BigDCon Information

Main Programs and meals will be held in the Century Ballroom. The Century Ballroom is available to us around the clock from Thursday at 6:00 pm to Sunday at 1:00 pm, so unofficial activities can be held here when there are not official activities taking place.

Breakout rooms are in Sam Houston A, B, and C on the mezzanine level. One set of rooms will hold about 60 people and the other will hold about 30 people. The Sam Houston rooms are available to us from Thursday at 6:00 pm to Sunday at 6:00 pm. We also have the W. Lee O’Daniel room, which is set up like a conference room with a monitor that we can use.

Other good places to solve are in our spacious Hospitality suite and in the hotel lobby. The hotel has many seating areas that are great for puzzles and small gatherings.

Hospitality is located on the eighth floor in suite 801. Your room key will open the door to Hospitality. Hospitality is open from 6:00 pm on Wednesday to 1:00 pm on Sunday. Hospitality has several tables for solving, along with snacks and our own personal restroom.

If you're planning on doing some sightseeing when you come to Dallas, check out the Dallas City Pass. It gives you admission to the Science Museum and the Reunion Tower Deck, which are both must-sees, and your choice of two of the following: The Bush Presidential Museum, the zoo, or the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. I've been to all of these, and they are all worth seeing. The Science Museum, Tower Deck, and Human Rights museum are close to the hotel. The other two are easily accessible via mass transit. If you are sure you will be using it, you can buy the pass in advance — it is good for one year from date of purchase, and good for 9 days after you first use it.

The Perot Museum of Nature and Science is worth visiting even if you don’t buy a ticket. The outside architecture is designed to grab attention, there are spray fountains outside to play in, and the lobby is free and has neat science-y stuff. If you buy a ticket, there are five levels of exhibits, accessed through the cool escalator on the side of the building, and including the obligatory dinosaur fossils that we all love to see. During the con, there are special exhibits featuring a twin model of the Perseverance rover and info about the T-Rex. The museum is named after the Perot family – you may have heard of Ross Perot. The Perot Museum is a 17-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to Victory Station. 🗺️ Perot Museum of Nature and Science, 2201 N Field St, Dallas, TX 75201

The Sixth Floor Museum covers the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. You can look down on the grassy knoll and wonder what might have been if he had lived. A sobering visit, but one of the most-visited sites in Dallas. Outside, you can see the “X” on the street that is removed by the city regularly, and then repainted regularly by unknown forces. Engage in lively debate with the assassination theorists outside and see where Erykah Badu filmed her video. The Sixth Floor Museum is a 14-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to West End Station. 🗺️ Sixth Floor Museum, 411 Elm St, Dallas, TX 75202

The Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum is one of my favorites. There is a comprehensive exhibit about the Holocaust, which segues into how the fight for human rights continues in many different areas. Upstairs, you can engage in live conversations with holograms of Holocaust survivors. The current exhibit, on display through July 14, is on women’s shoes and the role they played in the history of women’s rights. The DHHRM is a 14-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to West End Station. 🗺️ Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum, 300 N Houston St, Dallas, TX 75202

Reunion Tower is well-known from the opening credits of the old TV series “Dallas”. It also provides a great view of the city. It is a 19-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to Union Station. There is also a swanky restaurant at the top of the tower called Crown Block. 🗺️ Reunion Tower, 300 Reunion Blvd E, Dallas, TX 75207

Even a landlocked city needs an aquarium, and ours is aptly named the Dallas World Aquarium. Expect lots of fishes and sharks, with a walk-through tunnel. The aquarium is an 11-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to West End Station. 🗺️ Dallas World Aquarium, 1801 N Griffin St, Dallas, TX 75202

The Museum of Illusions will help you get that perfect selfie to post on social media. Expect optical illusions and trickery. They recommend buying tickets beforehand. The museum is a 13-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to West End Station. 🗺️ Museum of Illusions, 701 Ross Ave, Dallas, TX 75202

The Dallas Museum of Art is free and air-conditioned. They do recommend reserving tickets beforehand, but I have never had a problem getting tickets when I walk in. Along with the usual modern sculptures and oil paintings, the pre-Columbian art section is impressive. They do charge for some of the special exhibitions. The museum is a 14-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to St. Paul Station. 🗺️ Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N Harwood St, Dallas, TX 75201

