Nickelodeon is never one to shy away from creating a scene. Inside the hallowed halls of San Diego Comic-Con, attendees have been treated to 20-foot-tall ice walls for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the iconic home and workplace of SpongeBob SquarePants. Outside, in the Gaslamp, they have wrapped entire buildings with their characters and kept fans hydrated with festive water fountains.

But for 2026, Nickelodeon was all about the FUN, and in their “Fun Flows Here” activation, they took that adjective very seriously. Actually, they also took the verb very seriously, too, as I was to find out.

Down Martin Luther King Promenade and across from the New Children’s Museum, Nickelodeon set up a campus chock full of fun activities for all ages. Upon entry, we received a ticket that entitled us to a snack, a souvenir, a drink… and for a select few of us… the highest honor Nickelodeon can bestow… a chance to get SLIMED.

Of course, I immediately lined up to get slimed. How could I resist? For decades I have seen adults and kids get doused with the bright green concoction on awards shows, game shows, and sketch comedy. But how would they be able to offer this experience at San Diego Comic-Con without creating a colossal mess, or at the very least, an unbearably long line?

Turns out that they had thought ahead. Nickelodeon created a plexiglass booth, where (after signing a waiver) I would remove my shoes and socks, don a plastic poncho (optional), and after some very simple instructions and an enthusiastic countdown, a dose of slime rained down in a slick shower that smelled faintly sweet and quite plastic. Before stepping outside the booth, staff deftly stripped me of my slime-covered poncho, keeping my clothes nearly spotless. My glasses, though, had received a full covering of slime, acting as a pair of goggles and protecting my eyes.

Outside the booth, I was cheered at by staff and those awaiting their same fate. I was handed a towel and ushered aside to clean up, while the booth was squeegeed and prepped for the next lucky guest. The whole operation took about 3-and-a-half minutes per slime, maybe closer to four minutes when it included a parent and child.

While children under three were excluded, older children could participate as long as they could stand on their own (no holding children in your arms, as the slime made the floor of the booth a bit slippery).

Shortly after my time in the slime booth, a slow-motion video clip arrived in my inbox, courtesy of Nickelodeon.

While the slime booth was certainly a highlight of the activation, there was so much more for attendees, especially families, to enjoy, including Kids Imagine Nation, which ignited frequent themed dance parties and offered interactive trivia and other activities.

One section of the activation was staffed with helpers who would take photos in portal installations featuring Avatar: The Last Airbender, the Kid’s Choice Awards, SpongeBob SquarePants, and other photo-op props were peppered throughout the shade-dabbled grounds.

Nickelodeon kept us hydrated with a bottle of water in reusable metal, which came in handy over the warm weekend and was branded in either Paw Patrol, T.M.N.T. or SpongeBob. A nearby ice cream cart kept a full stock of SpongeBob ice cream bars to keep our energy up.

On our way out, we were able to pick from a SpongeBob bucket hat or a Nickelodeon-branded clip-on “phone umbrella.”

Overall, Nickelodeon deserves much praise for offering a unique and family-friendly activation that touched on all key success point; a drink, a snack, a souvenir, a chance to burn off some energy with music and dancing, shade, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be slimed.