Lego 41053: Cinderella’s Dream Carriage / Disney Princess

Zoey just turned 5, and this was one of her birthday presents. Last year, when I first saw the photos of the new Disney Princess Lego line, I knew it would be a pain in my wallet. I was right. Zoey started in on “real” Legos late last year, at about 4 1/2, which apparently is much younger than many of her friends who are still fumbling with Duplos, if at all.

We started in with the Lego Friends line, and she fell in love with the polybagged pets sets. We’ve gone through Series 1 and 2 of those (Series 3 is in the closet, waiting), some larger Friends sets, a Superhero set here and there, and now this. At 4, she was able to assemble most of the sets entirely by herself. Now, she’s a pro.

Cinderella’s Dream Carriage was the first of this line she put together, and it’s very similar to the Friends sets. The minifigures have the same design as the girls from Heartlake (meaning their feet don’t necessarily play nice with all standard Lego blocks).

The set is advertised with 274 pieces, has 3 bags inside the box, and has 64 numbered steps in the 66-page booklet. All told, it took Zoey about an hour and a half to put it together. She took a break between bags 2 and 3 (since we started late in the evening), but she loves it!

The fountain is cute with little heart-shaped doodads, and it uses a clear blue piece on top to mimic the water. We had only seen this piece in red (as fire) previously, so these were neat pieces to have.

The bench has cute little pumpkins and an adorable toadstool, along with a place to “store” Cinderella’s broom while she’s off at the ball.

The carriage itself is beautiful. The blue, pink, and purple pieces really hit the sweet spot for Zoey. The “interactivity” here is in opening doors, movable steps beneath the doors, and swinging windows. And of course the whole thing moves on those gorgeous wheels.

Extra pieces included a few cool ones: a torch flame, a heart doodad, and a magic wand(!!), among other standard extras.

Complaints? Why just one minifigure? At this price point, it would’ve been nice to have at least two. Maybe a footman or someone to actually drive the carriage, especially since there’s a place for someone to stand? (Fear not, Zoey has Cinderella driving herself to the ball.) Also, the mold of Cinderella’s hair sometimes makes it difficult for it to snap into place. Most of the time, she seems to be wearing a bad wig that easily falls off.

Verdict? A definite winner. Different enough from the Friends line to add variety, and Zoey has already asked for more Princess sets.