Welcome to another edition of From the Mouths of Addicts, where YOU get to sound off on anything and everything in the world of Tapped Out! Last week, I let y’all know about the opening of Springfield at Universal Studios Hollywood. Of course, the Addicts team was all united on the East Coast but one addict made sure we were repped at Universal. Special thanks to my beautiful Mom and Sister for going to the opening and taking lots of pics just for the site. Without further ado, click more if you’d like to see all the goodness and a quick blurb from Wookieemama.
Springfield, beautiful Springfield, is OPEN!!! Saturday my daughter and I had the pleasure of visiting downtown Springfield at Universal Hollywood on opening day. It was a HOT day for the end of March but fortunately Universal has misters to help keep you cool. As you enter the park there is no sign of this awesomeness but after wandering past Shrek 3D and then towards the stunt show VIOLA there it is in all its glory.
As you enter Springfield you are immediately immersed. This area is going to be very busy as it has the best food selections in the park. Phineas Q. Butterfat’s Ice Cream is at the front where you can get the usual flavors of vanilla and chocolate but also flavor infused ice cream next door to Luigi’s for pizza and pasta. There’s also the Duff Brewery with the Duff Beer guys out front Bumblebee Tacos hasn’t open yet but looks good. Across the street is Lard Lad Donuts. Krusty Burger is where we decided to get our lunch. We enjoyed a Clogger burger and a Mother Nature burger. Bonus points if you guessed which I chose. We ate our food inside Moe’s Tavern sitting at the pool table. Of course I had to have a Duff Beer with my burger and Katie had a Flaming Moe (non-alcoholic). The chicken dinner the person sitting next to us had from Cletus’s looked pretty good too.
As we wandered around Springfield we tried to look in all the nooks and crannies and of course we remembered to look up too. The Nuclear Power Plant goes off and I have been told that at night the lights dim when that happens. I can’t wait to return to Springfield with the Wookiee. I know that he will point out lots of stuff I missed and write an even more detailed post. Still think he might be a little addicted going to Springfield straight from the airport. For now that’s it from the Wookieemama. Hope you enjoy the pics… TTFN.
So there you go… a quick blurb and some awesome pics! Sound off below with your thoughts. I’ll definitely have more info in the very near future as I’m Springfield bound on Tuesday.
TTFN… Wookiee out!
Great pics ….thank your mom for sharing 💟
Greetings:
Positives:
As a long time player of this game I must admit that I use this game more as a tool to wind down at the end of a long day. That is probably not the most raving review that you have ever received but alas, the monotony of tapping away handshakes or dollar signs makes counting sheep a thing of the past.
I enjoy the writing. When a new dialogue is introduced I read each and every line as if it were the character themselves speaking it. Often when I tap before I catch that there is new dialogue I wish that there were a back button so I could read what I missed.
As someone who has watched the Simpsons since its introduction on Tracy Ullman, I have a soft spot in my heart for the family that never grows up.
I think your game teaches the rudimentary principles of time management, which so many younger folks need today.
Negatives:
The costs associated with this game “if you add it up” are pretty high. This is not exactly WOW or some other high maintenance game with fantastic graphics.
Speaking of graphics, often there are glitches that leave 100’s of some object or person or some animated pixels that don’t belong.
Failure to connect with the server is another complaint that I see too often even though my connection to “Al Gore’s” Internet is pretty zippy.
If I were going to do such a game I would make certain that Characters like Fat Tony had a voice. To me, he is a major character.
Observations:
Of the “friends” that I have on this game I have noticed that many have stopped playing. I too no longer play with the alacrity that I once did. The one thing that calls me back to the game other than at bedtime is if there are new events with interesting task. Sometimes the task however are so far from a real time frame for the “normal player” I don’t get too excited. If you average it out 10 donuts is about a dollar. So a premium character at 100 or so donuts is $10. When the event is over, much like the current Spider Pig, the character, we find it relegated to not much of anything interesting.
Suggestions:
Make the premium stuff a little more affordable, I realize that you folks need to get paid to create this stuff. I have no idea what your “customer base” consist of in numbers but, if my “friends” that have stopped playing are any indication of your base, it may be shrinking.
I would like to be able to rotate the town a full 360 “much like google maps” which would encourage more thought to be placed into creating streets, maybe with names on streets. I suspect that many would use the nuclear option and re-create their towns from scratch thus opening the doors for newer objects.
Krustyland has been fairly stagnant. With spring here in the US, are you planning on adding more stuff to that area of the game?
I am taking the time to write not to complain, so please don’t read this as a complaint, it is not. As a previous manager of programmers and technology people; I realize that sometimes a little out of the box thinking needs to be introduced. I view this as constructive and I hope that you do as well.
A little about me: Technology expert for over 35 years. Business owner, Artist and Science fiction writer.
Thanks for your attention. I look forward to see where you guys go with this.
-Best
Very nice, but you know we’re not EA right? Just fans of the game that like to help…not EA 😉 But still very nice post.
Oh wow, I LOVE this! And a big thanks to the whole Wookie clan for keeping us updated on the progress!
