The Thomas & Friends Take-n-Play Daring Dragon Drop Set Review

For any long term reader you will know that Leo has always had a little bit of a love for trains, and Thomas the Tank Engine in particular. Over the years we have seen A LOT of train track, and seem to have trains coming out of our ears, not the mention the abundance of Thomas and his friends that seem to be at the helm of each and every toy box. Yes...We may have a train problem. 

We have put a number of the Fisher Price Thomas range through their paces over the last couple of years, much to Leo's delight, and they are all toys that he still gets out on a regular basis. True love never dies they say, and the fire that burns for the reviews below has never gone out.

The Spills & Thrills on Sodor Take-n-Play Set Review

The Thomas & friends Rattling Railsss Playset Review

Thomas & Friends - All Around Sodor Interactive Train Set Review

The Fisher Price My First RC Thomas Review

With Christmas just around the corner I thought it would be a great time to re-capture the love for these toys before telling you all about the latest Thomas & Friends Take-n-Play Set that we have been having a play with over the last few weeks. The new Thomas & Friends Take-n-Play Daring Dragon Drop Set.

So what makes a great train toy in 2015? Well for Leo if you have a nice amount of track, you have a few trains to help fuel his imagination... You have a winner, and the Daring Dragon Take-n-Play Drop Set has all of this, I can tell you before I even get any further into this review, that this latest set has been a big BIG hit with the four year old.

What's in the box?

A die-cast metal Thomas, a volcano, a dragon bridge with zip-line, a bridge track and a loop of track

The first thing to note about this play set is it's generous size, with a train track I think size is important. It definitely is for Leo. Bigger is most definitely better in his frame of thinking, and on the size factor this ticked every box. What's even better about opting for this play set is that you can fold it up and put it away at the end of the day. Yes trains are pretty cool, but it is also nice to get your living room floor back at the end of the day when the kids have gone off to bed! 

It comes included with the 2 AAA batteries that it requires, so that as soon as assembly has been completed, little ones can enjoy it right away.

The set has a rather exciting story behind it, and if this doesn't aid imaginative play then I don't know what will 'When Thomas finds a shield on Misty Island it inspires him to bravely seek out the legendary dragon on Dragon Island. As Thomas rides along the track from Misty Island to Dragon Island the volcano erupts and he must escape! He rides up the ramp right onto the dragon bridge. Can Thomas zip-line safely back to Misty Island?'

The story has prompted so many different play scenarios for Leo, and honestly watching Leo play trains is often just to humorous for words. There are almost always train crashes, trains getting stuck, other trains coming to the rescue...You name it. It happens. What really aids Leo's play with this particular toy is the 'erupting' feature on the volcano! To activate this you just need to push the top down, and then it is time to get Thomas away as promptly as possible. Or at lightning speed if your name is Leo.

Assembly

You would think that after putting a multitude of these sets together over the years, that I would be a pro at this by now. Well...You would be wrong. Even with the instructions being as transparent as they, detailing exactly what to do, I always seem to struggle and pass the building task over to someone more competent. Once it's together though, you are good to go.

Over all we really liked this latest addition to the Fisher Price Thomas and Friends collection, and it is currently lay in wait for Leo to finish school and complete the adventure that he started this morning. 

The Thomas & Friends Take-n-Play Daring Dragon Drop Set retails at £36.99 at Smyths Toys.

Disclaimer: We were sent the Thomas & Friends Take-n-Play Daring Dragon Drop Set for the purpose of this review. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.

The Thomas & friends Rattling Railsss Playset Review

Trains…Trains..Trains…Leo is trains MAD. He loves them. Toy trains, model trains, steam trains, diesel trains, rides on trains, all trains! He simply LOVES trains. You only need to look at my iPad and have a mooch around my YouTube account to see that a certain 3 year old often steals it in order to watch trains on demand. He watches the footage that train watchers create, and he also likes to watch Thomas the Tank Engine. Yup, my boy loves Thomas and his adventures.

2015 see’s Thomas and Friends turning 70 years old, how incredible is that!? It has proven so popular that it has carried on being loved and adored all these years later, it would appear that kids seem to love trains! In celebration of Thomas’s age old birthday, Fisherprice kindly asked us if Leo would like to review the new Thomas and Friends Take-n-Play RattlingRailsss Playset, of course I didn’t need to ask Leo twice. He instantly accepted the play challenge and then set up camp by the door awaiting the post each day, in hope that his new track would arrive. Of course when it did we had to get it out right away and get it built up so that he could play with it instantly!

