Dora Links School Playset Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)I know there are people who are down on Dora Links.
Let me say this... even with the difficulty downloading Dora Links, it is WAY worth the trouble!
This is THE present at Chrstmas and the one that gets played with over and over again. I don't mind shelling out the cash if the toy gets played with constantly, and this one does.
Here are some tips if you are looking to buy Dora or in this case, accessories for Dora Links:
This product (the school) is as integral to the website navigation as the Dora Links is herself. You hook the locker that comes in this item up to your computer with a USB cable (not included but it is a standard cable... the same cable that we received in my other daughter's present, a leapfrog product... I think it is the same USB cable that you hook cameras up to your computer also) and this allows Dora to explore the school. The Dora Links doll allows you to explore the town. To have full navigation you plug both the locker in this playset and the Dora Links doll up to your computer at the same time.
You do not have to have this product to play with Dora Links, just like technically you don't have to have the Dora Links to play with other Dora Explorer Girls add ons but it really doesn't make as much sense when you are playing with the things... all the add ons are like individual activities if you don't buy the key components (that allow for the exploration of the city/beach/park and the school).
If you are downloading the Dora Links do it from the website (doralinks dot com) not from the cd that comes with the Dora Links doll. We could not get the cd to work and I see a lot of other people couldn't either so don't waste your time.
It takes a while to load, even on high speed internet so be prepared for this to take a good portion of the hour. If you don't waste your time with the cd some of this time will be alleviated. Do the downloading before you give the gift as is mentioned in some other reviews on Dora Links. Again, it is worth the trouble and if you have trouble with the downloading, I say it is worth it to pay someone else to download it if you must. (My daughter is a kindergartener and she is having an awesome time with her Dora Links, school, art room, cafeteria, Dora Friends, and the fashions that come with the whole Dora Links collection. My second grader loves playing with her also.)
DON'T chintz on buying the Dora Links doll... there are two Dora dolls in this collection and the more expensive doll is the Dora doll you want in order to explore the town/beach/park. The other Dora doll is like buying one of the friends... you are just going to be able to unlock two activities if you buy that doll (this is the only part of the dora collection that my daughter doesn't have, so I am deducing this from looking at the map when she plays it and seeing what she can't "unlock")
The dolls are of VERY high quality... the hair on the friends are so nice! The fashions that you buy as add ons to the collection are of very high quality. Worth the money!
My daughter is a kindergartener and is one who likes to play with dollhouses... this seems to be the "next step" for her in that type of play. Because the girls have this Puerto Verde "life" online I see her playing more with the dolls than her Barbies because of that interaction. (Similar to seeing her play more with her Webkinz stuffed animals than I do typical stuffed animals.)
Lastly, if you don't want to buy the addons (like some people have complained about on the Dora Links dolls reviews) you might want to skip the whole doll purchase. Your daughter will see the areas of the website that she can't get into (there will be a locked icon showing when you go to click on that part of the website) and there might be some disappointment. Like I said earlier, my daughter has everything but two of the outfits (the ones that are target exclusives) and one of the friends (we are waiting for it to arrive from Amazon) and the other Dora and I played it for more than an hour and I didn't get quite through all the activities on the website (and this didn't include the mysteries that you solve because my daughter hasn't played with the mysteries yet so I didn't want to explore them before she did). There is a TON of stuff and lots of variety of the website if you buy the components of the collection... well worth the money invested especially since she plays with the dolls quite a bit on their own in addition to playing online.
(P.S. We have dialup internet and she can still play... I had to take my hard drive to someone's house to download the initial Dora setup... then when I downloaded the updates (new mysteries, etc) I installed an internet download manager so that if the download got disconnected because of the dial-up internet that we use I didn't have start back at square one. You are hooked up to the internet when you play on the computer but I notice no problems with playing with this with a dial-up connection. I think it would be next to impossible to download the innitial set-up without doing it with a high speed connection.)

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N8516Now Dora and her friends can pretend to find clues and solve mysteries at her school. This adorable play set includes a desk, a chair, a chalkboard, a locker, a pencil cup, a plant, a waste can, a trophy, a stack of books, 2 single books, and a globe. You can find endless ways to play out your Junior high Dora experience. Features: -Dora School play set. -This set creates the perfect classroom setting. -All of the accessories are in scale to links and the friends. -Age: 5 - 10 years. -Dimensions: 15'' H x 18'' W x 6'' D. Looking for expedited shipping on this item? Please give our customer service team a call!

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