A Review of the Must Have Dora the Explorer Toys

If you have a young daughter or niece, you are acutely aware of Dora the Explorer. Her and her cousin Diego fascinates my niece. During my shopping for her gifts, I noticed the prices on the Dora and Diego stuff was somewhat high. Obviously, you are paying for the name but is there the quality behind the name? These are my reviews for the winners and losers of value for your money.

The Fisher-Price Sparkle & Twirl Mermaid Doll is priced between $25 and $40 depending on the store. This is not worth the money. You press a button and Mermaid Dora is supposed to spin while her skirt rises to become Beach Dora. Although it does work sometimes, the spinning mechanism malfunctions and Dora just kind of rocks back and forth while the skirt does nothing. Press another button and it plays a song. This might be worth $10 but not the prices the stores are carrying it for.

Dora's Magical Castle is priced between, $50 and $60. The construction seems good but the castle does not fold up for easy storage. The castle is 6 rooms that are unfurnished. The furniture for the rooms is available at an additional $6 to $10 per room bringing the total for a fully functional castle up to $100 or better. This is not worth the money in my opinion.

The Dora the Explorer Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and the ABC Game are priced a couple dollars more than their non-Dora counterparts did. They are worth the money and can often be found on sale at the same price as the non-Dora games. The addition of Dora and Boots to the games seems to hold a youngsters attention longer than the regular games.

Dora's Talking Kitchen costs between $70 and $80. It is surprisingly durable, seems to hold up well, and comes with some food, plates, and other normal play kitchen accessories. The kitchen set has kitchen related sounds and speaks to you in both Spanish and English. Additional interactive foods can be purchased separately to continue the ongoing fun. This product is worth the money in my opinion; the only downfall I see would be if your child would continue playing with it after they grow out of Dora the Explorer.

This article just touches base on a few of the hot items that were flying off the shelves this holiday season. Some are worth the money and some are not.