Fisher-Price Little People Discovery City: Go buy the Farm instead.
Written: Dec 26 '02
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Pros: The turntable style road.
Cons: Not compatible with other Little People play sets.
The Bottom Line: For the price of the Discovery City you could probably buy two of the other, better, Little People play sets.
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| Nicholmere's Full Review: Little People Discovery City |
Who knew Little People could be so annoying? I certainly did not. My three-year-old son plays with four* other Fisher-Price Little People play sets and not one of them has the annoying features of this Discovery City.
An overview.
What is the Little People Discovery City?
* It is a circular roadway connected to the front of a city block. Attached to the sides of the city block are a gas pump and a playground ramp.
* There are half-a-dozen or so sound effects suitable for this city theme; a cash register, telephones, honking cars … etc.
* Two of the four Little People characters, Eddie and Sonya, are duplicates of the characters from the Train and the Garage play sets.
* The police car and fire truck have no moveable parts. Except of course the wheels, the wheels do move.
A closer look.
Parts that will not stay on:
* The umbrella for the table does not click into place, which means that even a gentle nudge knocks it off.
* The city's flag does not click into its place on top of clock tower, so it too falls off easily.
* The swing pops out of its slot when pushed by an enthusiastic three-year old.
* The traffic gate, used to redirect the vehicles, snaps out too easily as it is swung open.
* The fire hydrant and the traffic light can each be placed on either of the two raised circles beside the road. However they cannot be firmly snapped into place, so they slide off whenever my son bumps them.
* The hose for the gas pump falls out as you try to fill-up the vehicles.
Things that do not make sense:
* The food tray from the cafeteria is too big for the table.
* The elevator does not rise to the level of the patio, which leaves the Little People about an inch away from where they need to be. I'm sure an inch is a long way to jump for someone who is only an inch and a half tall.
* There are two locations where you may attach the gas station ramp. If you attach it to the back of the city, then the stairs lead to a closet in the fire hall, if you attach it to the side then the stairs lead to a wall.
* There is a fire fighter with a fire truck and a fire station. There is a police officer with a police car, but no police station.
Stop That NOISE!
Actually my son does not mind The Noise, er … um … the sweet voices of the Little People. In fact he enjoys hearing them sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing, and sing until their insidious jingle is etched indelibly upon my memory like the shrill whine of a dentist’s drill blindly seeking an exposed nerve.
Yes, it really is that bad.
“We're little people - making lots of plans.
Little people - with helping hands.
Little people - we like to work and play.
Little people - making friends every day.”
Oh sure, the song may sound sweet enough the first few times, but go to the Fisher-Price web site
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/littlepeople/
and see how long you can listen before you start desperately looking for the OFF button.
It makes other sounds too!
From the manual:
”Press the roadway On/Off button to make the roadway spin and hear fun traffic sounds. ”
Beep. Beep.
pause
Clang. Clang.
pause
Beep. Beep.
pause
And then there is the piercing screech of a vehicle making an emergency stop.
Fun?
Also from the manual:
“Note: The phrases and sound effects shown in bold type in the illustrations are random responses by this toy. This toy may respond differently than shown.”
Translation: Putting Patrick the Policeman on the Central Park stage may cause him to announce, “Hi! I’m Sonya and I love animals!”
Other things that do not work very well:
* According to the instructions one should “slide the teeter-totter button forward or backward to make the teeter-totter go up and down,” however our teeter-totter will only move if it is switched on and the Roadway On/Off button is also pushed ON (allowing us yet another opportunity to hear the FUN sounds of traffic).
* When the fire truck leaves its station there is supposed to be the sound of a siren and the roadway should automatically start spinning. All this will happen if you make certain to lift the fire station door all the way up, until it clicks against the roof, as the truck pops out of the station. Actually you can cause the siren to blast, the alarm to sound, and the roadway to turn just by lifting the door, you do not even need the fire truck.
It is not compatible with other Little People play sets.
* The four figures from the Discovery City are slightly smaller than the figures from my son’s other Little People play sets. The figures also have a smaller hole in the bottom of their feet, which means the City figures cannot fit in the vehicles or seating areas of the other play sets.
* When the City folk place a phone call various predetermined conversations take place. For example, Eddie’s voice will tell the same knock-knock joke to Sonya’s voice every time, and Sonya’s voice will always invite Cheryl’s voice to the restaurant. Note: I say “voice” instead of “character” because who you see is not always who you hear. The non-City figures can fit on the telephone pads, which will activate the dialing sound, but they cannot activate the conversations. If a non-city figure calls a city figure then the city person just repeatedly asks “Hello?”
Use the carry handle for take-along fun!
Considering that the Fisher-Price idea of fun includes listening to screeching tires I can understand why they think it would be fun to carry this toy.
* It weighs over eight pounds – my son is strong, but not that strong.
* The inside of the handle has narrow thin slats - which dig into my hand.
* All the pieces can be stored inside the storage compartment behind the detachable playground ramp
– It takes me a couple of tries to get all the accessories to fit.
– There is no storage space for the detachable gas pump. If the pump is left attached to the city it falls off after the very first bump. When a three year old is trying to drag it to another room, “Mommy, I can do it myself,” then it’s a very bumpy trip.
The Good Stuff
* The turntable roadway! My son enjoys filling up the roadway with several vehicles, figures, and/or accessories. He then turns on the roadway and watches everything spin round and round.
The end
Needless to say, I regret buying the Fisher-Price Discovery City play set.
- NM
* We own four other Little People play sets:
·Animal Sounds Farm
·Fun Sounds Garage
·Fun Sounds Train.
·Home Sweet Home
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 45
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Epinions.com ID:
Nicholmere
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Member: Katherine
Reviews written: 28
Trusted by: 25 members
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