Throughout my crazy career as a theme park journalist, I've had the good fortune to speak with some of the industry's heaviest hitters, including Disney's Marty Sklar (who worked alongside Walt Disney), Universal's Thierry Coup (who had a major hand in designing Spider-Man and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter), and Disney Imagineer extraordinaire Tony Baxter. With all due respect to these and others whom I've interviewed, my best "get" happened recently while I was on assignment producing videos at Walt Disney World. I got to chat with (drum roll...) Crush, of Finding Nemo fame. It was quite an awesome experience talking with the famous surfer dude.

You can see an excerpt of the interview in About.com's latest Theme Parks video (unfortunately, I'm in the dark in the shot; you'll have to take my word that it is, in fact, me talking to Crush) about the best attractions for little kids at Disney World. I rank Turtle Talk with Crush as one of the five top attractions. See what else made the cut in the video.

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My New BFF: Crush originally appeared on About.com Theme Parks on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 17:15:41.

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One of the most innovative and popular water park chains has a new property coming. This summer, Schlitterbahn will be opening an indoor water park hotel on South Padre Island in Texas, near its existing outdoor water park. The beachfront resort, which will be built on the site of a former Holiday Inn, will feature 221 upscale rooms and include onsite restaurants and retail shops.

According to the resort, the water park will be capable of converting between an indoor and outdoor facility to accommodate the weather and will be open all year long. Resort guests will also be able to use Schlitterbahn's current water park. Known for pioneering developments such as FlowRider surfing attractions and the Transpotainment conveyance system that shuttles riders from one water slide to the next via a lazy river, the company announced that its new South Padre park will introduce new water park technology, although it says that details will be forthcoming.

• The Top 10 Indoor Water Park Resorts

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Go Up Schlitt's Creek -- Year Round originally appeared on About.com Theme Parks on Wednesday, February 1st, 2012 at 17:52:19.

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I recently had the pleasure of traveling to Disney World (I know: It's a tough job, but somebody has to do it) and producing a series of videos for About.com. One of the videos focuses on the Disney characters. No matter how incredible the latest, greatest ride or attraction may be (and some of them are pretty darn incredible), nothing beats the timeless, simple pleasure of getting some face time with Mickey and his pals. Am I right, park fans? We put together a few tips in this fun video about meeting the Disney characters. Enjoy!

• Let the Memories Begin at Disney World and Disneyland

What a Bunch of Characters! originally appeared on About.com Theme Parks on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 17:50:43.

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Universal Orlando is keeping the buzz going. In addition to the new Despicable Me attraction coming to Universal Studios Florida and the spiffed-up Spider-Man ride that will reopen at Islands of Adventure, the resort announced two more new additions for 2012. This spring, the nighttime show, Universal's Cinematic Spectacular: 100 Years of Movie Memories, will open. According to Universal, the presentation will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the film studio by projecting iconic clips from its vast library onto water screens in the lagoon at the Studios park. The show will include colorful fountains and pyrotechnics. That sounds mysteriously similar to World of Color at Disney California Adventure, doesn't it? Cinematic Spectacular will have one thing that Disney's nighttime show does not: the distinctive, booming voice of Morgan Freeman as narrator. I suspect that Universal's show will not be as elaborate as (the incredible) World of Color. Then again, let's wait and see. Universal has been on a tear lately.

The Studios park will also be getting Universal's Superstar Parade, which will feature characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants and the minions from Despicable Me aboard floats. In another Disney-esque move, guests along the parade route will be encouraged to sing and dance with the performers. A new miniature golf attraction is set to open in February at Universal's CityWalk, and the Blue Man Group will launch a revamped show in February at its CityWalk theater.

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Photo: Universal Orlando. Used with permission.

New Universal Show 100 Years in the Making originally appeared on About.com Theme Parks on Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 17:34:23.

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My father wasn't a fan of roller coasters. He was wary of tall escalators, let alone rickety mechanical rides. But he and my mother dutifully took my brother and me to the coaster havens of our youth and helped plant the seed for this crazy love affair I developed with amusement parks. While he steered clear of the rides, my dad nonetheless enjoyed his park visits around New England, particularly the delicious park food we both craved, such as homemade potato chips and onion rings at Salisbury Beach, chop suey sandwiches (you read that right: sandwiches filled with chop suey!) at Salem Willows, Joe and Nemo's hot dogs at Revere Beach, and the mounds of seafood at Rocky Point's massive shore dinner hall.

While we didn't share a love of coasters, we did share a passion for...passion. He had his own things about which he cared deeply, such as classical music, cars, opera, and Hunan whole crispy fish. He lived his life with gusto and a take-no-prisoners attitude, and he encouraged his children to do the same. While I don't think he quite understood my passion for parks (and I'm not sure anyone, myself included, really does), he did get a kick out of it and applauded it.

My dad died last night, and Friday he'll take his last ride to the cemetery. He crammed plenty of living into his life, but it seemed to end so suddenly. I've often shared my motto here at About.com's Theme Parks site: Life's too short. Enjoy the ride. In so many words, that is the advice that my dad gave to me. Please allow me to pass it along to you. Find your passion, whether it's crazy coasters, Szechuan food, or classical music, and pursue it. Enjoy the ride.

The Last Ride originally appeared on About.com Theme Parks on Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 15:42:50.

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