Hey hey hey Addicterinos! Wookiee here with one heck of a ramble for your viewing pleasure. Viewing you might ask. Well, let me just say I hope you like pictures because this one has a ton! Basically this lucky guy got to do something awesome and had so much fun, I felt I had to share with the awesome readers here. Click more for my adventure to…….. SPRINGFIELD!!!!!!
It was a cold and rainy day in Florida when the Wookiee found himself in the Sunshine State outside of Universal Studios. The kind of day that makes you feel like the fake Hogwarts castle might actually be real. I never got an owl (I guess Wookiee’s are born muggles) so away from the Islands of Adventure I went to the main park. Never someone to let a little weather ruin something amazing, I was prepared for awesomeness come rain or shine.
My destination on this journey, to visit a place I used to only dream about. A town that I’ve seen countless times but never imagined could be a reality. A place I love so much I became an Addict of a game that let me build my own. Let the Warts wave their wands and pine for butterbeer and a moving Hogwarts Express, this furry resident of Kashyyyk was off to Springfield, USA.
Universal Studios in Florida is quite a cool place. Where else could you be turned in to a minion, help the Autobots defeat the Decepticons, escape from The Mummy, laugh along with Betelgeuse, soar with E.T. AND hang out with your favorite yellow cartoon characters all in one day?
I guess I was born lucky because I just happened to pick a day when hardly anyone decided to tourist in the park. As I made my way from the Spongebob Squarepants store, I caught my first glimpse of Springfield. Apparently no one really visits that section of the park until later in the day so, apart from a few others, I had my run of the place.
I must admit I probably caught a fly or two as my mouth was perpetually open in a big pie-eating grin. From the Springfield sign, it was just sooooo cool to see my favorite TV show brought to life. Music played through the speakers and included instrumentals and Simpsons pop music. Remember The Bartman? Let’s just say if you can do it you’re bad like Michael Jackson. With my phone firmly in hand and some serious enthusiasm and joy, off I went all over taking pictures.
Bumblebee Man’s Tacos 
Lard Lad Donuts 
Wiggum and his cop car (Appropriately by the donuts of course)
Duff Gardens and Duffman
Jebediah Springfield Statue
Moe’s Tavern
The Kwik E Mart with Milhouse and Nelson outside
This serves as the gift shop to Springfield (in addition to a shop at Duff Gardens). The merchandise is way cool and I’m sure anyone can find it with a simple Oogle search of Universal.
A food court aka Krusty Burger, The Frying Dutchman, Cletus’ Chicken Shack and much more.
Wowee wow wee… so much to see! The detail put in to everything was simply astounding.
Even The Android’s Dungeon was there even if it was a not so cleverly disguised restroom area.
Did I mention that there are not one but two rides there as well? The Simpsons Ride is basically where all our content from Krustyland comes from.
It’s a motion simulator where you get to escape from Sideshow Bob’s murderous plans towards our favorite family while they visit Krustyland. You just happen to be in the ride car right behind them. The queue of the ride is enough to give an uber nerd like me goosebumps, but the ride is magnificent and hilarious.
Add to that the carnie games of chance from Krustyland that flank the entrance to the ride and this day was a complete nerdgasm… and I wasn’t even done.
The next ride was of course Kang & Kodos’ Twirl N Hurl. I may have written about the ride here, but going on it just seemed so surreal.
It basically spins in a circle while you make your saucer go up and down using a control stick. Not much to it except that you aim for citizens of Springfield as you spin and they say hilarious catchphrases when you successfully pass one. The whole premise is that the ride is a cleverly camouflaged mind control device.
The signage for the ride alone had me giggling like a school wookiee.
With both rides done, off I went to take more pictures and encountered Jillian, one of the Universal photographers. My luck continued because she just happened to be a player of TSTO. Excited to help someone who blogs about the game, she hooked me up by taking a ton of pro shots of Springfield for all of you to enjoy. All of the awesome pics with the Universal Logo were taken by her. The others are from my phone and any issue with quality are based on the skill of this author. Thanks lady!
Had to wait a little for the food court to open (doors don’t open until 11 am, despite my feeble attempt to barge in to Moe’s).
Totally worth the wait as I got to enjoy a Krusty Burger and Duff Beer. As burgers go, this one ranks in my top 3 of all time and I’m from California and have Inn N Out whenever I want it. I consider myself a bit of a foodie and this food was so good.
Alas, my stomach and bank account aren’t large enough to try everything but everyone I spoke to while in Florida who has been there raved about it. I have it on good authority that the Chicken and Waffles at Cletus’ Chicken Shack are to die for. The big pink donut is also quite exceptional.
Duff Beer was as good as I expected and sitting in a booth at Moe’s while I enjoyed it goes down in my list of favorite memories. (You can also sit in Krusty Burger or the main eating area.)
