Customer Reviews

Barbie Fantasy Tales - Enchanted Castle with Twirling Musical Dance Stand and Transforming Rooms

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I rated this 4 stars for educational value because my daughter is learning how all the pieces have to go in order to close it properly and the "dance floor" plays Tchaikivsky's Swan Lake. I am also letting her find all the secret hiding places that the bluebird keys unlock. She uses her imagination a lot when playing with this set. She has no Kelly dolls so the little bed is for the tiny stuffed Lila unicorn that came with the Swan Lake tea set doll---works great. A miniature teddy bear would work too. The bed canopy falls over a lot, but can be moved out of the way when the princess takes a bath. Best of all, it closes up tight and has a handle. Takes up very little room. The big pink chairs don't fit inside though, so they live in the box with the Barbie dolls. The "dance floor" thing looks kind of like a mirror with wheels, but I like that it works without the batteries. The batteries just make the Swan Lake music play.

I really wanted to give this castle 5 stars, but it just isn't made very well.

My 5 year old daughter received this castle from Santa. We have a small house, and I liked that the castle had an eating area, vanity, Barbie canopy bed, small bed and bathtub, yet still closes up compactly. It took a LOT of time to set up on Christmas eve. There are a bunch of pieces and stickers to put in place. 4 of us worked on it for about 2 hours. We finally figured everything out, but I didn't think that the instructions were very clear. In fact, there was one hiding place (the clock) that we never figured out how to open.

Christmas morning, my daughter was ecstatic! She is very into Barbies and princess, and she had a grand time with the castle. Of course, in short order, SHE discovered how to find the hiding place in the clock! I guess that's why this is marketed to little girls.

She has been playing with the castle steadily (but not roughly) for 4 months now, and it just isn't holding up. The little Kelly bed has broken off, and the canopy/footboard has broken. I was able to glue the canopy/footboard so that it is still usable, but the Kelly bed is now a stand-alone item.

My daughter would rate this castle highly, because she loves playing with it. Her Barbies and "dollhouse friends" (Little People sized dolls) all live in the castle, and really, how could a princess-girl resist it? But I have to rate it a little bit lower, since I expected it to hold up better.

Bottom line - It's a pretty neat castle for $35, but it doesn't give you value in the long run.

I checked out a few of the Barbie castles and homes, and thought for the money, this one looked cute. Many of the other ones are $90 and up! I figured for a 4 y/o who recently started playing with Barbies, I'd start out smaller and see how she likes it rather than spending so much on a huge castle or house.

I'd have to say, it was a good decision. It folds up so nicely, and provides just as much enjoyment for her. From what I can tell, the bigger sets are just that, bigger, but not much more to them and way too much money.

We are into princesses here, so this is just perfect. Enough space for a few Barbies, and 2 girls (or mom and daughter) to sit and play!

This is a very cute item...it's probably not as cute as the bigger castles, but if you're short on space this is a winner. My daughters love the little hiding places, and the detailing is excellent. I like the fact that there are features included for the Kelly dolls also, like a bed that folds up into a seat for Kelly. There's enough little accessories included to keep any little girl happy, and the "dance floor" is fun. You can also use the Kelly dolls on the twirling dance floor. The dining table also becomes a full-length mirror so a princess can admire her gowns. Ths only negatives we've found so far are that the canopy for the bed does fall sometimes, but not every time, and you can't put all the pieces inside the castle when it's folded. It is nice to have a castle that can fit on a shelf though, and the toy is well worth the price.

I have never seen my daughter happier with a toy. She just turned 4 and she played in her room for hours today after we brought this home. It was all I could do to get her to go to bed. That said... the first one we brought home was broken. The prongs holding the tub piece in place had snapped. I thought it was supposed to be separate, but figured it out eventually. We packed it up and went to exchange it for #2. Well, the tub works great, but the front door won't stay closed. I just kept it anyway because my daughter was so delighted. Still, I wish they could just make a toy that doesn't break before it is even played with. It's a great concept, though, and I would definitely buy it again.

My daughter loves this toy. She spends hours playing with it. But it is a pain to assemble. Instructions are vague. It is not very durable. It falls apart every day. The best day of my life was when my daughter figured out how to put it back together on her own. It must be LOADS of fun, though, because not a day goes by when she doesn't play with it!

I bought this smaller castle for my 4 year old daughter for Christmas after looking at the $100 castle. I am glad I did not spend the money on the large one. This is the perfect size to tote around from room to room and fits neatly on a shelf or corner. My daughter played with it for about 2 hrs straight one night before bedtime. She makes up a whole story with her barbies and other dolls can join in too.
The down side of the castle is that the chairs don't fit inside and in true barbie fashion there are a bunch of very tiny pieces that can get lost easily. We have been keeping these tiny things in a zip lock along with the chairs in one of her barbie boxes. Overall, this is a cool toy. I am enjoying the fact that she's at an age where it doesn't take very expensive toys to entertain her.

we got this toy a while back and it shocked me that i only bought it for $5.29. i wish i bought a lot more to give as gifts. this toy has a lot accessories to play with and i like the fact that most of the big furniture are bolted in with the castle. to add more, the furnitures double as something extra so you're using something all the time. if my daughter can have her way, i think she'll play with this every day (but i sometimes put it up as a deco on her window... it's so cute).

First of all, I see that this is currently selling for $149 by an Amazon merchant. That is absolute highway robbery as this is only about a $20-$25 toy. It's small but includes some cute assessories including chairs, table, bed, tub, and tableware. The canopy bed is really cute and it's a fun toy to play with if your child will enjoy setting the barbies up in the various obvious scenes. My daughter has had this for a full year and has perhaps played with it a dozen or so times. I like the fact that we have been able to keep all the pieces together and nothing is broken. My daughter is finally getting the big Barbie Dollhouse but this certainly worked well in the meantime and will be a nice supplement next to the big dollhouse.

It is a beautiful castle after it is put together...but shame on Mattel for terrible, blurry, vague instructions! The canopy/footboard fall down everytime. The Kelly bed keeps breaking off! My 4 year old gets angry bc everything falls over! Mattel could have done much, much better! Not a great toy.