Building train track is my downfall, I just cannot do it. I can’t follow instructions to save my life and I often find the pieces a little fiddly. Luckily Granny was on hand to help build the latest Take-n-Play set, and it wasn't long before Leo’s imagination was running away with him, and he had multiple trains lined up ready to hurtle around.

I have to admit even I was impressed by the Rattling Railsss Playset, it was hard not to be when the snake actually moves when you press the lever on the top of the set (this also acts as a very useful carry handle). Leo was putting Thomas around the track, letting him stay stationary in the snakes mouth and then pushing the lever down to send him whizzing over to the other side of the track before starting the process again!

The set comes with a diecast Thomas Train so that play can begin right away, there are no need for batteries, so once it’s built it is ready to rock and roll. This toy has been played with on a daily basis since its arrival, and with Leo’s rather impressive diecast Thomas collection, he is not short of trains to use with this set. I would recommend this for any Thomas fan, it is recommended for kids aged 3 and up and I would say that is a fair guideline to work to.

I really like that the set is so portable, it makes it easy for Leo to carry around himself during game play, and tidying it up at the end of the day. Leo absolutely loves this set and gets so much enjoyment out of his play time. Of course I love that it can be stored away so readily at the end of play, Leo's train collection is booming and we certainly couldn't have them all on display all of the time. 

Leo's game play is so full of imagination and it's rather fascinating to watch, train crashes, casualties, ambulances speeding in to take the injured away, train races, and the crazed snake gulping up engines! There is never a dull moment when it comes to Leo's games. The Rattling Railsss Playset retails at £20.99, but is currently on offer at Amazon for £17.99 at the point of writing this review.

Disclaimer: We were sent the Rattling Railsss Playset for the purpose of this review. All views and opinions are completely honest and my own.

39 Months Old

With another busy few weeks on our hands we seem to have passed through another month. It has been one with ample opportunity for adventure and one full of smiles and laughter. We have had a busy month you and I, what with a fun filled day out at Thomas Land, another with Mike the Knight and finally a trip to the Gloucestershire Light Railway where we both spent an entire day with Thomas the Tank! To say you were excited was an under-statement, you were excitedly skipping around and telling me all about the day ahead. You were going to ride on Thomas and meet the Fat Controller, you were going to see all of your favourite  trains on a real working railway.

It was a day out for just the two of us, and you were in your element when the time came to actually meet Thomas. The magic of the day only grew when Thomas’s driver actually let you go inside the engine room. There was a growing line of people and by this point you were point blank refusing to come out, you were looking all around and pretending to drive the train. This one experience for you made your entire day, and the driver could see just how much you loved trains, he even told me that you would most likely be a steam train driver one day! 

This month saw you heading back to nursery for your funded place, you went back with no teething problems at all and I was so pleased with how well you were doing. I could see improvements in you all the time, and I had been so happy when nursery had told me that they too had seen these changes. We have been waiting for your speech therapy consultant appointment to come through, and as usual have found that nothing is straight forward. The first appointment they cancelled and re-booked it, only for them to make a second error and us not being able to enter your appointment. It was after this that nursery told us that they wanted to push the appointment through quickly as they felt you were further behind. I agree that you are further behind than your peers but it is not that you are not developing and coming along all of the time, with me you have proper conversations, you tell me about your day, and you comprehend absolutely everything. It may sound crazy of me to say, but I am not worried about you, I know that you are doing well, you set your own bench marks and there is such a wide spectrum of 'normal', and little man, you are perfectly, absolutely without a doubt normal. Your 3 years old, charismatic. demanding, beautiful and perfect in your very own way. 

39 months see's you still napping giving half the chance, although we are seeing more of a resistance to nap even if we both know that you need it. 

Your doing so well in your big boy pants and nappies are only with us at night time these days. I haven't even thought about crossing this bridge just yet as I know it is going to be harder than combating the day time. This is something we will address in the New Year...

Until next month baby boy...

