Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Fisher Price Dora The Explorer: Talking Doll House
My two girls have a long list of television characters they count among their favorites and while some of their favorites have changed over the years, others have stood the test of time and one of them is Dora the Explorer. My girls own many different Dora the Explorer toys and one of the larger ones is the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House, a house that rises up and opens wide to create a large house for play and imagination. Basic Facts About This Doll House: The Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House looks just like Dora the Explorer's house on the Nickelodian television program in which she stars. The House is yellow with an orange roof and with flowers and bushes on the front and back of the house, for added color. The house is plastic in construction and looks small until you open up the front and back of the house. Each of these sides opens to a ninety- degree angle with the rest of the house and the top of the house pulls upward to reveal a second story.
This doll house has several rooms on the inside. There is a kitchen area, living room, and bathroom on the main level with bedrooms on the second level. The walls have built- in accessories such as a boom box and pictures. The kitchen is the most complete, with a built in refrigerator, stove, and counter top with sink. Accessories included with purchase are a Dora the Explorer figure, her dad, her mom, and a couch. Any other figures or accessory must be purchased separately. The Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House creates different sounds/phrases, all of them bilingual with both English and Spanish. Press the doorbell and you will hear a ring, followed by Dora saying "Who's Ringing the Doorbell", first in English, then in Spanish when pressed again. "Let's Get Ready to Eat in the Kitchen", "I'm Hungry", "What's Cooking in the Oven" and other phrases are also spoken when the refrigerator door is opened, the kitchen table is pulled down, the oven buttons are pressed, etc. Sounds are produced from six different places, and they all feature multiple sayings. Adding everything together, there are about thirty different phrases. There are also a few lights, on the oven and elsewhere.
This dollhouse uses three AA batteries for the functioning of the sounds and lights. The dollhouse weighs about fourteen pounds and the recommended age for the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House is three to six years of age.
Final Thoughts: My two girls are Dora the Explorer fanatics and they have been hooked on the little Latino girl and her family and friends since they were old enough to see. They have plenty of Dora the Explorer toys and the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House ranks among the largest toys they own depicting Dora and her friends. This dollhouse is larger than it initially appears, thanks to the fold- out walls and expandable top, adding additional space that can keep children occupied for hours.
The Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House is most notable for its size and the multiple rooms contained within. The best of the rooms is the kitchen because it is here where most of the sounds are created and where most of the fun can be found. The other rooms in the house are basically empty, but the kitchen already has built in appliances and other things. Children will enjoy setting up the kitchen and playing with the refrigerator, stove, and other objects. They will also enjoy the upstairs expansion, the pictures and accessories on the walls, the large front door where they can greet friends, and more.
With the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House, there is one other fun aspect that children will enjoy, and that is the sound effects. These sounds are bilingual, but not always entirely so, and they are intended to help children learn Spanish words. When a button is pressed, the refrigerator door is opened, etc., the phrase will be stated in English first. Press it quickly again, and the phrase will be repeated either entirely in Spanish, or with the final word or words in Spanish. For example, "What's Cooking in the Oven?" repeats again as "What's Cooking in the horno?". There are many phrases, and each of the six voice- activated objects makes several different comments. All of them feature Dora's voice, so young fans of the show will easily recognize the voice and enjoy the sounds.
My girls love their Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House and they consider it one of their favorite Dora the Explorer toys. But there are some features/facts about this dollhouse that make it less than perfect. The way the sides fold open, platforms are created that can serve as a floor area while children play. This is nice, but the problem is there is no place to store any added accessories. You will need to store them separately and try not to lose them. The dollhouse is constructed in a way that makes it as compact as possible for better storage when folded shut. But this means there is almost no empty space on the interior for storing added accessories.
Speaking of accessories, this is certainly one area where parents and children will both be sorely disappointed. The Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House is large when opened and it just begs for added accessories like beds, furniture, people, and Dora's friends. The problem is, the dollhouse comes with only four accessories: Three people figures (Dora and her parents) and one couch. So, if you want more (and trust me- your kids will want more!), you have to buy them seperately, and this can greatly increase the overall cost of an already expensive toy. This dollhouse retails for about sixty dollars, but if you plan to add some accessories, you can expect to nearly double the total cost. At the very least, I think they should have included a figure of Dora's friend Boots, Swiper the Fox, and others, along with a little more furniture. No young fan of the show is going to accept a Dora the Explorer House without including Dora's friends. They are too important to the show and the manufacturer should have realized that and included them in the package.
The construction of the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House is strong and sturdy, but one piece that isn't so durable is the front door. It isn't permanently attached, and thus it falls off very easily. This isn't a problem specific to my girl's house. I have read other reviews and they make the same complaint. This means that the manufacturer made it this way. Why, I have no idea because not only is it annoying to open the door and have it pop off, it also means you have another piece that could potentially get lost.
The Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House is heavy to cart around. It has no built- in handle, so most little children will be unable to transport it from place to place. Not only that, but little kids could become slightly injured by pinching their fingers in the fold- out platforms mentioned above. I say slightly injured because there isn't enough pressure or any sharp objects to draw blood. But it can make for a slight blister on the fingers when youngsters are too anxious to fold/unfold the walls as they play.
Overall, the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House is a toy my girls love because, well, it's Dora the Explorer's house and they get to listen to Dora's voice as much as they like by pressing buttons and opening doors. Parents will find many components of this toy troubling and will get annoyed by the constant sounds (there is no volume control) coming from the dollhouse as their excited children press and pull each of the sound- making objects over and over again. For these reasons, I can give the Fisher Price Dora the Explorer Talking Doll House only an average rating overall. Young fans of the show will almost certainly give this dollhouse five stars, but parents will rate it much lower for the reasons cited above. It adds up to a good toy that could be better with a few changes.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 60 Type of Toy: Other
Age Range of Child: 3 to 5 Years
Dora's Talking House opens and transforms to reveal a second floor. There are six areas around the house which activate sounds, music, lights and bi-l...More at eBay
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.