Customer Reviews

Fisher-Price World of Little People Spin and Crash Raceway

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

I have a two year old son that absolutely loves this toy. He goes nuts turning the track on and off, watching the cars spin around, and letting the cars off the track. While this isn't a toy he spends hours on he goes to play with it every day. Now the toy itself is a fun enough concept with car that have action figures that separate from them and other little goodies for the kids to enjoy. The biggest problem with the toy is it breaks... often. The plates that move the cars stop spinning even when you hear it running. Now the good news is this is actually easily fixed and it takes no more than ten minutes to do it. All you need is a pretty small Philips head screwdriver (make sure it fits right or you can strip the screws. I tend to use a very small flathead screwdriver which works great). Here is some instruction on how to fix it:

1. Turn the toy over on it's bottom and you will see two large sections to unscrew. I would recommend taking both out the first couple times, but technically all you need to remove is the section where the batteries are stored AND unscrew the one little section from the other part that is between the two moving disks.

If you unscrew both sections the bottom part exposes the actual switch that turns on the wheels. It's interesting to see how the thing works, and if you ever need to fix that part now you know where it is.

2. Next is the motor that turns the two spinning disks. It's a small white mechanism with two wheels branching out of it. The wheel mechanism is flexible and uses rubber bands to turn them, which in turn spins the two disks the cars are on. What you need to do is take out the entire mechanism (two branching wheels and all), which is simple as it is only attached by some rubber sockets.

3. Turn the wheel motor upside down and unscrew the three screws you see there. Make sure you turn the motor upside down from how it was placed in the toy. Removing these screws will get you to the inner mechanism and the cause of 95% of the problems in this toy.

4. Inside you will see two small wheels and a clear looking rubber band. It's 98% likely you will see that rubber band loose, and there's your problem! Simply attach the rubber band to the two wheels it is next to and you're done. The rubber band is not tight to fitting it back in is very easy. Of course the fact it is not tight is why this problem keeps happening in the first place.

5. Screw back the face plate and put the wheel motor back where it came from. Make sure you turn it over again so it is facing the right way. Also make sure you fit the motor in with the rubber plugs and make sure the two branching wheels are set against the two disks for the cars (it will all make sense when you see it).

6. Put the whole battery housing back in place and screw it back in.

7. It's Miller time.

So for all of you who have this toy and it breaks now you know how to fix it. Granted you may end up fixing it over and over again, but at least your little ones will be happy. I don't know why they don't just put in a tighter (and maybe a stronger one too) rubber band on that one part. That's the ONLY thing I find that breaks on an otherwise solid toy. So men impress your wives and show how handy you are. If you don't want to deal with impressing your wife and kid weekly (or more) then maybe avoid getting this toy.

I have to say my experience with this toy was nothing like the previous reviews.

I bought this cute little raceway as a Christmas gift for my cousin's adorable 18-month-old, a very active, curious little boy who is challenging to keep up with, as he seems to go everywhere at once and wants to push every button, flip every switch, and touch everything he can along the way.

This was the only toy on Christmas that enticed said boy to actually SIT IN ONE PLACE for any length of time! He absolutely loved it!

It worked perfectly once the batteries were installed (BTW you'll need a screwdriver to do that). He quickly picked up on the clever on/off ignition mechanism and had a blast taking cars on and off the track (the ones it comes with plus any others he could find). He also loved the little built-in toy air gun, and frequently used it to "service" all the cars' tires.

The toy is billed as a raceway, but it's really not about racing at all - it's about keeping the cars going. Sometimes they crash into each other (very lightly - there's no danger of pinched fingers), and that's the idea. It promotes problem solving, because periodically you have to readjust the cars to get them moving again. An 18-month-old doesn't want to sit and watch cars go; they want to touch, and this toy encourages that behavior.

I can't speak to long-term durability since I wasn't around to see it after Christmas, but after a full day of playing, it was still going strong.

My husband and I purchased this toy after the Fisher-Price Elmo Live we bought our son broke on Christmas Day. We didn't think anything of the branding when purchasing this toy otherwise we might have thought twice about it. We purchased this and brought it home, my 2 year old son was stoked about playing with it as my husband assembled it, lo and behold within seconds of turning the key the right turntable stopped working.

Being the tech smarty that my husband is, he decided to take it apart and see if he could just fix it and upon doing so found the main component that makes the turntable TURN (white rubber elastic band) was completely ripped in half. We were both very upset by this as you can imagine and my son was disappointed as we put it back into the box to bring it back to the store to return it. I told my husband that it was just bad luck and that we should just get another one (there's no way that could happen twice, right?). So, my husband made the trip back within 2 hours of purchasing the first one and exchanged it for another one, when he brought it home and put it together, THE SAME THING HAPPENED, the same turntable and the same part!!!

What a DISAPPOINTMENT! It bothers me pretty bad when a company claims on the box that its a "quality" product and something like this happens, its apparent they don't try these toys before sending them out. Needless to say, 3 out of 3 toys broken from this company and bad ratings all around make me pretty hesitant to EVER buy another toy from Fisher-Price ever again, especially this toy. I would definitely use caution in thinking about purchasing this toy.

Bought this item new,took it out of the box and only one turntable worked. I had a very disapointed 2 year old at Christmas. After reading the reviews I returnd the item and did not get another. It looks like many are having problems with them working properly. Don't waste your time.

This is everything I thought it was going to be. My 2yr old grandson just loves it. The sound effects are so authentic and it lets him use his imagination with his setups. He really enjoys playing with it and has built this around his other fisher-price little people villages, zoo, etc.

This is the 3rd one I bought. It's a great gift. We first got it as a gift for my son for his 2nd bday and he wore it to death. Kids who get this for a gift are crazy about it!

My son (1.5) and daughter (3.5) love this toy. We got it in December and it has provided hours of entertainment. But, there is a condition. If you had had us only using the cars provided, it wouldn't have done so good, as they are always getting stuck and they don't go around the track like they should. However, we use the Chuck and Friends cars. These work great! We pile on like 10 cars and they all get going and it is a lot more fun, than the two cars provided. Once my son can consistently NOT put stuff in his mouth, then we will upgrade to another race track, but this one is a great starter and when you put the Chuck cars on it, it is complete chaos and total fun.

(note this is not a quiet toy - well, not with the Chuck cars)

This item was everything I expected. My Grandson just loves it. I appreciate the quick service you provide. I will certainly do business with you again.

Thanks

Christmas Gift for 2 1/2 year old Grandson. He managed to break it in 10 minutes. Gears are poorly done and require time for tear-down and rebuild. Would NOT purchase again.

My kids LOVE it. It is easy for them to figure out how to use it and they have a blast with it!