Customer Reviews

Shake & Go Racers: Raceway Playset

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

My son received this for his 3rd birthday and he loves it. He can race the cars by himself and gets so excited when they crash into each other. It keeps him occupied for at least a half hour at a time, which for him is quite an accomplishment. It is hard to hear the announcer but he doesn't care and honestly neither do I. Its nice that the toy is not too loud. I would highly recommend this toy for the 2-4 crowd.

Our three year old loves his Shake and Go cars, so the Raceway seemed like a no-brainer for Christmas. Unfortunately, this playset just doesn't live up to its promise and as a result, it's already collecting dust while the more engaging toys (Geotrax trains) get all of the attention. Now, every child's tastes are different, but I can really see his point in this case.

The cars themselves are battery-operated and you rev them up by simply shaking them. This is great for younger kids because it eliminates the hassle, mess (cords) and risk of electricity. The longer you shake, the farther/faster they'll go - just set them down on the floor and they're off. The Raceway guides them along an oval track, tallying how many laps each car has completed and even which car is in the lead. The critical flaw here is that with just their own internal power to go on, the cars only race for a few short laps before your child has to pick them up and repeat it. Also, it's very likely that one car will konk out before the other one does and since the track is configured for the cars to switch lanes each lap, this means that rear-end collisions are inevitable. These collisions are loud, they potentially damage the cars and could even pinch your child's fingers if he/she isn't careful when reaching out for the stopped car.

Even without any collisions, the Raceway is possibly the loudest toy we've ever owned. The squealing-and-clacking noise that the wheels make on the tracks is unfortunately so loud that it drowns out the cool engine sounds of the car themselves. The Raceway has a nifty finish line that announces who's in the lead and how many laps are left, but it's useless since (1) the track noise drowns it out and (2) the cars can't possibly finish an entire 10-lap race.

Simply put, the Raceway actually limits how much fun your child can have with Shake and Go cars. We enjoy them so much more out in the open - racing across the floor and driving around (and through) obstacles that we devise out of household objects. The Shake and Go Raceway is a great product idea, but its poor design completely stifles that idea. As others have accurately stated, just get the cars and avoid this waste of space and money.

PROS
* Sturdy construction and quick, easy assembly
* The cars themselves are a great toy - kids love shaking them, the real sounds that they make and the way they take off

CONS
* Self-powered cars need to be continuously recharged mid-race
* Exceedingly loud even when the cars aren't crashing into each other

Great idea, it was easy to put together, it was loud and fun for my child and over all very durable. But the run time of the cars and the amount of Batteries it went threw was the dissapointing part of it all. The cars ran out so fast. You must always have a load of batteries around.
Thx Mom from Akron Ohio.

This toy is a huge hit with my little boy and his sister. I don't think the battery consumption is that out of line and they are durable. They keep my kids attention for long periods of time. Great toys at an unbelievably low price.

We bought this for our 2 year old son and he loves it. The only complaint I have is that in the middle of the race, the cars stop and you have to reshake them, this happens several times before the race is over. I wish the cars would race for the entire duration of the "count-down", instead of having to pick them up after they have only gone around 2-3 times! You can't hear the annoucer over the cars, but at 2 it doesn't seem to make a difference. He plays with lots of other vehicles on the track, other than just the cars that came with it, so that is fun. It's worth it, at least for our 2 year old boy that is IN LOVE with cars, but its frustrating for us parents who have to continuously shake! It would be really nice if you could shake them and they would last longer around the track (and it doesn't matter how long you shake the cars for, they still only go a little ways around the track!)

This was on our santa list but after seeing my son's reaction to it on a commericial I decided I couldn't wait. We brought it out tonight and I'm so glad that I didn't wait! He played with it for an hour and a half and would have continued playing with it if I hadn't had to drag him away to dinner!

It's kinda loud but not so bad. The cars are easy to shake and super fast, he LOVED it!

Great toy, seriously should be a must for any 2+ boy who loves cars!

We got this for my son's 2nd birthday and he loves it, he sits in the center and watches the cars as they race and crash into each other. My 6 year old daughter, 19 year old daughter and husband all like to get in on the action, I admit I have sat in on the fun too. This is a toy that's easy to use, the harder you shake the cars the longer and faster they go....easy to put together and great fun for your child.

Awesome Toy! I bought this toy for my 3 yr old son and nephew who are in love with cars. They had this on display at our local Toys R Us and I could not tear my son and nephew away. The 30 minutes we played with this toy I noticed two things:
1.It was so easy to use - shake and the cars go. So easy my 14 month old can "fuel" the cars.
2. The track stability was great, no interrupted play from having to "reconstruct" track.

This is going to be a hot toy for Xmas so buy early!

I bought this for my 2 1/2 year old son, he loves it. He likes that he can make the cars go by himself. The announcer is hard to hear with the noise from the car and track, my son doesn't seem to mind, he isn't old enough to understand the race concept yet. He even plays with matchbox cars and his train on the track. Pieces unsnap for storage, seems pretty durable. Rail guards for the track and flags do not stay on, they don't affect the racing anyway. This toy does take lots of batteries!!!! Overall this is a great toy for any car loving child!!!

I purchased this for my Grandson's 3rd birthday. He loved it and so does his father. The little guy can handle his own car, and it makes him a feel like one of the "Big Guy's". It is simple enough for him to use by himself. He sits for hours playing with the cars. The look on his face when he beats his fathers race car is priceless.

I don't think it uses an unusual amount of batteries to operate. And to this Grandma its worth the few extra dollars for all of the family fun this toy brings. I pick up the batteries at the dollar store.

Even Grandma gets into the race!