Day 1 of New York Comic Con has been just about everything any nerd could dream it would be. From the moment I stepped off the train at Penn Station, I could tell who was in the city for NYCC. I walked from my hotel to the Javits Convention Center, essentially following the large crowd of people heading in the direction I was. We all had the same look about us, apparently — that, and most were wearing nerdy t-shirts or, in many cases, full-on cosplay costumes.

The line for NYCC stretched down an entire block and around the side of the building. I met the end of the line about 10 minutes before I found the press entrance to the building. And this was just Thursday, the first day of a four-day event. I can only imagine what Saturday is going to look like.

The creativity of the cosplayers astounds me. There are so many costumes that I wouldn’t have even thought of. Of course, there are the expected characters, but a lot of people have put a lot of effort into their dress. One family was costumed as a group of vikings from How to Train Your Dragon, with the child’s stroller decorated as Toothless. I also passed a woman who was dressed as Barbara Maitland from Beetlejuice — the monster-face version. The person dressed in Sheldon Cooper’s Doppler Effect costume made me laugh. There was also a rather authentic-looking knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, sans left arm.

First up for me Thursday morning was the joint panel for Walt Disney’s studios’ upcoming releases Big Hero 6 and Tomorrowland

It’s not going to be easy for Disney to follow up the success of last year’s Frozen, but if the clips they showed Thursday afternoon are any indication, they are certainly making a good effort. Big Hero 6 will definitely attract more of a young male audience than Frozen did, but there’s a lot for girls to love as well. I’ve already fallen in love with Baymax, the personal health robot. He is sweet, adorable, and very eager to help. From what I’ve seen so far, it looks like the story will have a lot of charm and a lot of heart.

I knew little about about Tomorrowland before going into this panel, but then, the rest of the world could say the same thing. Hugh Laurie, best known for his role as the cantankerous Dr. Gregory House, told of receiving a script on black paper to make it more difficult to read. The cast was very guarded and revealed little about the film or its plot.

A brief teaser debuted at NYCC in which we see Britt Robertson’s initial discovery of an alternate world that she is tasked with saving. Following vague descriptions of everyone’s characters, the audience was treated to an extra surprise: George Clooney walked onstage in his first-ever comic-con appearance. Clooney joked that he had been permanently disinvited to these gatherings after his turn as Batman.

Following Clooney’s arrival and a few more teases about the film, an entire scene from the movie was unveiled in which Robertson’s character seeks out Clooney’s character to answer some questions. The clip didn’t give too much away, other than that they are being hunted by some form of robotic creatures — and Clooney’s Frank Walker was really prepared for them.

Much of the middle part of my day was spent wandering the show floor, checking out some of the booths and vendors. Marvel announced its new Marvel Experience, which will tour the country, debuting in Phoenix in December, and allow guests to become a part of the Marvel Universe. The show will also be affordable to everyone, as the highest priced ticket will only be $35.

It was during these wanderings that I happened to run into none other than Chris Hardwick, the man who has become synonymous with nerdom. He was extremely friendly and charming to all the fans requesting photos, and I couldn’t resist asking for a selfie with him. This was definitely a highlight of my day.

Arthur Darvill’s Q&A at the “Doctor Who Comics Panel” was exactly what I would have expected. The man seems so sweet and friendly. Most people asked Doctor Who questions, but there were a few Broadchurch ones sprinkled in there as well. Darvill revealed that he just finished filming season 2 of Broadchurch, which I cannot wait to see.

The last part of my day was at the Warner Bros. Television screening event. It was advertised as a showing of the pilot of Constantine and the second season premiere of The 100, but just before the screenings began, they revealed that, due to the enthusiastic response to The Flash pilot that aired earlier this week on The CW, WB would also be screening episode 2 of that series.

If you enjoyed the pilot of The Flash, you won’t be disappointed with episode 2. It has the same tone and mix of humor and action. I’m really enjoying this show already, which makes me happy since it was the new series I was most excited to see. The second episode also lets you see more of the history and the relationship between Barry Allen and Detective Joe West, which was really well done. Aside from one super-cheesy line that should have been thrown out in the writers’ room (I’ll let you guess which one), it was another great episode.

I had never seen The 100 before, so I’m hesitant to comment too much about a screening of a second series episode.

I was satisfied with the Constantine pilot. Though I know the character, I’ve never read any of the comics, so I had very little in the way of expectations. The tone was dark and creepy, and I literally jumped more than once. It felt like I was watching a horror movie instead of a TV show. The series may have some kinks to work through — the effects during one scene in the psychiatric hospital were a little underwhelming — but, overall, I think they did a good job with it … but again, I have nothing to compare it to.

I would say my first day at my first-ever comic-con went pretty well. I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the weekend has in store for us!