Top tips for visiting MCM Comic Cons (2025)

Make the most of your MCM adventure with our useful Comic Con guide (it applies to other regional cons, too)

Planning your visit to MCM Comic Con

• At MCM London Comic Con, Friday is a good day to have a great con experience, without the crazy crowds that arrive on Saturday. It’s cheaper, too. If big crowds aren’t your bag, give Friday a go!

• MCM tickets come in two flavours: Priority and General.
Priority tickets cost about £5-£10 more, but allow access two hours before General ticket holders. For example, on Saturday at MCM London, Priority tickets cost £45 and allow access at 9am, while General tickets cost £35 and entry is allowed from 11am.

• Weekend tickets for all three days at London (£95) and two days at Birmingham (£65) are available. Both give Priority entry but tend to sell out quickly.

• Click here to buy MCM Birmingham tickets (28-30 November 2025)

• Click here to buy MCM London tickets (24-26 October 2025)

• Book any activities early, either beforehand or on arrival at show, as many can sell-out.

• If you have a challenging, bulky or awkward cosplay, ask a friend to go along with you to act as your minion (The cosplay name for someone who helps you out).

• Consider going as a gang with your friends. Even if they don’t cosplay, there’s loads to see and do, and it’ll be fun.

• If you have a complex costume, think about taking a small repair kit with you. It could contain: tape, scissors, contact adhesive, repair materials and fabrics and, of course, any relevant make-up.
That said, the major cons have cosplay hospitals for quick, free costume surgery!

• If your cosplay has large and bulky props, OR you have a weapon element to you cosplay, you may have issues getting them past MCM security. On paper, the rules are quite strict, but, in practice, staff tend to make sensible decisions on what is dangerous. On the MCM website there is an email address to enquire whether cosplay/prop will be allowed in.

• If you have a ‘dangerous’ prop, which gets confiscated, it will be held in storage and you can collect it at the end of the day.

• Take cash (lots of smaller notes). ATMs on site usually charge high fees and have long queues.

• Consider taking a different cosplay for each day of the show, but, if you do, think about how you will transport them.

• Hotel room prices are likely to rise dramatically, closer to the event. Again, book early.

• If it’s going to be a hot, sunny day, remember to take high-factor sunscreen… costume allowing, and especially if you spend time being photographed outside on the terrace at Excel.

• Plan your character poses and skits ready for the day… the audience and photographers will love it.

• If you want to encourage other visitors to follow your cosplay social media, consider having some cards printed with your social details on, and hand them out to visitors who like your cosplay. Moo.com (https://www.moo.com/uk/business-cards/original) charges from £18 for 50 cards, while vistaprint.co.uk sells 250 cards for £18 + postage.

• Plan big cosplay ‘builds’ well in advance and set yourself an early deadline to avoid last-minute rushes.

• Consider all the things you’ll need to have with you on show day. It will all need to be carried, stored or kept and eye on. If you’re likely to be photographed a lot, remember you’ll be constantly putting it down and picking it up. Travel light and minimise the hassle.

• If you’re taking a camera (or using your phone), make sure it’s fully charged and that there’s plenty of storage space left for all the photos and videos you’ll take. A phone or pocketable compact camera is your best bet to grab some brilliant cosplay snaps.

• Pace yourself! Spending all day at a con, then partying in the evening can be pretty exhausting. Don’t wear yourself out on Friday, or ‘damage’ yourself by wearing an unsuitable costume or shoes!

• Con Funk is a real thing! Use plenty of deo on hot days, especially if wearing a zentai/bodystocking or any cosplay that’s not designed for warm weather! You may want to look like a viking, but there’s no need to smell like one!

Travelling to MCM Comic Cons

• Plan your travel around your costume, especially if it is bulky. Some really large costumes and props require a hire van to get them to Con.

• Buy train tickets well in advance for the best prices.
Trainline.com tells you if there’s a cheaper way of travelling to your destination.

• Travel together. Consider sharing transport with your local network of cosplayers to cons, or at least think about travelling together on public transport.

• It’s cool, and ballsy, to travel in your cosplay to a con using public transport. We haven’t heard of any specific issues, but take care, travel with others where possible… and maybe check if your local footie team is playing away in London or Birmingham that day if you’re going on the train!

• Keep cosplay weapons (guns and blades) under cover or in a bag on public transport (or anywhere outside the con), to avoid unintentionally scaring other people or being confronted by an armed police unit!

• At ExCeL, in bad weather, park in the Orange Car Park which is under the venue. Parking costs £30 per day. Pop E16 1FR into your sat nav.

Accommodation for MCM Comic Cons

• Save a lot of money, by booking accommodation near to ExCeL and the NEC, but not on site, and get a taxi or drive in.

• Book accommodation early for the best prices.
• Arrange to share a room with a friend or friends, as it’s cheaper, more fun and more practical. Larger rooms for three or four people will work out cheaper per person than double rooms.
• Take your own drinks and snacks for the room. Goodies from the minibar are extortionately priced.
• Apartment-style accommodation is increasingly common, and is the ideal cost-effective way for a group of cosplayers to stay near a con. You get your own lounge, kitchen, bedrooms and bathrooms.

General advice for cosplayers at MCM Comic Cons

There is free wifi at ExCeL. Simply sign in to _ExCeL FREE Wi-Fi using the standard log in, or via LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. We can’t vouch for the speed, and your 4G or 5G may be better.

• Take a phone power-bank to keep your devices charged

• Stay hydrated, take a water bottle. Both venues have fill-up stations for H2O.

• Smartphones have excellent cameras, so, for most photography they are more than good enough.

• Take make-up and repair materials for minor fixes throughout the day.

• Use your phone as a mirror to save queuing to use mirrors in the washrooms.

• Dodgy cosplay photographers are very rare, but take care to stay in the populated areas if you’re being photographed. That said, there are some great photo locations tucked away around both venues, and decent photographers may want to shoot there. If you’re leaving the main thoroughfares, take a friend with you.

• If you have a stand-out cosplay you’ll be inundated with photo requests. Don’t feel you have to say yes to every photographer, you should enjoy your day.
Some photographers grab cosplayers for major shoots, taking up to an hour of their time. If you’re happy with that, great. If you’re not, it’s within your power to limit each shoot to say five or 10 minutes. That way, more photographers will get to take your picture, and more people will see you via online and social media.

• Ask the photographer or videographer to send you the images, and give them your name/tag so that you can be tagged in any posts (that’s where business cards are handy). Get theirs too!

• Always ask a cosplayer if it’s okay to photograph them before doing so. Manners maketh man-dalorian!

• Remember, you have to wear your costume all day, and some can be very hot on a sunny day, and even tiring to wear. Pace yourself.

• If money’s really tight you can visit ExCel and soak up some of the Comic Con atmosphere without entering the halls and buying a ticket. The large terrace outside the west entrance is the best place to see all the amazing cosplays, when the weather is dry.

• Trial your new/real/other you at Comic Con. You won’t find a more supportive and non-judgemental environment anywhere.

After the con

• Both events can get crazy busy, so have a ‘time-and-place plan’ to rendezvous with friends, if you get split up and your phone is flat.

• World of Cosplay would love to see your best photos, so why not upload them to worldofcosplay.com for everyone to enjoy.

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