By Mitch Lipka

(Reuters) – With summer fast approaching, the nation’s theme and amusement parks are gearing up for the seasonal explosion of visitors. If you’re going to be among the millions packing these parks, it’s time to develop your strategy for maximizing the fun without going broke.

Attendance at the 20 largest theme and amusement parks in the United States far exceeds 100 million people per year, according to the Themed Entertainment Association. (Major League Baseball’s 30 teams drew a combined 73 million fans in 2011).

Overall, the approximately 400 parks in the U.S. draw about 300 million people a year and generate $12 billion in revenue, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

Walt Disney Co parks dominate the top 20 list, holding the first six slots in the most recent report (2010 data) with Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure – home of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – nipping at the heels of Disney’s California Adventure Park.

Disney’s Anaheim, California, properties, which just boosted prices to $87 for park-goers older than 10 (a $7 jump), are getting the big buzz this year. In June, the California Adventure Park is to unveil a 12-acre Cars Land, an area made to look like the animated Radiator Springs featured in the “Cars” movies.

“It’s not every year you get a big new attraction from Disney or Universal,” says Robert Niles, editor of the consumer website ThemeParkInsider.com.

By Mitch Lipka

(Reuters) – Sonia Bovio, tired but unable to sleep after her long journey from Phoenix to London last week, settled into her hotel room and was fiddling around on her laptop. One inadvertent click later, a file downloaded and she realized she had made a big mistake.

“It was terrifying,” said the 43-year-old senior vice president with communications firm Brodeur Partners. “I had a pit in my stomach. My biggest concern was that I didn’t want to be presenting to a roomful of executives and have something pop up on my screen.”

About the same time that was happening, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – run in part by the FBI – was issuing a warning to Americans traveling abroad about getting duped into downloading malware while connecting to the Internet at their hotels. Malware can allow someone to take control of your computer, record passwords and personal information or disable the machine altogether.

The warning was specifically directed at “government, private industry, and academic personnel,” suggesting this threat was more about what is on their machines and less about bank accounts and personal identities. Travelers, the FBI said, are allowing malware to infect their computers by clicking on pop-up windows that appear while they are getting on the hotel Internet connection. The pop-ups appear to be part of what looks like a routine software update.

It’s very easy for someone trying to dupe you to make a pop-up appear to be from a legitimate source, said Robert Siciliano, a consultant for the computer security firm McAfee Inc, a division of Intel Corp. “Be smart about what you click,” he said. Just because it pops up and provides a message doesn’t mean it’s legitimate.”

Jonathan Halloran-Koren, president of New Jersey-based United Global Concierge Inc, said he was at a hotel in Hong Kong in 2009 using the hotel Internet connection when he got multiple warnings from his Internet security software. He later found more than 50 viruses on his machine.

May 17 (Reuters) – Sonia Bovio, tired but unable to sleep after her long journey from Phoenix to London last week, settled into her hotel room and was fiddling around on her laptop. One inadvertent click later, a file downloaded and she realized she had made a big mistake.

“It was terrifying,” said the 43-year-old senior vice president with communications firm Brodeur Partners. “I had a pit in my stomach. My biggest concern was that I didn’t want to be presenting to a roomful of executives and have something pop up on my screen.”

About the same time that was happening, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) – run in part by the FBI – was issuing a warning to Americans traveling abroad about getting duped into downloading malware while connecting to the Internet at their hotels. Malware can allow someone to take control of your computer, record passwords and personal information or disable the machine altogether.

The warning was specifically directed at “government, private industry, and academic personnel,” suggesting this threat was more about what is on their machines and less about bank accounts and personal identities. Travelers, the FBI said, are allowing malware to infect their computers by clicking on pop-up windows that appear while they are getting on the hotel Internet connection. The pop-ups appear to be part of what looks like a routine software update.

It’s very easy for someone trying to dupe you to make a pop-up appear to be from a legitimate source, said Robert Siciliano, a consultant for the computer security firm McAfee Inc, a division of Intel Corp. “Be smart about what you click,” he said. Just because it pops up and provides a message doesn’t mean it’s legitimate.”

Jonathan Halloran-Koren, president of New Jersey-based United Global Concierge Inc, said he was at a hotel in Hong Kong in 2009 using the hotel Internet connection when he got multiple warnings from his Internet security software. He later found more than 50 viruses on his machine.

“I was so freaked out that when I got back to the States I moved all my important files to a USB drive, wiped my hard drive and reinstalled everything,” said Halloran-Koren, 29.