X

The Spills & Thrills on Sodor Take-n-Play Set Review

Leo turned 3 at the end of last June, and in anticipation of this Fisher Price who know of Leo’s love for Thomas, very kindly sent him a new set to try out. The Thomas and Friends Spills & Thrills on Sodor Take-n-Play set was a hit before it even came out of the box, as soon as Leo saw that it had train track and his favourite number 1 engine, excited doesn’t begin to give justice to Leo’s reaction.

Spills & Thrills on Sodor is a plastic track that you piece together and then lay against a wall, this tilts the track so that you can put the included die cast Thomas train on while gravity does what it does best. I had to follow the instructions to put it together as I wasn’t sure where each piece of track should be placed. Some of the track once placed cannot be removed again, so I wanted to make sure that I got it right first time.. And avoid any disapproval from my 3 year old. 

Following the instructions the set was soon together, I had managed to keep Leo entertained with his new Thomas train while I constructed his new track.  Of course he couldn’t wait until it was completely built to try it out, so mid completion Leo was hurtling Thomas down the tracks!

Leo has been enjoying this set since mid-May, and he is still enjoying it as much today as he did when he first received it. With Leo’s love of trains, and of course his love for Thomas, this ticks all of the boxes that Leo looks for in a toy. It has tracks for him to play with not just Thomas, but all of the cars out of his car box, and it comes with a high quality Thomas die cast train.

As a parent looking at this toy I can see exactly why Leo loves it so much, it’s bright, colorful and full of adventure, but obviously we both look at toys in a different light. For me l have found that the plastic tracks don’t stay in place at the bottom of the track like they are supposed to, so it means that I have to keep popping them back in when Leo notices and has a toddler melt down. I think for the money it could maybe benefit from being stronger plastic. Although having said that, the set features a carry handle at the top which means Leo can carry it around himself.

Leo is using the Spills and Thrills on Sodor to play out imaginative scenarios, and as the weeks go on the games are getting more adventurous. I love to just sit back and watch Leo playing his games, listen to the story lines progressing as he makes each character perform in his very own game of make believe. He puts all of the train sounds in and improvises them to reflect whether Thomas is driving fast, or slowly. He knows that bigger trains make different noises and that steam trains have whistles.

It really is fascinating to just sit and watch a child play their very own games.

Over all we both really like this set, I do think at £24.99 it is priced higher than I would like to pay for it, but now seeing how much Leo enjoys playing with it, I can see that it certainly provides the play value.

Amazon currently have the Thomas and Friends Spills & Thrills on Sodor Take-n-Play set priced at £24.97.

Disclaimer: We were sent the Thomas and Friends Spills & Thrills on Sodor Take-n-Play set for the purpose of this review. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.

Thomas & Friends - Tale of the Brave

Earlier this month Leo and I had a rather exciting invitation to visit Thomas Land and have a private screening of the new Thomas the Tank Engine Film, Tale of the Brave. Leo is a huge Thomas fan, and has always thoroughly enjoyed his visits to Thomas Land, so of course our RSVP to come along was a resounding ‘YES’!

We arrived at Thomas Land, based at Drayton Manor with a few minutes to spare, we made our way to the 4D cinema where we were greeted by the lovely team who had thought of absolutely everything. There were cartons of Thomas juice for the children and bottles of water for the grown-ups, not to mention the popcorn that was on hand for the screening.

The Fat Controller was happily going around the group posing for photographs and being his happy self, Leo was so pleased to get to meet him. What I really liked is that having visited Drayton Manor and Thomas Land on a number of occasions, it was nice to see that the man behind the Fat Controller was the same person. He may not of remembered me, but I certainly remembered him!

While we waited for the screening to begin, the children got to have a look at a number of the new toys that have been released to go along with the feature. I have to say that I was really impressed with the latest track master model, and may have already jotted that down onto Leo’s Christmas list.. Not that I want to encourage any more train track entering the house!

By the time we were ushered into the screening, Leo was infatuated with all of the new Thomas toys around him, and ultimately I had to let him borrow two of the trains to take in with him. As soon as we were in the 4D cinema he had forgotten all of the toys, and was far too excited to watch the brand new film. The Fat Controller came out onto the stage and introduced the new movie, and then it began.

As far as Thomas films go, I admittedly just watch them because my 3 year old is train mad, but I thought this latest film was easy to tolerate from a adults perspective and I even found myself secretly enjoying some of the songs *makes mental note to look into the soundtrack*.

