Every year about this time I start thinking…no, fretting, about Christmas. I take a good hard look at all the toys that Charlotte has, what she plays with and equally what she ignores and I try to come up with something age appropriate that wont gather dust under a bed or in a corner.

I am sure you can relate.

The past few years have been hit or miss.

Dollhouse…miss on the year I bought it, hit two years later (go figure), horses…hit….play guitars…total miss just two days after opening.  But one thing I can almost 100% count on to be a “OOH COOL!” moment is a Princess. My daughter loves Barbies, dress up, dolls, and anything that is remotely “princessy”. And while I could easily turn to a video game or movie, I absolutely love to see her imagination at work with all the other little girls in the neighborhood and insist on real toys for her toy room.

Disney Fairytale Ultimate Dream Castle

Recently I had an opportunity to bring home (provided complimentary by Mattel to facilitate this article) the Disney Fairytale Ultimate Dream Castle and four beautiful princesses. Even though I would have loved to see her light up Christmas morning, seeing her face when the castle arrived at the door was just as priceless. Of course with two other neighborhood girls that were over at the time, there was a lot of chattering, excitement, and plenty of girly anticipation.

There is something about Cinderella, Ariel, Belle, and Tiana that will do that to the tween and under set.

Aww, heck, it does it to me!

Assembly: Opening the box was hard. I know that sounds funny, but that glue was sealed TIGHT. Once out of the box, the castle had to have many parts like the stairs, flooring, and castle tops installed. The castle itself came fully furnished but some of the furniture pieces also had to be assembled. All of it was relatively easy and required no tools. If you are planning this item for Christmas, I highly recommend presetting it up before the morning. There is nothing like WAITING for someone to put it together after its opened.

Assembly took approximately 20 minutes on our end.

Dolls: The Princess dolls are not included in the set, but there are themed rooms for Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, and Tiana. We also noticed the elevator looks like a magic carpet, so I would also say Jasmine. Go ahead and buy as many princess dolls as you can afford for maximum fun!

Castle: The castle is a pretty sturdy piece of construction as a whole. Its about 3 feet tall and needs a few batteries to make bubbling bath sounds, a musically chiming doorbell, and a ballroom floor that sings when dancing. There are also some other cute features like flying fairies (Sleeping Beauty) and a staircase that has the ability to attach Cinderella for her glide down the flight of stairs.

Details:

The quintessential Disney Princess castle that every little girl will want under the Christmas tree! A fairytale in itself, the castle stands three stories tall, featuring iconic rooms themed to each Disney Princess from Belle’s dining room where the dolls can “eat” to Ariel\’s under-the-sea bathroom with a seashell tub delivering real bubble sounds. Explore all the rooms for royal fun! Dolls not included.

• ARP:  $149.99
• Age:  3+
• Available: June 2011

So far this toy is a huge, huge hit in our toy room. The only thing I think might have been better is a trip to Disney itself…which there is still time for.

*grin*

What toys are you planning on getting your kids this holiday season?

~Trisha