While I love the sign on the Aztec theater, (kinda weird to see a mallcop spoof/promo though, think they’ll be updating it?) I just wish they would have put a little more into the actual building facade itself – the Aztec is one of the prettiest buildings in the whole game, and maybe there is more to it than the pics show, but from that angle it looked kinda sad…
Everything else is spot-on though, I actually LoL’d at the Duff topiary statues! Thanks so much for sharing!
p.s. – Wookie, your mom’s dog looks like a “Chewy” – c’mon admit it, you were named after the family dog, weren’t you!? 😉
p.p.s. – I’m only kidding, that was just an excuse to reference two of my favorite childhood movies in one sentence. 🙂
Lol… his name is Toby Wan Kenobi. Seeing as I’m a bit older… probably not named after him. I always tell Toby he looks like a scruffy nerfherder. I’m hoping they plan to update the Aztec periodically to spoof movies coming out.
Ok now. Several schools of thought on this. It IS very beautiful, there are a few things though they could have designed more accurately that would have been way cooler. Having said that, I am now dedicating my next vacation to going there, and will most likely cry after eating my first Krusty burger.(hopefully tears of joy). And lastly, is it wrong that I’m tempted to quit my job and become a full time Sideshow Bob mascot there?
hahahaha that would be great!
Many, many thanks to Wookieemama and Wookiesister for doing this for all of us!! That’s a pretty fantastic Wookieefamily! 😀
These photos are awesome! Thanks for sharing them with us. I would love to get there one day… though wow, Krusty Burger is expensive. Though I am thankful for the Mother Nature Burger that they offer.
Thanks for the pics and reports Wookieemama! Great job filling in for your son. I’m so envious wish I could go. Was hoping to at least make it to Springfield in FL but looking doubtful at this point.:-( so really appreciate the photos. BTW Wookiee you have an awesome Mom (sure u already know that)!
Definitely do… Funny that I made her a Simpsons fan. Over 20 years ago she used to censor me from it, now she’s my on scene reporter lol.
Awesome!
Thank your mom for us! I am so excited! Did she like the Mother Nature burger? I’m a vegetarian, so always am curious about what I can eat when at the parks. My sister tells me to pack a lunch, but I think that a lot of the fun comes from eating there too! I’m curious because veggie stuff is hit and miss at theme parks; some pretty good and some pretty awful. 🙂 I can’t wait to see your upcoming post about tomorrow! I get to go next year. 🙂 Hooray!
Thanks Wookiee and Mama Wookiee!!
Wookieemama said the mother nature burger was very tasty.
AWESOME pictures!!! I feel like I actually got to visit there, and, since it’s unlikely that I’ll ever travel the 3,000 miles to get there, I’m very grateful.
But, OMG, $13 for a hamburger?? $3.69 for a regular sized soda? This is what I hate about theme parks and major-league stadiums!
Oh, and I wonder who actually makes the “Duff” beer?
Did they have Krusty-Partially-Gelatinated-Non-Dairy-Gum-Based-Beverages? or were they just shakes? Lol. Looks awesome.
I’ll double check tomorrow for ya.
Holy crap! Those menu prices are outrageous! Otherwise, the place looks great.
Great post. The construction had started when I was there last year. I can’t wait to go back and see what it’s like when it’s finished.
Not really to do with this but just had update not much happened just wondering what it was?
Probably just patches. No update on our end.
great post and pics wookiee, I really want krust burger rite now lol
So… when are we getting Cletus’s Chicken Shack in the game?
That would be a cool addition.
I know it would! So would the Leftorium haha (If I remember correctly, it was in Springfield Mall, but then again wasn’t the Mapple Store or Blockos?)
awesome! this got me really excited about going to universal studios with my boys. in fact, later this year we’re gonna have to make a trip up to LA so my wife can take care of some stuff at the japanese embassy, and i’m thinking that is the perfect time/excuse to plan a visit.
wookiee please thank your mother for the pics and everything, my son and i truly appreciate it!
Will do. They had a lot of fun. I’ll be experiencing it for myself tomorrow so keep an eye out for more from me.
Guess I’ll have to live vicariously through you until I get there!
Looks like fun. Sad, i wonder would I ever get to visit this place so far away.
Yeah, you are a long ways away. Maybe someday….
I would love to go there one day… Awesome. 🙂
My hubby and I are heading to Hawaii in Jan 2016 for a cruise out of Long Beach, part of our plans are to visit Disneyland for a couple of days-I think this post has convinced me that we are going to have to add a day for USH just to visit Springfield!! Thanks for the pics and update!!
OMG I’m going here in November and I can’t wait to visit Springfield!!!. This really made my day to see it completely. As if my Florida vacation wasnt already going so well, it just got 1000x better!!
Thanks Wookiee, loved this post. Hope to make it out there some day.
I am impressed with all the work that was done at Universal Studios Hollywood to bring Springfield to life (this level of excellence is exactly what USH needs in order to compete with other Southern California theme parks). I look forward to seeing images of Springfield at night (my favorite time to be at any theme park) 🙂
Going tomorrow so I’ll see what good night shots I can get with my phone.