Customer Reviews

Mickey's Toddler - with Active Leveling Advantage!

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

 

 

This is the first computer game we bought for our 2 1/2 year-old. Since she was a complete novice using the computer, I liked the way she could manipulate the game by just touching keys on the keyboard. However, she very soon figured out that she could also use the mouse to move the game along-without needing to click at all. Just moving the cursor, which is a miniature Mickey Mouse gloved hand, causes letters, shapes, and numbers to pop out or go away. By now she has learned to go from one screen to another by merely moving the cursor to the right spot on the screen, for instance to go from letters with Mickey to shapes with Minnie, or to colors with Goofy.(There is also sounds and musical effects with Donald, and numbers with Pluto.) Hence she is able to play the game entirely by herself, and loves to do so. In this regard it seems the perfect game to start out a little one on the computer.

In addition the game itself is entertaining due to the cute graphics and cheery music. My daughter enjoys moving her feet and humming along to the music played when finding shapes with Minnie. Each different character has its own "theme" music. The only real drawback to this game is that it would probably be too slow and un-stimulating to a child who already has lots of computer experience, and would also be boring to an older child who already knows their letters, shapes, numbers and colors really well, or who needs more interaction from computer games of software.

I bought this adorable looking game thinking it would be great to have a second game for my computer-savy 16 month old to play. Immediately upon loading it, my 3.5 year old jumped on the computer. The game is controlled by either "beating" on the keyboard or simply passing the mouse over hotspots on the monitor. The menu is easily accessible in the upper top left corner of the screen. The game concepts are a bit young for my 3.5 year old, but perfect for my 16 month old. The keyboard and mouse controls are too young for both of my kids. This game does not hold my kids attention for very long. It is great for kids who are using the mouse for the first time and don't know how to click yet.

The game always starts with Mickey's House. Whenever a key on the keyboard is struck or the mouse is rolled over a letter, a letter reveals itself and Mickey tells the child what the letter is. The only thing I don't like about this is that there is no correlation between typing an "A" on the keyboard and what letter pops up.

Game 2 is Goofy's House. You choose a paint color by rolling over the paint cans with the mouse. Then rolling over an area of the house, paints that part of the house, yard, etc, that color. There are 6 colors and 2 funky patterns available. Different tools are available for different parts of Goofy's yard. The cursor becomes hedge trimmers when the mouse passes over the hedge. Keyboard banging changes something in the picture.

Game 3 is Minnie's House. Shapes are hidden all over and rolling over a shape reveals it. Minnie will tell the child what the shape is. Hitting any key on the keyboard causes a shape to be revealed.

Game 4 is Pluto's House. Adorable gophers pop up in front of Pluto's doghouse with little numbers in their hands. Pluto barks at the gophers and Mickey tells the child what the number is. Keyboard banging makes Pluto bark at the gophers.

Game 5 is Donald's House. Donald teaches music. Rolling over objects turns on bells, drums, squeaky doors, etc. Rolling over them again, turns them off. Keyboard banging causes notes to play.

Area 6 allows you to print out coloring pages.

Our three year old just got this from her Grandpa, and she loves the program! It is easy for her to use since she does not have to be able to use the buttons extensively. She can just roll the track ball (or mouse) over things to make things happen. The pictures are clear, and pretty, and captivating. The sound is great. This program also came with a bonus Bugs Life Game which was a blast for us older ones to play with the kids. I highly recommend this program for starting your child onto computers along with our other two toddler favorites; Little People Discovery Farm and Jump Start Toddlers.

My toddler, 22 months, loves it. I on the other hand have the following two problems :

1. The program requires the CD to be in the drive. It cannot be installed into the harddisk. This is a real nuisance. 2. Lengthy credits when you attempt to exit. This is ok in tv or cinema, but not for software.

In other ways the program is quite slick, and hold the attention of its target audience.

This product works with Windows 2000. It seems like a good choice for a first program to use with a toddler, too, as the interface is simple enough for them to learn.

Our 22-month old loves this program, especially the shapes section. She also loves the funny movements and comments from Donald Duck, and she likes looking for letters with Mickey. Mickey has taught her to recognize quite a few letters also. Pluto has taught her quite a bit of number recognition, but I would say the numbers is the weakest part of the program. Overall, it is really a fun program that our children love.

We've had the JumpStart toddler series, and some misguided friend gave us this one. We uninstalled a week later. Does not run smoothly, and did not maintain my sons attention like the Jump Start toddler does.

I am a bit disappointed.This is a cute program,but it really doesn't have much to offer.You start in front of Mickey's house,and from there you choose where you want to go.There is letters,counting,shapes and music,but it is very limited in what it does.You can print out activities ( which my daughter could care less about) but I bought it for the computer experience not paper and crayon.

Thankfully I bought this on clearance. You get what you pay for!
The format & information on the disk is wonderful. My 2 yr old son loves the voices, bright colors & games. The problem is the disk program is terrible. It jams, skips & now the audio has quit! How sad for my son because it was his favorite. Shame on Disney for putting out such a piece of junk

I can't believe the bad reviews, for toddlers this game is great. The animations are wonderful and it has great interactions for the kids. Not only does moving the mouse over an object performs an action, but if you hit any button on the keyboard it performs an action as well. Both my kids simply loved this games until they got old enough to enjoy the jumpstart games.