List Price: $174.99
Sale Price: $94.99
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My four year old wanted this above all else. After asking Santa for it, we were left with the task of putting it together on Christmas Eve. Everything written already is true. It is one of the cheapest made toys I have ever seen. The support columns don't attach to anything and are just sitting in holes. They come apart whenever the house is moved. The furniture is all too big and constantly falls apart. It was so bad that I finally super-glued some of the pieces just to save my sanity. If someone can figure out how to get the refrigerator in place I will be forever grateful. SAVE YOUR MONEY AND PASS ON THIS ONE!!!
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I wanted to love this castle. I was prepared to tape and glue and do whatever was necessary to make this castle loveable for my daughter who will be four years-old in two months. She asked Santa to bring this castle and she expected it to be here Christmas morning above any other toy. I wasn't going to let her down. So I went ahead and spent the money to buy this castle and hoped the harsh reviews were written by people who expected an heirloom quality toy or over-the-top craftsmanship for spending over $100. Sadly, those reviews were written by normal parents who are as saddened and frustrated as I am. I put this castle together in about three hours time over two days when I could work on it without my daughter seeing. There were no written instructions, just pictures. There were some sticky points in the construction but all-in-all I felt it went together fairly well and I was encouraged by that fact. I hoped maybe the naysayers had indeed exaggerated and this castle just might be alright after all. Then I tried to assemble the towel bar, the stairs, put the bed in the bedroom, found out Chip the teacup was missing and the disappointments just rolled on from there. I ended up breaking off a peg on the stairs trying to force it into place because the holes didn't line up properly. I had to tape the stairs together with packing tape in an effort to keep them together for Christmas morning. I hoped that if we didn't move the castle it would be fine. Even still, the stairs fall apart with normal use and fall off the side of the castle constantly regardless of the missing peg. The magic carpet gets stuck on the side of the house and even adults have a hard time freeing it and making it go up and down. The pieces that hold the dolls upright are flimsy, especially the one for the stairs. The stairs doll holder goes wobbling down to the bottom on its own like it's haunted. The front door has fallen off three times. The dolls barely fit anywhere in the castle -the ceilings are too low and the rooms are too small. The second you even touch the bed in Sleeping Beauty's bedroom, its legs slip off the edge and the bed becomes like a giant sled about to go over the edge and fall to the ground. Did I mention the bed's headboard falls off all the time? That the kitchen table separates from the base and falls apart? I could go on about the issues with this castle but you get the point.The WORST PART? My daughter's tears and frustration on Christmas morning when she tried to play with this castle but everything she touched just broke or fell apart. We'd be in the next room and we'd hear the sound of plastic snapping off, things crashing to the floor and sighs of frustration. My husband and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes, shook our heads and felt terrible. She kept asking me why Santa would give her a broken castle. How do you explain something like that to a three year old on Christmas?!!! I had to make up this whole story about how it was probably made by an elf who didn't want to be a toy building elf -like the elf on Rudolf who wants to be a dentist. She looks at me with this "yeah right" look. She still plays with the castle but she gets frustrated. I see her walk past it just staring at it and then walking away when she decides it's not worth the frustration to play with it or the disappointment is just too heavy for her to face at that moment. I hate that Mattel and Disney did this to so many little girls -and parents too. How horrible of them. How many other little girls' dreams of playing with this castle were trampled on Christmas Day, or on their birthday?
Even if you want this castle to work and you're determined it will -it just won't. I read that woman's review about calling Mattel for replacement parts. I'm waiting for her update to say that the replacements broke too the same day she got them -because there's no way they won't. This is just poorly designed. It's an incredible shame because with just an extra tiny bit of effort, this thing could be AMAZING and they could have charged more and most people would have paid more for it if it was worth it. If you're forced to buy this because it's the number one thing your child wants from Santa -then join the club -you're in good, disgruntled company and prepare to be bitterly disappointed and feel like Disney and Mattel beat you up and stole your lunch money. If this is a toy you can get out of buying in any way -do it. For the rest of us, we'll continue to tape and glue and make excuses to no avail and shrug our shoulders when our daughters look at us like, "What the heck?!!". I'm disgusted with Disney and Mattel for this disgrace and you will be too if you spend your money on it.
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I have two daughters who are 3 and 5 years old who were very excited when we got this castle as much to my chagrin they are (still) princess crazy. It was easy to build and they loved that there were specific rooms and areas for all of the various princess'. They were able to piece things together from the box that Cinderella was on the stairs because "just like the movie" that's where she lost her slipper and they loved recreating those movie moments. There are a LOT of the pieces and accessories which is great as I've witnessed them acting out a ton of scenarios. I am 3 weeks in and this castle is still getting a lot of action and that alone is very rare in our house for a toy's shelf life. I can't recommend this castle enough as my experience has been nothing but positive since it was set up.Honest reviews on Disney Princess Castle
Disney has done it again. They have found a way to stretch plastic shopping bags into toys. Seriously.... The plastic is very poorly made to the point that pieces don't property fit together or are a breath away from snapping. Even looking past the poor craftsmanship, a liberal arts dropout from a community college could have engineered a better product. I should not have to break out epoxy and fiberglass and re-engineer a toy just so my daughter can play with it....especially one with $100+ price tag. I have seriously seen Happy meal toys with better construction and design.The person designing the toy (can't imagine more than one worked on it) must have been heavily drinking during the hour it took him to build the prototype. None or the furniture is of proper proportions for the house or dolls..
Assuming you can keep the pieces together long enough to play with it.
However....it is pink and purple, and it has princesses, so it is little girl heaven. As horrible as it is, she loves it. Then again she can get weeks of fun time out of a cardboard box. In fact that might be the better option....get a box, paint it pink and purple and give your kids a stack of princess stickers. $130 cheaper, and 10x more durable.
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Like so many others have said, this thing is a cheap piece of junk. I don't even know where to start. Read all the other one star reviews to get a feel for the problems this thing has. It starts at assembly. Some of the parts are so flimsy they feel like they are going to break, and some do break. The decals start peeling immediately. The bed doesn't fit in the designated area. The towel rack won't fit together. The small table won't stay together for long and when it does, it doesn't sit very level. The pantry....good luck getting it to fit. I could go on, but you get the point. This is about a $30 toy that Disney is stealing $150 for from consumers. On the bright side, none of these issues bother my four year old a lot, although she has commented on the bed not fitting in its spot.If you are looking for a dollhouse, I would avoid this one like the plague and buy something of a little higher quality.
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