First of all, was it worth my $10?
Yes. Absolutely yes.
Would it be worth $10 to
anyone?
...maybe? Maybe not
more than $10, because you are absolutely at the mercy of a very limited panel selection, and maybe your faves will be televised and maybe they won't. But that $10 gets you the parade - and fair's fair, DragonCon knows how to televise a parade, which is an actual skill set you don't always see on broadcast TV, plus the hosts know their duty is to play 'Name That Fandom' along with those of us at home, not just to trade witticisms that we don't care about. And that $10 gets you the masquerade, which (as DragonCon's website boasts) is "the largest Masquerade Costume Contest in the Southeast and one of the largest in the world!" It's not Costume-Con, or Comic-Con, but it's gorgeous cosplay and frequent silliness.
(Also, between the panels, you get the random interstitials that they also use in the halls to amuse the audience so they're less restless while waiting. Sometimes this is dumb. Sometimes this is genuinely hilarious. Sometimes this is genuinely hilarious, but only if you know DragonCon. See also:
this video, which is a little bit funny if you don't know DragonCon hotels and/or have never gone to a con in a wheelchair, and a lot funny if you do and you have.)
You don't get the joy of serendipity, stumbling across cosplay for your favorite anime that you thought nobody watched but you, or a panel that you picked randomly and winds up being your favorite thing ever. But you also don't have to stand in lines, pay stupid amounts of money for food, or risk the plague. These days, it might be worth the $10 just for that last.
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