Customer Reviews

Barbie Mini Kingdom Magical Expandable Castle Playset

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

 

 

My 3 1/2 year-old daughter loves this play set. We got it at Target today, and she has been playing with it for the past several hours. We also bought a couple of the dolls (sold separately). This is her first interest in any kind of doll toy. She is enjoying the castle more than the dolls, but that will change in time. She is spending lots of time opening and closing the doors, playing with the furniture, pushing the button that lights-up the crown, and her favorite part is the key that unlocks the play set. I like that it is on a smaller scale than the other Barbie play sets since we don't have room for a super-jumbo princess palace. This one fits easily on part of our slim coffee table. The whole thing folds up to be neatly put away. The dolls that I bought had snap-on clothes, which is great for little hands. I also like that there are princess gowns instead of trashy hooker fashions.

I recently bought this for my 2½ year old. She has started using anything she could as "barbies" for pretend play, so I figured this would be a great toy for her to start with.

When you get the castle, some of the items might be detached, but everything just snaps into place. A few times I was really bummed to find she had snapped off doors and parts of the castle, but nearly everything snaps back, which is great for younger girls that still don't quite understand the "gentle touch".

Included with the castle is a playmat. The castle itself appears to be the "main" part, but when you sit in on the mat, you'll notice there's a "flower shop", "bake shop", "pet shop", and "boutique". After looking further, you can buy smaller "accessories" (like mini castles) that go on these places on the mat. Eventually it's like an entire mini-barbie city. It's truly adorable! I think this is pretty new from Mattel since I've only been able to find the boutique and bake shop. I think the rest will be released later this year.

Overall, I gave this a 5 because it encourages little minds to "pretend play", and the quality for the price is truly great.

I bought this castle for my daughters, 4 and 2, for Christmas and was really disappointed. I feel like I wasted my money. It comes apart every time you open and close it. In addition, the lock that is supposed to keep it shut doesn't work. The spiral staircase is a little weird in that it doesn't lock in place like it's supposed to, so it's always shifting around. My girls liked it at first because it does light up and make noise, but now they've lost interest -- it's just not really very nice. Spend the extra money and get one that's made well.

My 4yo daughter's friend had this and the group of little girls, who played together, would always argue (as 4yos do!) over who would play with the swing, or the vanity, etc. I purchased this for my daughter to "take along" to those playdates. I also purchased four mini-Barbies (not included) and their "pets" that come with the dolls. It is slightly hard to open all of the slide-out extensions (swing, bed)...not a design flaw, just a side effect of trying to slide small, plastic parts into place. Maybe with repeated use, it will be easier. Now there will be TWO castles to fight over!

This set is cheap for a reason - it is made cheaply. Just got it today and assembled it, only to find pieces constantly fall off, it doesn't snap shut for carrying and storage, etc. I know it's inexpensive, but don't bother. I'm returning it without even giving it to my daughters.

great product for the price. a lot of nice "magical" touches like the hidden bed and light up crown above the doors. It's great for pretend and imagination play. My 3 1/2 year old daughter loves it! We plan to purchase the other buildings/accessories to the playset!

My 5 yr old niece loved it, even though she had one before...According to her you have to be careful with the smaller pieces, because they easily get lost.

Cute castle but better suited for polly pocket type princess's, comes with a cute tub etc lights up. my 7yr old loved it. Ive had no problems with anything falling a part works fine. Its small doesnt take up a lot of space bonus.

Our daughter got this from Santa and has played with it all day.
Great gift for the Barbie fan!!!