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Sadly, this year that is probably true. USC pre-Pete Carroll's last season (where he clearly just phoned it in) would have given any of those SEC championship teams a hell of game. Too bad the BCS never let that happen. Though I don't really think Oregon will win the conference this year, as their gimmick is quickly being exposed (Darron Thomas is an average QB...get any sort of pressure on him so there is no time to do the reading part of the "read option" and their done for).

Unfortunately U.S. fairs rarely take risks on coasters like that because of the sheer amount of trailers and labor it takes to transport and build them. Probably one of the reasons this awful ride sat unused until now. I believe it was also set up at the fair long before the other rides, meaning it probably won't see many other dates on RCS' tour.

^Those weren't rumors. Plans fell through due to the city & sale of Busch parks. But that rumored ride was the intended ride. Initial preparation was well underway when the ride got shelved.

The rides were horribly painful and horribly expensive to maintain. Though I do admit Freefall will always have a special place in my heart.

Wonder if this means this is the last weekend of operation? I doubt they would say the "countdown begins" if it was really the last weekend.

This is actually first ride from SFMM I am looking forward to in a long time. I freaking hate heights (my knees were shaking after riding Blue Fall), so this will scare the sh*t out of me. I am also very interested to see the construction/engineering behind the ride, as I was one of those who thought the S:TE structure couldn't support a drop tower.

You've obviously never been to Orlando's HHN before, have you? I personally haven't but one of my best friends has been many times and I get the same thing from him every year. The event itself is awesome... the detail is better than you will find anywhere and the atmosphere is better... BUT(this is the big thing) he said that the mazes in Hollywood are scarier as a whole. I understand it is AWESOME to have such a HUGE event and I realize how much creativity goes into making 8 unique houses and scarezones and I applaud them for that. But Horror Nights Hollywood made a HUGE leap this year with Alice Cooper and La Lorena... both at least semi original concepts as they don't necessarily follow a specific film allowing John to try some new things. Lastly I have seen footage from HHN Orlando 2008 from inside a few of the houses and while the actors are doing a good job jumping out that seems to be kind of all they do. At HHN Hollywood last year for example Jason ran out of his hiding area and charges at you with his machete... he doesn't just pop out but instead interacts with the "audience" and it is this regard that our event seems "better." That is not saying if someone offered me a ticket I wouldn't jump on the next plane to Orlando ASAP... but based on observation and from what I have heard it seems to me that HHN Hollywood offers better "scare for your buck"... but lacks the space to pull of an event as impressive as HHN Orlando. So in other words: "Since I can't go to HHN in Orlando, I am going to say the one I can go to is much better!"

The article was dated 3:30am on September 1st. Clearly it wasn't supposed to be released yet.

Tickets are now on sale! http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/hollywood/2011/tickets.php Also of note, the change in the policy for the FOL pass: http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/hollywood/2011/tickets/Front_Of_Line.html

I actually think this year seems cool on paper. It can't be easy to come up with 8 new houses every single year. I'm looking forward to the Poe one the most.

^I would recommend purchasing in advance. On nights the event is listed as sold out (which will at least be every Friday & Saturday based on past years trends), online sales will stop early on (maybe even the day before) and ticket sales will stop at the booths very early in the night.

Kudos to USH for limiting these. The event sold out almost every night last year, so limiting the amount of frequent fear passes is a great idea. The hardcore fans still get an opportunity to go numerous nights for a great price, and it allows the park to sell more regular priced tickets. More regular tickets sold=more money to keep the event growing! Helps them avoid the "Disney AP" problem too.

Something else to keep in mind: the early entry into the event is essentially like having a FOL pass. You get to beat the crazy security lines AND will most likely be on the other side of what is always a packed entry plaza for the opening ceremony. Lines will also be very short at the beginning of the night, so you could easily hit all the mazes at least once without even having to use the actual FOL pass. Only the Wolfman maze will have any sort of line (since it opens later than the other mazes, but that is just essentially House of Horrors anyways).

Having had the amazing lunch that is part of the VIP tour, and attended numerous catered events at USH...I can assure you the food will be awesome. If the West Coast Trip was any indication (where TPR was able to get the first, and thus far only behind the scenes tour in the 7 years mummy has been open), I would suspect this will be a top notch event.

They are going to post a link on the facebook page. Since they are only selling limited quantities, facebook fans might beat you to them.

If an extensive overhaul would increase the longevity of the ride by another 10+ years AND save them yearly maintenance costs....

MTV Video Music Awards if that counts.

^Robb already announced the event would be on Friday, September 30th.

What a great event! I can't say yes yet due to possible work schedule conflicts, but I can say that there will probably not be a better way to experience HHN this year! IIRC, the FOL pass last year alone was $80-90 bucks depending on the night, and that didn't even include dinner! And now we'll get a Q&A w/ John Murdy and a lights on maze tour too in addition to dinner for around the same price? I'll take those bonus perks over an unlimited FOL pass any night!

I overheard quite a few smart ass comments directed towards TPR members from the ACE group. I also never saw a thank you from any of them, where as I did see numerous TPR members thanking Jeff Tucker and the ladies from KBF for hosting us that morning. Quite frankly, it's really just sad. At a media event the park was gracious enough to invite their organization to it is really uncalled for. I would imagine they are not helping their case at all only providing like 10 riders who didn't even ride all morning, and when they did they were not even being enthusiastic. TPR on the other hand? Organized a group of 60 enthusiastic riders who stayed all morning. I doubt it is a coincidence that Hal Eisner chose to ride with TPR members for all his live shots! I am sure the park really appreciates that too, much more so than they did the ACEr's. On the bright side, the more they act like spoiled children in front of parks, the sooner they will be irrelevant!

Fight On for ol' SC Our men Fight On to victory Our Alma Mater dear, looks up to you Fight On and win For ol' SC Fight On to victory Fight On!

IIRC, the building has already been gutted.

Don't really want to drag this debate out, but when you spend $750 million dollars to "revamp" the property (and get pushed to the brink of foreclosure in doing so), I think that qualifies as more than just cleaning the place up. The casino only generates about 30% of the hotel's revenue because people go there to party and eat and see concerts. Those people want fancy new rooms, not a cleaned up (still very tiny) casino. But we're talking about two entirely different things. SFMM already failed trying to push itself as a "family" park under Jay Thomas. They need to stick to what they are good at...marketing roller coasters.

^^^That's not a fair comparison at all. What the Hard Rock Hotel did was the equivalent of building a mega coaster. They built two brand new, modern hotel towers. That's far from just an overhaul. I would pick the mega coaster any day. SFMM is never going to be a nice park. They should just stick to what their niche is in the market: coasters.

^Probably is, but at least now we can see them in much better quality than just a second hand video taken at Comic-Con.