Tale of the Brave was released in the UK on Blu Ray and DVD on September 1^st 2014 and follows Thomas and his friends around Sodor in a brand new tale. The story starts with Thomas working in the clay pits when a storm approaches, the rain pours and batters Sodor leaving the clay cliffs very un-stable. As Thomas makes his way through the clay pitts, a flash of lightning reveals what looks to be very large footprints on the slope above him. This sets the scene for Thomas and Percy to be on the lookout for a monster!

Thomas isn’t sure about what he saw in the clay pits, but when Thomas confides his thoughts to Percy, Percy is convinced that there is a monster loose on the island. Percy works himself into such a state that he is even too scared to deliver his mail trucks, every bump and shadow becomes a cause for concern.. and Percy very quickly finds himself getting into trouble.

Thomas and the Tale of the Brave introduces some new characters, Gator become a firm favourite with Leo, and I am sure he will be joining Leo’s growing train collection in the not so distant future. The film has been thoroughly enjoyed by Leo and he had an absolutely fantastic day running all over Thomas Land, it is suffice to say  that he was completely in his element.

The Thomas and Friends Tale of the Brave DVD is on sale now, and is a must watch if you have Thomas fans in your midst.

Disclaimer: We were invited along to Drayton Manor for the screening of Thomas and Friends, Tale of the Brave and provided with a goody bag. All thought and opinions are completely honest and my own.

#NetflixStreamTeam - July

Summer is upon us and Leo has just broken up for his very first Summer holidays. It is hard to believe that this tie next year my little man will be preparing to start reception at first school. With the 6 week break here we have been making plans to get out and about and make the most of this special time, with my Birthday coming up this Friday I decided it would be great to head along to the cinema and enjoy the new Planes feature! Of course having 6 weeks to keep little one's entertained can be a mammoth task, but there are plenty of options that we can take up in order to have fun and teach them while the homework is on hold!

This months Netflix theme is of course 'School is out for Summer!' and in honour of the Summer break they have put together some great content that will help us keep the kids entertained and learning while we try not to pull our hair out:

How to let your kids play and learn:

 Check out the list of titles to stream on Netflix which will keep the children inspired throughout the holiday. Titles for younger kids include Scholastic’s The Magic School Bus whilst Planet Earth, The Life of Mammals and The Secret Life of Birds are great options for the older children and even adults.

For the little ones:

For the older ones:

At this moment in time Leo is still loving the Thomas the Tank Engine selection that is running on Netflix. This has to be my number one trick on a Sunday morning if he does decide that he is going to wake up at the crack of dawn with the birds. Another aspect that we have been really enjoying is the opportunity to enjoy family films together cuddled up in bed on a weekend evening. We cheekily get in the popcorn and a few naughty treats, we then cuddle up under the duvet and enjoy a film together. 

For me this month I am still working my way through Gossip Girl. I am ever so slightly addicted and have just hit season 4. 

I hope everyone so far is enjoying the summer break and that the kids are all on their best behavior!

Disclaimer: I was sent everything I needed to get started watching Netflix for the next 12 months. I have not been paid to write this post. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest and my own.

A Trip To Drayton Manor

Long before the day I became a Mummy, I have been a self confessed thrill seeker from an early age. I don’t think I had much choice in this really as my Dad has always loved theme parks. I know my parents were visiting such attractions with me in tow from around the age of 2 years old.

I recently received tickets for a day out at Drayton Manor, which happens to be right on our doorstep being just an hour’s drive away. I have not been to Drayton Manor for a few years now and I knew that they have had new rides installed and there had been some substantial changes to check out.

Of course having a 1 year old now changes everything that we as a family look for, when choosing somewhere that can cater for all of us for the day. After having a look at the Drayton Manor website I was pleased to see that there would be plenty for us to do with Leo, which is ultimately the factor that makes or breaks our decision to visit a destination.

My little brood arrived at Drayton Manor, just outside of Tamworth in timely fashion. We arrived at just after half past 10 which is the time that all of the rides are set to open, and I was pleased to see that we had picked the right day to visit. The sun was shining high in the sky and despite it being a little chilly at times, we had made a great decision to visit at the back end of the season. There were plenty of people walking around, but it was by no means busy, which meant no daunting queues!

