Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I wanted to love this castle. I was prepared to tape and glue and do whatever was necessary to make this castle loveable for my daughter who will be four years-old in two months. She asked Santa to bring this castle and she expected it to be here Christmas morning above any other toy. I wasn't going to let her down. So I went ahead and spent the money to buy this castle and hoped the harsh reviews were written by people who expected an heirloom quality toy or over-the-top craftsmanship for spending over $100. Sadly, those reviews were written by normal parents who are as saddened and frustrated as I am. I put this castle together in about three hours time over two days when I could work on it without my daughter seeing. There were no written instructions, just pictures. There were some sticky points in the construction but all-in-all I felt it went together fairly well and I was encouraged by that fact. I hoped maybe the naysayers had indeed exaggerated and this castle just might be alright after all. Then I tried to assemble the towel bar, the stairs, put the bed in the bedroom, found out Chip the teacup was missing and the disappointments just rolled on from there. I ended up breaking off a peg on the stairs trying to force it into place because the holes didn't line up properly. I had to tape the stairs together with packing tape in an effort to keep them together for Christmas morning. I hoped that if we didn't move the castle it would be fine. Even still, the stairs fall apart with normal use and fall off the side of the castle constantly regardless of the missing peg. The magic carpet gets stuck on the side of the house and even adults have a hard time freeing it and making it go up and down. The pieces that hold the dolls upright are flimsy, especially the one for the stairs. The stairs doll holder goes wobbling down to the bottom on its own like it's haunted. The front door has fallen off three times. The dolls barely fit anywhere in the castle -- the ceilings are too low and the rooms are too small. The second you even touch the bed in Sleeping Beauty's bedroom, its legs slip off the edge and the bed becomes like a giant sled about to go over the edge and fall to the ground. Did I mention the bed's headboard falls off all the time? That the kitchen table separates from the base and falls apart? I could go on about the issues with this castle but you get the point. The WORST PART? My daughter's tears and frustration on Christmas morning when she tried to play with this castle but everything she touched just broke or fell apart. We'd be in the next room and we'd hear the sound of plastic snapping off, things crashing to the floor and sighs of frustration. My husband and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes, shook our heads and felt terrible. She kept asking me why Santa would give her a broken castle. How do you explain something like that to a three year old on Christmas?!!! I had to make up this whole story about how it was probably made by an elf who didn't want to be a toy building elf -- like the elf on Rudolf who wants to be a dentist. She looks at me with this "yeah right" look. She still plays with the castle but she gets frustrated. I see her walk past it just staring at it and then walking away when she decides it's not worth the frustration to play with it or the disappointment is just too heavy for her to face at that moment. I hate that Mattel and Disney did this to so many little girls -- and parents too. How horrible of them. How many other little girls' dreams of playing with this castle were trampled on Christmas Day, or on their birthday? Even if you want this castle to work and you're determined it will -- it just won't. I read that woman's review about calling Mattel for replacement parts. I'm waiting for her update to say that the replacements broke too the same day she got them -- because there's no way they won't. This is just poorly designed. It's an incredible shame because with just an extra tiny bit of effort, this thing could be AMAZING and they could have charged more and most people would have paid more for it if it was worth it. If you're forced to buy this because it's the number one thing your child wants from Santa -- then join the club -- you're in good, disgruntled company and prepare to be bitterly disappointed and feel like Disney and Mattel beat you up and stole your lunch money. If this is a toy you can get out of buying in any way -- do it. For the rest of us, we'll continue to tape and glue and make excuses to no avail and shrug our shoulders when our daughters look at us like, "What the heck?!!". I'm disgusted with Disney and Mattel for this disgrace and you will be too if you spend your money on it.