Customer Reviews

Little Tikes Swing Along Castle

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was a gift to my daughter from the Grandparents for her 1st birthday. Her enjoyment in it was enthusiastic to start with, but very short lived. At the time, she was a new walker and although the steps up to the slide were short, they were a challenge for her to climb. As another reviewer said, by the time she had the hang of climbing and sliding within the next couple of months, the slide was way too short to hold her interest for very long.

The swing on this thing has very little range of motion. Instead of being suspended by a flexible rope or chain, the swing is attached with rigid bars, which stop the swing from going too far forward or backwards. While this is a sensible safety feature on paper, it doesn't translate to a very comfortable ride for the child being pushed by a parent.

I assume that the swing was designed for kids to use by themselves safely. However, most children in this age bracket aren't going to understand how to pump their legs to swing, they can't get themselves in and out of the straps with buckles, and if their legs are long enough to push themselves, they're too big for the swing.

I also feel that the entire unit becomes wobbly too quickly. Even after tighteing all of the fasteners several times, I always feel like it's a bit unstable and fear that it might collapse. It hasn't yet and I'm probably being overly paranoid.

My daughter is now 22 months old and the weather is warm enough for her to be outside again. She climbs up and over the unit, but not much else. We have purchased a very basic swingset for her with 2 belt swings, a toddler swing, glider swing, and slide for under $200 ... a far better investment, in my opinion. She will be able to enjoy this for years to come!

We purchased this playset for my son's first birthday, and we're very pleased! Although he's too young yet to climb ON the toy, he has a great time crawling through the castle and around and under the swing. We can also help him go down the slide, which he loves! He will definitely grow into this adorable and durable playset and it will get more and more fun as he gets older.

We have it in his indoor playroom, which it is sized perfectly for. It would also work well outdoors. The swing is a bit of a clunker, however. It doesn't swing very high, and only keeps his attention for a few minutes. That would NOT influence my decision, though, and I would purchase this set again if I had the chance!

We've had this set for a few months now and while it was initially a hit, it lost it's luster very quickly with my son. When we first got it (when he was 9 mos) he loved the swing, but was still too young to use the slide. Now, at 14 months, he no longer cares for the swing, and the slide is too short to really amuse him for long.

The swing is very stiff...it doesn't swing freely back and fourth. The way it's bolted onto the unit doesn't allow for it to go very far in either direction. My son is average in height, and when he sits at the top of the slide, it's almost as long as he is with his legs stretched out. As far as assembly, it wasn't too bad. I put it together myself in about an hour, but the slide was a thorn in my side. It (mine at least) wouldn't connect completely with the base, so there's a small gap between the slide and the top platform.

Overall, it wasn't a terrible purchase, but if given the choice again, I'd pass. It's something that be can only enjoyed for such a short time...I'd rather have taken the $140 and put it towards a larger, sturdier swing set that he can use as he continues to grow.

When you have kids you quickly discover the general lack of durable toys. Even the new versions of toys I had as a kid, seem cheaply made and have little durability!

Not so with this item....a Christmas gift for my toddler over 5 years ago, this was later used by my second child, relatives kids, local kids that came over to play - it has been dragged into the middle of the garden to add a slide to a kiddie pool, climbed on like an acrobat frame, and left out year after year in our garden - we suffer from 100 degree summers and occasionally below freezing in the winter - and this still looks as good as new apart from a hint of fade, which given our heat is expected!

First I would caution this states for 12 months through 4 years. The slide and swing are both small, the slide really will only provide fun as a "slide" for a child of up to about two...after that you will find you child is longer than the slide and their feet will almost reach the bottom when they sit at the top. Later my kids had fun running up the slide and climbing all over the structure. Similarly the climbing wall is small and not much of a challenge after say 2.5 - 3 years. This sounds negative, but is not - just a note that the manufacturer age is a little too much and if you child is 3 or under, they will love this!

It has a cute little ship wheel and telescope which encourages imaginative play which is always an excellent idea!

For us, the durability together with the price make this a win-win!! It is solid, easy to build and lasts! I am now excited to hand it off to another family for many more years of fun! And I think it is one of the few kids toys that we bought more than 5 years ago that we still have - a rare and great accomplishment for a toy!

our 11 month old love this slide but a fan of the swing. it is too stiff and doesn't go very quickly. he loves the tower though and i think he'll enjoy climbing when he's older.

This is not worth ordering considering how short slide is. It is as long as my kid so he gets no enjoyment out of it. The swing doesn't do much either. He has been on this item 2 times for less than 1 min each. Not worth the price.

I have to tighten the bolts on this every few days - they are a joke. They look like cartoon bolts. The swing is at an odd angle so that when my daughter sits in it, she starts to slide off... when I strap her in, her body is still sliding off so the straps cut into her. The slide is ok, but when she stands at the top, the whole thing wobbles, even if I just tightened it. I am not new to assembling things, and my daughter is only 25 pounds, so minus user error, I think it is just a badly made toy... too bad - a few tweeks by the company and some better bolts and it could be a good product.

We got this as an indoor playset for my daughter. At the time she was 10 months old and the swing was decent. She had outgrown the baby swing and we needed something to play with. But she could get in and out of it by herself by 12 months and her dangling feet caused it to not move as much as one would like a swing to move. It was easy for her to crawl onto (at 12 months) and go down the slide...but she could climb up the slide as easy as she could the other side. The slide was small and yet her standing on the top near the slide made me shiver because she was such a daredevil I feared she was going to walk down the slide (not the toys problem obviously!). I just found this to be overpriced and too small. While they get some initial use out of it they quickly outgrow it. My daughter had completely outgrown it at 15 months of age so I'm not sure why it says until 4! TRUST ME -- a four year old will get NO entertainment out of this (and I'm pretty sure a 2 & 3 year old wouldn't either!). Spend a little more money and get something that is a little bigger...or just buy a slide.

I wish I'd spent a little more time reading the other reviews for this toy. It looked so cute, & I've been dying to get something in the backyard for my 2yo. So we bought her this for her birthday.

It looks exactly as pictured, & it's the right size for her. It's something I feel comfortable with her playing on by herself while I'm gardening or something else.

However, it is VERY shaky. It wobbles in the wind or when she climbs on it or when I push her in the swing. It is simply not sturdy. Whether or not it's going to collapse, I can't say. Thankfully it's not very tall, so I'm not as concerned that she'll injure herself if it does. (We live in the desert with sand as our backyard, so it'd be a pretty soft landing.)

Also, the swing is completely unsatisfactory. It gets very hot in the sun, & since there's so much surface to it, the heat isn't easily ignored. My daughter has trouble buckling herself into it or getting back out. And the range of motion is so limited by the straight metal bars, it's really not much of a swing. In fact, the swing would work wonderfully for our new baby due next year, I'm sure, but for a 2yo, it's simply not going to cut it.

The slide & the spy glass are by far the best parts of this toy, & those are what my daughter loves to play with. She loves slides, & she enjoys being able to slide down this one all on her own without holding someone's hand. Had I realized this, I would've simply bought her an inexpensive slide.

I hate to say it, but I regret this purchase & wish I'd looked around a bit more.

After laboring for about an hour to put this thing together, I found the swing to be a complete joke! It barely swings at all, and the whole unit gets tipsy if you try to swing it too hard. I also could not adjust the seat belt, and either could my mom or husband. The slide was okay, but the rock wall was a bad choice for this age group. My daughter could easily climb stairs, but she never could figure out how to climb up onto this thing. We sold it after about 3 months, and are going to look for something better.