Walking into the park you can see some of the bigger rides peaking up into the sky line, the Apocalypse for one, and although I have braved this ride in the past. I made a firm decision there and then that I would not be doing it on this visit! We soon came across Thomas Land which opened back in 2008 to everyone’s favourite Blue train. Walking in under the archway I was faced with the train controllers, I thought this was a lovely touch for the older children who were chatting away with them, and really excited to see them.

Leo is too young to know who Thomas is and he is yet to see the television programme but despite these minor details he enjoyed it none the less. There is so much going on, especially from a toddler’s perspective and I thought that the best way that Leo could experience this moment was to be un-leashed in Thomas Land.

I took Leo out of his stroller and stood him on the floor, he looked a little un-sure as Cranky the Crane Drop Tower came bumping back down to our level. He ran and gave my leg a big reassuring cuddle. I know Leo though, and I knew that it wouldn't be long before he had adjusted to his new surroundings and was feeling his brave self again. Proving me right within the next minute, I was soon following him around and trying to keep him in check. He really did not know where to look next, which meant he was running here, there and everywhere.

We stood and watched Thomas come toward us on the tracks, and Leo intently watched as Thomas’s eyes moved. He really was transfixed. There is so much to see and do in Thomas Land alone that it was worthwhile taking Leo along.

Leo is just coming up 15 months old and I was so pleased to see just how much was available for him to do in Thomas Land. Leo went on a total of four rides, and he loved each and every one of his experiences. He loved Jeremy Jet the most and steered the plane like a little champ, but he was not content in letting Daddy hit the ‘up, down’ button for long and soon had to have his way doing this too!

After we had exhausted Leo in Thomas Land we decided to go and have a wander around the rest of the park and do some more appropriate thrill seeker rides for Luke and I. Luke was eyeing up G-Force, so while he was whizzing around upside down, I sat with Leo and took in the sight of daddy hanging just above us, and then Luke reciprocated so I could have a go at the fast pace of G-Force.

We each took it in turns on the bigger rides that we wanted to have a go on, Luke even gave the Apocalypse a go!

It was great to see that there was a variety of food options available, but on this occasion we wanted to sit down for a proper lunch, so we took a short walk up the hill and found the on-site steak house. We sat down to a lovely lunch before making our way back into the park to visit the zoo. In all the times I have visited Drayton Manor this is the first time I have spent time in the zoo, and I know this is because I now have Leo to consider.

I took Leo out of the stroller so that he could see everything, he stood by the monkey’s for a short while but it was clear after only a short while of being in there that Leo’s heart lay with the Meerkat’s. The Meerkat’s were so playful and really playing to their audience, which I think is why Leo was so captivated. They were play fighting among each other and digging up the dirt before standing and staring right at the glass, right at Leo. The enclosure is perfect for a little toddler to stand independently and have the perfect view inside; it is at the perfect level.

I found the zoo housed a substantial amount of animals and reptiles, and was a great touch for the kid’s. It is by no means the biggest zoo in the world but as an addition to an already fun packed day out, it makes a nice alternative to staying on the rides all day. There is a lovely reptile house that features snakes to lizards.

There really is something for everyone.

A real positive point to the day was that the whole experience was enjoyable. I found that it was easy to navigate the park thanks to all of the readily available signage and of course the map that you are presented with when you collect your tickets. The whole day was targeted to a family day out, and despite Leo being so young there was still plenty for him to get on with and enjoy.

We picked such a perfect day to take a trip to Drayton Manor, with it being the back end of Summer most people had already visited in the height of the season. We certainly took a chance on the weather but it paid off, giving us a very enjoyable day out. We took advantage of the fact that there were no queues, and when I ventured onto Shockwave it was only myself and another man taking the ride, so we both got front row seats!

In comparison to other theme parks it is substantially smaller, but I have to say I preferred this. It was a real bonus that the car park was very close the entrance, without the hassle of travelling into the park from the car park with Leo's stroller and all the bit's and bobs that come with him. 

Drayton Manor certainly offers you value for money at £20.00 for an adult ticket and £12.00 for children over the age of Four.

We had a great day out and I look forward to taking Leo back in the near future when he is that little bit bigger, and can really get excited about Thomas Land.

Disclaimer: I was issued tickets to visit Drayton Manor, however all views and opinions are completely honest and my own.