Darah is a HUGE Sofia the First fan. We actually don’t have cable, so she’s never seen the show that features Sofia. She has, however, seen the movie at least a dozen times, and she has a Sofia app that she loves to play with.
Darah knows that she is a very important part of the Stuff Parents Need family. Her role in the company is to be the chief toy tester, which is something she takes quite seriously, you know!
When Mattel recently sent two of their Sofia the First toys for Darah to experience, she was ecstatic. I’ve been observing her and playing with her as she plays pretend, and I’d like to share our thoughts with you!
Sofia the First Magical Talking Castle
While the castle came in the box unassembled, I found that it was all put together in about 20 minutes. It wasn’t extremely difficult, by any means. Darah very quickly picked up on what needed to happen in order to get the miniature Sophia and Clover that were included with the set to talk. She also really enjoyed setting up all the little accessories for a picnic.
One of the features of the castle is that Clover has his own built-in hiding place. He can be secured into the under-side of the bench on the second floor and “hide.” Let me warn you right now: it is REALLY easy to not secure him correctly, and to have Clover get stuck in the bench. We “hid” him once and we will never do it again. Sorry, but this was only a cute idea in theory, and not in practice!
Darah did seem to really enjoy playing pretend with Sofia and Clover. She liked that Sofia had her own bed, and that she had yummy food to offer to Clover. She even liked the feature that made it easy for Sofia to “walk” up and down the stairs. But I did notice that she got bored quickly with only the two toys to play with in the castle. Mattel offers many more friends for Sofia to play with in the castle, but those have to be purchased separately. I get that, but I think they should have included one more human friend, at least. Darah’s solution was to go retrieve her Octonauts and their Octopod, and make them next door neighbors of Sofia’s. Problem solved!
I think this toy is quite fun, overall. Don’t expect it to be the world’s most awesome toy or the world’s highest quality toy. It isn’t either one of those. But it does provide a canvas for creative little minds to play and create on, and so it serves its purpose. If you don’t have any handy “neighbors” at home, though, be sure to pick up a few friends for Sofia to play with in her castle. I think you’ll see play time last longer with this toy with a few extras. The Disney Sofia The First New Magical Talking Castle is currently on sale at Amazon for $49.97, down $10 from its original price.
Sofia the First Talking Doll and Animal Friends
This doll is a huge hit with both Darah and Layah. Sofia is wearing her purple amulet, and when you press it, she will talk. Now that isn’t very impressive in and of itself. The magic really happens when you take one of the included animal friends that comes with the doll (Robin, Clover or Mia) and hold them up close to the amulet. That’s when you will hear the animals talking to Sofia, and Sofia talking back! My 18 month old has the hang of how this works and loves to make the toys talk with each other.
The Sofia The First Talking Sofia and Animal FriendsΒ retails for $39.99. My opinion? The price is a little steep for what it does. Amazon currently has it marked down to $28.99, and that seems like a more reasonable price. My 4-year-old does like having her doll “talk” to her and to her animal friends, so it definitely is entertaining. Beware that the animals unlock certain phrases, so if they get lost, you won’t hear Sofia say those particular things any more. Just a note of caution for those of you with kids who tend to lose their toys easily! With that said, though, if you have a big Sofia the First fan in your home, the doll is cute and a whole lot of fun for the kids. I got bored with it fairly quickly, but fortunately, it isn’t my toy. The ones that matter play with her every day. π
Win it!: One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader will win a Sofia the First Talking Sofia and Animal Friends doll!
Theresa says
My girls love Jasmine. Mine is Rapunzel!
Tanya White says
My girls love Belle and Cinderella.
Laurie Emerson says
My daughter love Cinderella and I admit I do too!
Sand says
Mulan is her favorite.
Kellie Conklin says
The girls I watch love Aurora and Ariel! But honestly, every new movie that comes out becomes a favorite for a while π Thanks!
Molly K says
My favorite is Ariel.
Nicole D. says
My daughter’s favorite is Ariel.
Beth Klocinski says
I love Cinderella
Becky H says
My favorite princess has always been Sleeping Beauty, my oldest daughter loves Ariel and my youngest loves Jasmine.
Dana B says
Ariel is our favorite for sure!!
Daniel M says
cinderella is her fav
Stephanie Larison says
Belle is the fave here. Even our beagles name is Belle!
tina reynolds says
We love snow white
Meghan Finley says
She loves Cinderella but I’m partial to Sleeping Beauty
Julie says
my daughter loves Cinderella she dressed as her for halloween..
Jae Park says
The favorite in our house is Cinderella, mostly because we ‘saw’ her at Disneyland 2 years ago. Thanks!
Sindy Murray says
Cinderella and sleepy beauty!
shelly sawicki lash neuhouser says
CINDERELLA!!!
heather loftus says
Cinderella has to be my favorite!
