at any other time, you’d be paying a much higher hotel rate, paying separately for all those activities and you’ll be getter fewer amenities. This is an example where cosplay conventions save you money.! If only there was a YetiCon for Mont Tremblant, we would all save so much money!

If you’re a traveler like me, going to cons is like killing two birds with one stone

For me, I love traveling and seeing new places and cities. So if there’s a cosplay convention taking place in a city I wanted to visit anyway, then I’m usually down to go. Instead of visiting a city or attending a con in the same city, why not do both at the same time? You save money, get to enjoy a new place AND attend a new convention! This is why I enjoy going to new cons. And that is how cosplay conventions save you money.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait until we can (safely) return to cosplay conventions again.

In my next post, I’ll talk about conventions with the BEST and WORST hotel rates, based on the ones I’ve been to. Stay tuned!

If you enjoyed this post, check out some of my other articles you may like:

• How to easily afford any convention
• How to afford cosplaying without going broke
• Will Cosplay convention ever be the same once the pandemic is over?

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