In a bit of whimsy, the Blaze creative team came up with an installation that mimics the classic dance scene from Michael Jackson's Thriller video of old. Nice use of costumes, I'd say. And, though the dancers don't actually move, the shape suggests movement. A mighty nice effect.

Ticket update: Blaze is now SOLD OUT tonight, Saturday, and Sunday. There are some tickets left in the later two time slots for Monday. It's also SOLD OUT next Friday and Saturday with some tickets left on Sunday, but not many.

YouTube contest update: Yes folks, the judges have spoken, and we have a winner for week one. Watch this space for the formal announcement very, very soon...

OK, it's t-minus and about three hours as I type this and I can barely contain myself. Blaze, opening night, perfect weather, tonight...and yes, it's SOLD OUT, but if you desperately wanted to go this opening weekend, there are tickets for tomorrow still available, so don't fret.

Now, I'm wondering who is going tonight and are you filming for the YouTube contest and most of all, I want to hear what you think of the new displays. Post your comments HERE when you get home.

And remember to say hi to the snakes.

Yes, it's true. As the graphic states, two of Blaze's 18 nights are sold out as of today...and it's not even October 1! Prime dates of Saturday, October 18 and Saturday, October 25 are gone, gone, gone.

The Blaze powers that be are not kidding when they stress that you really do need to secure your spots in advance.

If you haven't bought yet, you've got 16 days left to choose from, but time slots are quickly selling out. For example, opening night, next Saturday (yay!), only has a few tickets left at 9 and 9:30. October 11 only has a few tickets left at 9:30. The Friday inventory is rapidly depleting. Still on the fence? Click here now to get off of it.

"Do I really have to worry in September about getting tickets for a Halloween event?"

Well, technically, no, you don't have to worry about anything I suppose. But, if you're a Blaze fanatic, or you've spent some time with a Blaze fanatic and are wondering what all the fuss is about and plan to see for yourself this October. Well, then yes, you do need to worry about this sort of thing in September. Because there are a lot of other people like you.

Here's the latest on the ticket availability front...Tickets for Saturdays, Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25, are nearly all gone. You can still book 9:30 slots, and, for Oct. 4 and 11, there are still tickets for the 9 p.m. slots.

From there, those prime Friday night time slots, like 7, 7:30, 8, have dwindling availability for Oct. 11 and, well, that's it.

No day is totally sold out, and some dates have tickets in all slots, so don't despair. But, on a per diem basis, tickets are moving out of inventory at a healthy clip. And once they're gone, they are, well, gone. No government bailout here, folks.