Welcome to Gaia! ::

Sorry I took so long to reply.

Yes, they sell things. There is a whole 'dealers room' which sells things for just about any anime you can think of. It's ENORMOUS! Bigger than my house! o-o

There's an AMV contest and a cosplay/skit contest.

It's pretty crowded, but not umbearably.

You should be there at least 6-7 hours to see a lot, though I'd reccomend at least two days (though I've only been for one both years)

There is an enterance fee. It's pretty expensive, but you get a discount if you buy online a certain amount of time before the con, and you get an even bigger discount if you're buying for a group of ten or over.

Opens? Like... Does it close at night? If that's the question, then no. It doesn't close at night. o-o They show anime and stuff all night long but most of the big rooms are closed.