Reservations and Tickets
First of all, we brought along Twi-K's daughter (lilwolf), who's definitely Team Wolf Pack! We all decided to go up for just Saturday in the general seats for $25 each, attend the Volturi Vampire Ball for $79 each, and stay overnight at the hotel for about $140 (including $10 for parking overnight in the hotel garage.)
I thought that the general ticket seats were very close to the preferred ticket seats ($45), so I'm glad we saved the $20. The Volturi Vampire Ball was definitely the highlight of the event, so I'm glad we got tickets for that, too.
We didn't purchase celebrity photos or autographs this time. The celebrities were very approachable (we saw them with their families all over the hotel) and I already had photos and autographs from last year, so I just got a few candid photos throughout the day.
The hotel itself was very clean and comfortable, and the staff was friendly. I'm glad we didn't have to drive home after the Ball (which ended around midnight.)
Costume Competition
We all decided to wear/make costumes for the Costume Competition before the Ball. Twi-K dressed up as Victoria (from Eclipse), lilwolf dressed up as Leah (a member of the Wolf Pack), and I dressed up as Rosalie (in her wedding gown from Eclipse).
Lilwolf tied for the best costume in the 10 and under category (congrats, lilwolf!) and I made it into the top 5, but the 1st place winners were a couple of fans who acted out Jacob's wolf transformation from New Moon.
Volturi Vampire Ball
I was surprised to see quite a few families with young children at the Ball this year, and most people dressed for dancing. I didn't notice a lot of drinking either (sodas were expensive at $4.50). There was a lot of group dancing this year (led by the Hillywood girls) which I really enjoyed!
Centerpiece Competition
For the Centerpiece Competition, Twi-K made a beautiful Meadow Scene with Bella and Edward, with romantic photos of Bella and Edward placed around the meadow, connected with black ribbon to Bella's engagement ring. Twi-K painted all the flowers to match the colors in the movie.
My centerpiece was the canopied honeymoon bed (on Isle Esme) with Bella and Edward covered in feathers. (I'll post a description of how I made this centerpiece soon.)
There was only one other centerpiece in the competition, and it won! It was a large open book (Eclipse, of course!) with the scene of Bella and Jacob on the mountaintop coming out of the book. The winner said she took over 30 hours to cut and prepare the styrofoam mountain!
Celebrities
Originally, Jackson Rathbone (Jasper) was scheduled to be at the Convention, but he had to cancel at the last minute because he was needed on the set of Breaking Dawn. They replaced him with Gil Birmingham (Billy Black) and Jodelle Ferland (Bree Tanner), but we were still disappointed not to see Jackson. I'm surprised they even tried to schedule one of the major actors while they were filming Breaking Dawn, knowing they might have to cancel.
I noticed that attendance was down this year, and that there were many more young kids here this time. I did recognize a few die-hard fans who've attended the same Conventions as we did, so it was cool to see them again.
Also, only the two Hillywood girls (Hilly and Hannah) came to this Convention, so there were no Hillywood group skits. I really missed the other Hillywood actors, but the girls did a great job of hosting the Convention and Volturi Vampire Ball on their own.
Even though we'd seen most of the other celebrities before, it was nice to see them again. It's fun to watch the Twilight movies after you've actually met and chatted with the actors!
Recommendation
Overall, I'd recommend the Official Twilight Conventions if you're a fan of the Twilight movies and books. Saturday seems to be the best day to attend the event, especially if you want to attend the Ball.
Don't be afraid to say "hi" to the other fans and participate in the competitions. It's so much more fun when you're part of the action!