As I was with younger wookiees, I did not endulge beyond one, but my daughter said the Flaming Moe (non-alcoholic) was very bueno. You also can buy Duff or the FM as energy drinks from the stores. (Note to the reader… Duff cans are apparently not ok for later pictures with characters. Spongebob may never be the same lol.)
While you enjoy your food and beverage (the girls had Buzz Cola which tasted like a better version of Cherry Coke), TVs play clips from The Simpsons specifically chosen for the area you are eating in.
All in all, I would endorse this so much for anyone with the means to go for a visit. A special thanks to a TSTO buddy (Chris J.) for convincing me to go while I was in Florida. I know everybody can’t go so I figured I’d share my experience for all of you. I give this vacation spot two enthusiastic (and furry) thumbs up! If I had more hands, it’d be an even higher score lol.
Hopefully these pictures and words give you an idea of the experience. Please feel free to ask any questions you have and I’ll do my best to answer them. If I could sum up how much I like Springfield, I could just say that the kids I was with had to drag me away to other areas of the theme park. I took these last pics as I headed off to other cool stuff which never quite compared with my brief time in Springfield.
They’ll just never understand the sacrifices we adults make for them, right? At least I have some cool new gear to help me remember a day I’ll always remember. Best part about writing this is it’ll help me remember as I get to Cranky’s age. Just kidding buddy, you know I looooove ooooooooo.
Well, my childlike glee has already resulted in enough words and images for one day. I so feel like singing…
Springfield, Springfield…. it’s a hell of a town!
Y’all stay classy addicterinos… Wookiee out!
P.S. Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were cool too but that’s something for a wizard to blog about.
Awesome post, Wookiee! Thank you!!! My family and I were vacationing down there at the same time as you, in fact. I was more excited to visit Springfield than anything else on our trip. 🙂 Sadly, it wasn’t in the cards. I made it as far as Bumblebee Man’s Tacos. My daughter got really sick so we had to turn around and go back to our motel. 🙁 However, we are planning another trip to Florida next year and so I will finally get my chance to hang out in Springfield! I told my husband that it is to be our very first stop…and I told him we will probably be there for awhile. Lol. Thanks so much for the post. It will help me get the rest of the fam to get excited (and prepared) for THE.BEST.DAY.EVER. Lol.
Thanks for the link Alissa :).
any time 🙂
Hello! Glad to see the pics all made it to you ok (:
I was reading some of the comments and wanted to point out something to your readers and yourself regarding Duff, Duff lite, and Duff dark. All of the Duff is it’s own beer, as in before it was Duff it didn’t have a name! It’s brewed by a local Florida brewery special for Springfield.
I’m glad that the pics all came out ok, and that you had fun! It was nice meeting you and taking those photos for you (:
I had a blast and you are still my hero for taking all those amazing photos for me. Thanks soooooooo much!
Ah, it was no problem for me <: It was in my job description to do what I did, and it's encouraged to go above and beyond. I always take pleasure in helping out guests that are enthusiastic about what's going on in the area and that want to do everything. I had forgotten to tick the box that said to email me when you responded but I wanted to let you know that I had no problem assisting you.
Hope you come back to visit us!
That looks beyond awesome! What do Krusty Burgers even cost?! (Let alone tickets. Hah.)
Not sure about admission as it was a gift and I honestly didn’t pay attention to the cost of the meal. I believe it was less than 25 to feed the kiddo and I.
Just to let you know, Krusty Burgers are $9.99. If you want more info please visit orlandoinformer.com . Also did you go on Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem Wookie?
I did and it was a lot of fun. Also just went on the Hollywood one yesterday. Good times.
Will concur with this rave review of Universal’s execution of our beloved Springfield. I am the primary Simpsons geek in my family, but every one of them loved being immersed as much as I did. We took more pictures here than we did over in the PotterPark.
It was mega cool Dana. My daughter and sister aren’t as nerdy as me but loved all the decor and food. Buzz cola was a hit with them.
AWESOME to hear that the Krusty Burger doesn’t taste like krap! Any further details on the Duff they brew there? It looks like a pale ale.
Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry. Only tried the original which was an amber beer reminiscent of other Classic American brews. I was told Dry was a darker brew and Lite was the Pale Ale. I can say it had its own unique flavor and was not too shabby at all. There are other ales I prefer more but I never thought Duff was supposed to be the best tasting lol.
Great pictures. Such a great place, I wonder if you could live there? 🙂 Love the post, brings it all back.
OMGEEEEEEE!!!!! Best. Vaca Share. Ever. Thanks for taking us along!!! 😀
Way Kool !!!!
Very very cool wookie! I’m a little jealous. But at the same time I’m super happy you got to go. Washington is a long way away and a vacation in Hawaii is a lot cheaper. Loved seeing my two favorites together, Walking Dead and the Simpsons. Excellent wardrobe choice my friend. Killer article, thanks for sharing!