Every holiday season, it seems that my children's grandparents outdo themselves in purchasing gifts. During the weeks leading up to the gift giving occasions, I constantly hear the cry from both my parents and in-laws that they have not bought enough toys for my children and so they constantly ask them what gifts they would like. Often, my five year old daughter does not know the exact name or cannot give a good description of something that she saw and liked, and that is how we ended up with the $120 very large Barbie of Swan Lake Musical Fantasy Castle Playset when she really wanted was the much smaller $20 Barbie and Krissy Princess Palace Playset.

I do not know if my daughter really did not want this castle playset, or somehow knew that mommy would not want this monstrosity in the house and that she better not even ask for it. I suspect that she really did not have a longing for this toy as she did not pester us to put it together after she received it, and once it was out of the box and ready to play with, she only played with it for a short time that first day. Now that we have had it out for a while, she does play with it on occasion, but not often enough to justify the cost.

As a parent, the absolute worst part of holiday gifts is the amount of assembly involved with many of them. Fortunately, this castle was basically assembled upon taking it out of the box, and it only took about fifteen minutes to install the 3 "AA" batteries, adhere the stickers and assemble a few small items and decorations.

The castle itself is about 32 inches tall, and when opened up is about 52 inches across, while it is about 25 inches across when closed. Although the two sides fold in to close the castle, it is not a toy that can be carried around due to its large size. The good point to such a large toy is that more than one child can play with it at the same time.

The castle has lavender walls, pink floors and is accented with light blue throughout, including small plastic bluebirds adorning just about every fixture inside. The rooms include a bathroom complete with a vanity and bathtub, a dining room in which to put a white table and three pink throne-like chairs, two bedrooms, each with a bed for a Barbie-sized doll, and a conservatory with a window seat, in which the harp can be placed.

The castle's spire lights up (a PR4/K4 light bulb is already installed for you) and plays a short waltz-like tune when you turn the hand crank on the floor to make the "elevator" work. There is an on/off switch for the music. The elevator is a spiral series of steps attached to a pole, on which the dolls are supposed to be able to stand and ride to the top. Unfortunately it is difficult to attach the dolls to the steps an they tend to fall off easily, so my daughter usually just holds them on the steps and pretends they are riding up.

There are two bedrooms - a fancy one for Princess Barbie on the second floor, and a simple plain looking on immediately underneath that one. The only piece of furniture in either room is a bed, and there is no room for any additional pieces, nor are there any walls on the rooms other than the ones the headboards are attached to. The Princess bedroom has a white hard plastic bed, with a light blue headboard and footboard and a blue material pillow, while the second bedroom has a light blue hard plastic bed, headboard and footboard, and no pillow other than a raised portion of the plastic on the bed itself. The second bedroom has a small window above the headboard, while the Princess' room has a more ornate headboard with a script "B" embossed on it. It also has a larger, fancier window with sheer curtains adorned with glittery blue stars on it.

The Barbie of Swan Lake Musical Fantasy Castle Playset is recommended for ages 3 and up, but be cautioned that there are many small pieces, including such items as utensils, goblets, combs and perfume bottles which could be choking hazards. These pieces are not integral to the castle, and a younger child could have fun playing with the furniture and rooms without those pieces. My daughter usually does not even play with them since they are easily dropped and Barbie cannot hold them herself.

The three pink throne-like chairs (one a little bit larger than the others with a script "B" embossed on its back) are stand up well on a flat surface, and Barbie dolls can easily sit in them without them falling over. One chair can be placed by the pink harp, and when the bluebird perched on its top is turned, you hear a sound that is supposed to be strumming of the strings. The chairs can also be used with the white dining room table, which has small openings in the center to attach the pink wedding cake to. Unfortunately, if the cake is placed on the table, all of the plates, bowls, goblets and silverware do not also fit on the table. Also, there is no floor for the dining room portion of the castle, so that our table and chairs sit directly on a rug, making it not exactly level and causing pieces to easily fall off. My daughter usually does not play with these small pieces, but has questioned why there are only three chairs included, but there is service for four provided with the place settings.

The Barbie of Swan Lake Musical Fantasy Castle Playset is a large, expensive toy, that my daughter only plays with occasionally. It has become more of a storage center for all of her Barbie type dolls rather than an actual toy to play with. Although my daughter is a Barbie fan, and plays with her Princess Odette doll quite often, this playset just did not grab her attention. I think we will be relegating this playset to our basement playroom which we do not use all that often. Maybe if it become a special toy that my daughter cannot play with every day, she will actually use it when she sees it. It might be the overwhelming size and amount of rooms that my daughter does not like, as she plays with her Barbie Talking Townhouse, which is smaller and more compact all the time.

I would probably not recommend this toy to others, unless you are sure that this is one that your child really wanted and would play with. As for the the Barbie and Krissy Princess Palace Playset that my daughter actually wanted, she plays with that set just about every day, and keeps the dolls from that set with her almost constantly!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 120.00
Type of Toy: Playscene
Age Range of Child: 6 to 8 Years