Doctor Who - LI Who 2 Review: A Weekend Filled With Fun

November 7th to the 9th saw the second incarnation of the Long Island Doctor Who Convention as LI Who 2 promised to be bigger and bolder.  Well it sure was all that and it was a hell lot of fun also. Last year I had a wonderful time at the very first LI Who and was really looking forward to this year’s show.  What really got me psyched for it was that it wasn’t crowded and it had an intimate feel to it as you could talk to people and still see them throughout the convention.  To many shows will now try and get as many people as possible to attend their show and it is overcrowded and not that much fun at all.  Take NYCC for instance they averaged 151,000 for a 4 day show.  Good luck trying to talk to someone there and hope to see them again as that would be impossible especially with the size of the building they use.  Now this year LI Who bumped the attendance cut off a tad higher than the first year and also got more guests.  This did concern me that it would lose its feeling of being not too crowded and not as friendly.

This wasn’t the case as the show wasn’t crowded at all as it was pretty easy to move around the convention.  Well with the exception of the dealers room as expected that was a tad snug as fans gathered to buy autographs from the celebrities and to buy new merchandise.  This year the dealer’s room was in fact rooms.  This worked out really well as it helped dispersed the crowd and gave the Doctor Who store a huge area to set up.  They had a whole wall to themselves and they sure had some cool stuff which I admit I did buy quite a few Doctor Who items from him.  They also separated the guests also.  The 6th Doctor era was in one dealer’s room and the 2nd Doctor era guests were in another.  This worked also as it helped to keep the crowds limited and it also helped to not clog the walkways.   I really liked that the dealer’s room expanded and that there were more dealers and with the move to the new hotel it can hopefully get bigger.

That’s right the convention will be moving to a new hotel for LI Who 3.  They will be moving to the Hyatt Regency Long Island at Wind Watch Golf Club.  By looking at the hotel webpage it looks a lot bigger and a lot nicer.  Now the Ronkonkoma Clarion was an old hotel and was a pretty small venue and referred to by Tony Lee as the Bates Hotel but I will have some good memories to take away from there.  It was the place I conducted my first ever interview with a Doctor Who guest which was Paul McGann back in 2012 and it also was the place that my son and I went to our first Doctor Who convention and had tons of fun for the 2 years it hosted LI Who.  Its downfall was the size.  Because it was an older building the rooms used for panels were not big enough for the demand of people who wanted to attend a panel.  There were a couple of times that I wanted to see a panel and got shut out because of the small rooms.  Also the hallways are very small.  When people were lining up for photo ops and autographs the hall way shrunk in size considerably.  It was unfortunate that this happened and made walking around a bit difficult but if you knew what time they events were happening you could walk around to your room by the opposite direction.  This won’t happen next year as the newer hotel will be big enough for the lines.  For this show to grow it needs the newer bigger and modern hotel to thrive and to give the fans the show we want.  Plus hopefully the new hotel will not smell funny like the Clarion and have heat and air conditioning that actually works properly.  Already on the plus side for the new hotel is that they have an indoor heated swimming pool so that already is a win win.

LI Who 2 was bigger than last year. With more guests than last year there was plenty to listen to as the panels by Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Terry Molloy, Frazer Hines, Wendy Padbury, Deborah Watling, Terrance Dicks, Paul McGann, Daphne Ashbrook and Yee Jee Tso were the highlight of the weekend.  My son and I had a blast hearing about their time on Doctor Who and the funny stories they told.  It was good to see so many people sitting in the main rooms to see and hear these classic Doctor Who stars talking about their time on the show.  Too often you meet a new fan who does not want to bother with the Classic series but my faith in the new fans is growing as there were a lot of young people in attendance to see these guests especially the stars whose episodes are in black and white as Frazer Hines is amazed in the interest in his era of the show by the younger fans.  It is truly a great thing to see.

My son and I had a great time at LI Who 2 this year. He dressed up as a Yeti and was a hit with all the cosplayers.  The Cosplayers did an exceptional job this year as the costumes were absolutely fantastic and out of this world.  Looking forward to what they come up with next year.  I loved the dance as it was really good to see a bunch of people with the one thing in common having a great time.  I learned at the Dance that the Proclaimers song I’m Gonna Be (Walk 500 Miles) is pretty popular with Who fans.  I guess it would be since the extra on the Specials Blu Ray came out with it on it.  Yes I did do the David Tennant part of the dance.  What was also cool was that they had a simulcast of the Doctor Who series 8 finale Death in Heaven.  They had it in two rooms one a quiet room where those fans that wanted to watch it without distractions and one without quiet.  This was pretty cool and also an added bonus the hotel had BBC America on the tv lisings in the rooms.  That was a plus also as we could watch the Doctor Who marathon as we took a break from the convention or for lunch.

LI Who 2 was a great time.  My son and I had a blast and we already have our tickets for next year. Looking forward to the new hotel and also to see how they can top themselves next year.   Thank you Ken Deep and your staff for putting on a wonderful show this year and see you guys next year.

Below is a few of the photos I took from LI Who 2.  Hope you enjoy them.