Webkinz Insider

haddy · 06-24-2009, 04:25 PM

For all those who are thinking of buying a webkinz jr, I am going to tell you about my experience with the site day by day. I noticed lots of people wonder about it, and my sister just got one and I am setting it up for her ( she is in the target age group). This is only my opinion and experiences, I don't speak for everyone. But I sometimes wonder if the super pro ganz posts people maybe possibly work for ganz? I am completely unbiased and will tell you about our real experiences with the site.

Day 1

I am having to back track a little so day 1 was actually 2 days ago but anyway. The stuffed animal is sooo cute and very soft. He is the size of just your average stuffed animal. It a just a tiny bit smaller than her build a bear. I did have trouble setting it up. It froze up and the end of the set up but that could be our fault it took so long for her to pick a name for him. But i was told to write to support whatever and still have not heard back. But I tried to log in anyway and it still worked. Who knows

Didnt realize I could log in till day 2 so skip ahead!

Day 2

Well we got on and started looking around. It is very much less complicated than regular webkinz. But there didn't seem to be that much to do on the map. One section has construction workers which I couldn't get into then realized it's not a game its under construction. I personally think they should have finished the site before launching it but maybe thats just me. We looked around in her house and the food is easier to feed. You just click and dont have to drag and drop. The downside, he gets hungry soooo fast and you have to go all the way back to the house to feed him. And it does not load fast so this gets a little boring. The games we have played so far are easy for her to play which is nice but she never wants to play them over and over ( or even twice). Not sure yet if thats because she is tired of it or just wants to explore more. To me the games are very boring. But I'm not the age group. We explored more on day 3 today.

Day 3

Played more of the games. There are not near as many games as webkinz but there are quite a few. I can count them later. Today we didn't earn any coins because I guess that is a glitch becuase other posts say so. But that was too bad for us because we also visited to store today to buy stuff. Let me tell you 10 coins a day is not going to be enough for us! When it is working right you can earn up tp 10 coins per day. Well a shirt she bought costs 3. She is used to games like on nick jr where you play dress us and have lots of choices and do it over and over again. This did not go over well! Webkinz jr may be for very patient kids! So that was frustrating for her. We went to school and played 3 things.

Shape game. Good game but when he says "try again" it sounds like "dragon". So she got upset we couldn't find the dragon! She got bored with looking for the shapes but it was educational.

Free draw
She couldn't hold down the clicker and drag becuase we have a lap top and it has a touch pad and its too hard for her, we eventually gave up on this but kids who can click and drag could do it. ( Its just like the paint program in your computer)

build a machine.
You put in a choice of 4 different parts to make a little machine where the ball will roll through. She put in a few parts then got tired of it and I had to finish it. But it was easy but didn't hold her attention.

Then we wnet to the playground. She really liked the noise he makes when you go down to slide. Like a wheeeeee. And he will swing on the swing. Cute but just lasts a second. But there are 2 search games on that she was able to do by herself. She loves to be able to do it herself and she liked these games. You just find the number or letter in the picture. And you get a coin ( you know, if it was working!) She needs the coins cause all she really wants is more stuff to decorate and dress up with. At school you get sticker and she didn't care about a virtual sticker. ( I need to find what you do with them then she might like them) That will be tomorrow I guess. We can only play for a short time them she is just done with it. But she is carrying around the stuffed animal!

Day 4

The fourth time we played, it wasn't working right and wouldn't give us any money for playing games. She understood she could buy stuff but we couldn't get the money to get it. So frustrating! And she pet gets hungry and sleepy and has to go to the doctor ALL THE TIME! It takes her a while to understand a game then as soon as she gets going on it she has to stop and take it all the way home to feed or nap. Like every ten minutes, I am not kidding! It also loads soooo slow. Toddlers do not have that much patience. The whole thing seems to run slow. Like if you point to something then move and point to something else, it is just now telling you the first thing when it is on the second thing so it gives you the wrong information. Does that make since? But she does enjoy some of the games once you get it going ( for the ten minutes you have).
I think the money thing is crazy. Just let then buy stuff. They are toddlers, they dont save up or have patience. They are not bankers. I thought it was going to teach letters and stuff, not saving account skills. They cant learn if its not fun enough to keep then playing.

Summary for this week
Could this be a fun site, yes!!! But is is not finished! Its slow and glitchy and under construction. And since you only get a year, I don't have time to wait for then to finish it. They should have finished on there own time, not ours. She likes the games, but the pet needs care too often. Still super cute stuffed animal!

Day 5

It is getting a little harder to get her to play. The new has worn off for her. There are 2 more games you can buy for the toybox. The block was just match this block by finding the other one like it in a group of about 9 or so. Its ok. But she really did like the other one that was cards. It was memory just like on regular webkinz where you turn over 2 cards at a time and find the matches. But is gives you 4,6, then8 cards. She did like that a lot but needed a little help on the 8. There was a new game at school learning about healthy foods. This was soooo boring. I'm thinking three years olds don't care to sort food groups. But every kid is different so who knows!
We also tried the gardening. Are we not doing it right maybe? She used all the tools and that includes the shovel and then it was just gone (the flower)! I really hope that is not how it really is cause she wants to use ALL the tools they have to play with. Its not fun to be all no dont touch that no no no. Are we doing it wrong? Any advice appreciated!

MarielofRedwall · 06-24-2009, 04:27 PM

That sounds nice! Do you like Webkinz Jr. and does your sister? I am sure she does.

tink my doxen · 06-24-2009, 04:28 PM

i dont have a webkinz jr. i dont really plan on it, i have realized how much money i wasted on webkinz... and its a ripoff kinda...

haddy · 06-24-2009, 04:32 PM

I have to be honest. So far she prefers nickjr games, she loves the dress up games! But we haven't explored everything yet so it may turn around. i will let you know!

PaperButterfly · 06-25-2009, 09:07 AM

How great of you to set up and play with your little sister.

It will be interesting to see what you think of the site. I know you said your sister found some of the games dull - wasn't sure what level you had the games set to. Wasn't sure if you knew since you just created the account that you can change the ability level of the site by going under the options button on the upper right hand corner. If you haven't already, maybe your sister would find it more fun if you set the level higher?

If your sister likes to dress her animals - Wasn't sure if you have the doll you can dress. You can buy the doll from the w-shop, it will then be in your toybox in the playroom and you can click on the doll to toggle between clothing choices for hats, shirts, bottoms, and shoes. Only thing once you dress the doll you can't save your choices. It's like a game where you just keep changing clothes an after you click on the green OK check you earn a coin.

I hope you don't run into many glitches.

Have fun and keep us posted!

haddy · 07-03-2009, 04:13 PM

I didn't know about the bear. Thanks for the tip. She didn't like it as well as the other dress up games because there were only a few choices for clothes. But on the other hand it is soooo easy to change them so thats a big plus. And it is a great way to earn the money!,( you know when it works!) Thanks for the help paperbutterfly!

Boogbaby · 07-03-2009, 05:00 PM

I totally agree with you Haddy and we are having the same exact problems. The pet gets hungry so often, and we cant earn coins to feed him and even if we did, we could spend all 10 on food alone. I am annoyed because I feel like for $30 they should have had the site ready to go, especially because, like you said, they expire in a year. My son can handle the slow loading, but the game freezes up almost every time he is playing.