The Nasher Sculpture Center is a crown jewel in the Dallas Arts District. The building was designed by Renzo Piano and is a work of art itself. There is a landscaped lawn behind the building that feels like an oasis in the city. The Nasher is a 16-minute walk from the hotel and is closest to St. Paul Station. For more sculptures owned by the Nasher family, visit Northpark Mall, also called Northpark Center. Alongside the traditional food courts and clothing stores that are in every mall, you will see sculptures by Henry Moore and KAWS. Northpark Mall is 13 minutes from the hotel by car. It can be accessed by DART and is closest to Park Lane Station. 🗺️ Nasher Sculpture Center, 2001 Flora St, Dallas, TX 75201

The Crow Museum of Asian Art has some interesting jade sculptures. The pieces rotate regularly so I can't say for sure what will be on display, but I have never been disappointed. The building design is also impressive. The museum is a 17-minute walk from the hotel, and is closest to St. Paul Station. 🗺️ Crow Museum of Asian Art, 2010 Flora St, Dallas, TX 75201

Check out Klyde Warren Park while you are at the art museums. It is a park built over a highway. There are lots of food trucks here and fountains to cool off in. There are plenty of tables in the park, and also across the street to the south, at the Dallas Museum of Art, there is a shady outdoor seating area where you can eat. 🗺️ Klyde Warren Park, 2012 Woodall Rodgers Fwy, Dallas, TX 75201

Meow Wolf in Grapevine just opened a year ago. According to the website, it is a “a family-friendly cosmic adventure inside a world of explorable immersive art.” Lots of neon colors and puzzles! Plan to spend about 2-3 hours there. It is located in Grapevine Mall. It takes about 25 minutes to get to Meow Wolf from the hotel if the stars align, but you should plan for it to take an hour if there is traffic. And there is almost always traffic. And construction. Just go early and hang out at the mall until you go in, or do an escape room at The Escape Game, where NPL member Chainsaw contributes.

I think using a car to get to Meow Wolf is your best option, you can also take public transit to Meow Wolf. It requires taking DART to DFW Airport, then taking TexRail to the Grapevine Station, then using the visitor shuttle from there. 🗺️ Meow Wolf, 3000 Grapevine Mills Pkwy Suite 253, Grapevine, TX 76051

Thank you to ; for Meow Wolf information. He is available for questions about Meow Wolf.

The Bush Presidential Museum is located on the Southern Methodist University Campus. This is the one for George W. Bush, the younger Bush who was president from 2001-2008. The museum has interesting exhibits covering his time in office, including the terrorist attacks in 2001. It is 13 minutes away by car. The closest DART station is Mockingbird. 🗺️ George W. Bush Presidential Center, 2943 SMU Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75205

There are two FedEx Office stores that are about equidistant from the hotel. The first one is in a converted service station from the 1920s, which is cool to see. The other is in a shady underpass. Other than that, they are roughly equivalent.

The first is at 902 Ross Ave. This one is about a 10-minute walk from the hotel. You can shorten the walk by taking the train from Akard Station to West End Station. This one is open until 7 pm on weekdays. 🗺️ FedEx Office, 902 Ross Ave, Dallas TX

The other FedEx Office is at 1999 Bryan St., or at the corner of Federal St. and N. Harwood St. Sometimes this one doesn’t show up on maps, but it is there and they do make copies. It is about a 10-minute walk from the hotel. You can shorten the walk by taking the train from Akard Station to St. Paul Station. It is also open until about 7 pm on weekdays. 🗺️ FedEx Office, 1999 Bryan St, Dallas TX

For a bonus third option, there is a FedEx Office at 400 Olive St., inside the Sheraton Hotel building. It closes at 6 pm, and is near a food court. This is about a 15-minute walk from the hotel. 🗺️ FedEx Office, 400 Olive, Dallas TX

The Minuteman Press at 325 North St. Paul St. shows up as a copy shop on some maps, but they do not make copies. 🗺️ Minuteman Press, 325 North St. Paul St, Dallas TX

The closest convenience store is a 7-Eleven to the west of the hotel, on the other side of Field St, at the intersection of Field St and Commerce St It is small and has the usual drinks and snacks. It is open 24/7. 🗺️ 7-Eleven, 1295 Commerce St, Dallas TX

The closest non-convenience store is a CVS Pharmacy just to the north of the hotel at 1411 Main St. It is large (for a pharmacy) and is more like a small grocery store than a pharmacy. There are frozen foods, wine, and all of the usual pharmacy and convenience store items. Hours are 7:00am to 12:00am. 🗺️ CVS, 1411 Main St, Dallas TX