Karen R says
The girls love Snow White.
Rebecca Parsons says
Cinderella is my daughters favorite and mine is Ariel
Renee G says
We love Ariel
Kristen says
Definitely Ariel.
Maria Malaveci says
My daughters favorite princess is Princess Aurora
Sarah says
Ever since I was a little girl, Cinderella has been my favorite!
Amber L. says
My two year old loves Sofia and Rapunzel π
Sheila Hickmon says
Belle is my favorite!
in the hammock says
my niece’s fave is sophia. thank you.
Sunnie says
I always liked Cinderella.
Amelia Drew says
We both really like Ariel
Rhonda G says
My granddaughter and I both love Snow White.
ASHLEY NOALL says
We LOVE Sophia
Rachel says
Her favorite princess is Rapunzel… this week. She got the movie for her birthday, but I assure you when she gets interested in something else, that will be her favorite.
Rita says
Sophia <3
Jackie says
One of my daughter’s favorites is Belle.
Thank you!
Misti says
My daughter’s favorite princess is Sofia the first because my daughter’s name is Sophia!
Ashley Mitchell says
My daughter LOVES Sophia.
Anonymous says
My daughter loves her sofia!
Brittany says
Her favorite princess is Sleeping Beauty.
Melissa McClain says
She loves all the princesses!
Sandy A says
Our Granddaughters love all the princesses–but I think Ariel and Cinderella are at their top of the list…
Ariann says
Ariel is our favorite disney princess!!! π
kelly blount says
Snow White was her first princcess crush.
Myra says
My daughters love Sofia and Belle!
Alicia B says
Cinderella
Stephanie L. says
We love all of the princesses equally (today is Cinderella, but yesterday was Ariel LOL)
Stacie says
My favorite princess is Ariel, but my little one would probably pick Sophia or Rapunzel!
brandy says
Sofia & Ariel!
Vicki Wurgler says
my granddaughter would say Ariel
Rebecca Graham says
Cinderella is the favorite.
Tara O. says
Sofia the First is my daughter’s favorite princess!
nickie says
Rapunzel from Tangled
renee campbell says
I wish someone would make ME chief toy tester π
My oldest daughter likes Belle because she always has her nose in a book, just like she herself does!
Cynthia R says
her favorite is ariel
Pauline Milner says
My favorite Princess is Cinderella. My Daughter’s favorite Princess is Snow White. Thanks for the great giveaway opportunity. Keep up the terrific blogging.
Tari Lawson says
I love Cinderella.
Jamie Martin says
My daughter is named Sophia.. Any guesses to who her favourite princess might be? ;p
Vickie Couturier says
sofia and Ariel
Terri Egelund says
Cinderella is my granddaughter and mine favorite.
April Yedinak says
My daughter loves Rapunzel from Tangled.
Heather Kelly says
Cinderella and Ariel are her favorite. She is only 4, so she’s still learning about them.
Bethany C. says
My daughter is really into Ariel right now, but she loves Sofia and watches whenever it’s on.
Audra O'Hara says
My daughter’s favorite is Sofia; she just loves that show. My favorite growing up was Snow White.
amy pugmire says
My girls love ariel and sofia the first.
courtney hennagir says
My daughter is a freak for Sofia! I am an Ariel fan myself.
Jen S says
Sleeping Beauty is the most popular at our house right now.
harolde says
She loves Rapunzel from Tangled the best!
Mary Casper says
we both like Ariel
ACMommy3 says
Belle and Rapunzel are two of the favorite princesses at our house. π
Kelly D says
My daughter likes Cinderella.
Heather Hayes Panjon says
Ariel Is Her Favorite!
Shannon Baas says
We love ariel.
Mary Happymommy says
My daughter loves Cinderella and Sofia!
ColleenMarie says
Mulan is the current favorite!
Kelly B says
Cinderella is our first favorite princess!
LisaN says
Snow White is a favorite in our house!
Megan L. says
My daughter really likes Sofia, but my favorite is Merida.
Karen - Desert Chica Ramblings says
My 3 year old son loves Sofia… and I love encouraging that as long as I can. π
Deb says
My daughter would LOVE this! She’s even asked if she could get it for Christmas. Please make a little girl’s wish come true!!
Deb says
And she loves ALL of the princesses!
Kristie says
My daughter’s favorite is Aurora.
Jennifer Pierce says
My 4yr old son LOVES Sofia The First
Kristin Birchard says
Sofia is our favorite!
Ben G says
Our favorite princess is Ariel!
Stephanie Shields says
My daughter LOVES Bell and Sofia!!!
Ann Hoven says
Princess Tiana is our favorite Disney princess. π
Debbie Jackson says
Cinderella is big at our house.