Review: “We Did It!” Dora

Written on Dec 16, 2010 by RuthJS and filed under Brands, Fisher Price, Reviews

Dora is turning 10, and to celebrate Fisher-Price has created a doll that sings, dances, plays games in English and Spanish, and teaches kids how to do the “We Did It!” dance. Based on the enthusiastic responses from our testers and the reasonable price of $40, Dora devotees will really enjoy this doll.

Out of the Box

Look - The Dora doll is about 14 inches tall and weighs just under two pounds (one lb., fourteen oz. to be exact). She’s wearing her standard orange shorts, flowered bracelet, and white tennis shoes. Her pink T-shirt has been replaced by a cute, ruffled tunic with a bow on the front, so Dora is ready for her birthday party. She’s missing “Backpack”, but her huge smile invites kids to just pick her up and play.

Engineering and Design – The “We Did It!” doll is well designed. Most of the weight is in her feet with the battery compartments, so the doll is very well balanced and designed to stay upright, even during games and dance moves that require a significant range of motion. Additionally, there are plastic ball bearings embedded in the bottom of her shoes which allow her to turn and roll slightly as she dances, absorbing some of the movement that might topple another doll. The pink flower on her left shoe is a button that allows children to toggle through the game menu and to select an activity to do with Dora.

If your child is anything like our testers, the first thing they want to do is to practice dressing and undressing new dolls. As far as “We Did It!” Dora is concerned, her pants and shoes are not designed to come off though her party shirt is removable. Thoughtfully, Fisher-Price has included a pink tube top painted onto the doll to keep her modest. And, for children who want to interact with Dora beyond just dancing, she has long hair and comes with a brush so children can use her as a styling head as well.

Packaging - Fisher-Price has made steps to simplify extracting Dora from the confines of her packaging. The bottom of the box she comes in has perforated lines that allow you to open a flap and access a few well-placed twist ties to remove her. It’s actually quite handy.

Batteries - Dora comes with the required four AA batteries in her foot compartments, so she’s ready to play as soon as she’s opened. While the included batteries are intended just to power the demo mode, we never had to replace the batteries during the time we reviewed the doll, so you can count on getting significant play time in before you need to find a screw driver.

Modes - Speaking of demo mode, one thing to note is that you will have to turn the doll off and then on to reset the mode from “demo” to “play.” If you forget this step (as I did), you may wonder why Dora’s actions are so limited and why you can’t access the other games. Right, so don’t forget to flip the switch on her foot.

Now, you’re ready to rock with Dora.

Let’s Play

The “We Did It!” Dora doll has four games she will play with children: Teach Me, We Did It, Say it Two Ways, and Freeze Dance

• Teach Me – Dora goes step-by-step through her “We Did It!” dance, and teach the moves to kids. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and none of our testers had difficulty following along and getting down with Dora.
• We Did It – Dora sings and dances her signature song and moves, allowing kids to dance along with her. Need we say more?
• Say It Two Ways – children get the chance to practice words in English and Spanish, working on bilingual skills. The words are simple and clearly spoken, making the game age appropriate for preschoolers.
• Freeze Dance – Dora sings and plays music while children move, but when she stops, the children stop as well. This game was a favorite with our testers.

By pressing the pink flower on Dora’s left shoe, children can select the game they want to play. Now, check out her funky moves!

Demo Video:

Full Dance Menu Video:

It’s worth mentioning that the “We Did It!” dance option occurs between each of the games. So, scrolling through the menu, children will hear Teach Me, We Did It, Say It Two Ways, We Did It, Freeze Dance, We Did It. I suppose since this dance is part of what made Dora who she is, it stands to reason that users should be offered every opportunity to dance it with the doll. And, none of our young testers seemed to notice this feature at all.

What Did the Testers Think?

I’m glad you asked! Our reviewers loved Dora. Children ages 3-5 had a great time dancing with and singing with Dora. Most of them wanted to take her home; but, alas, we only had one doll. Many kids left the doll behind intending to put “We Did It!” Dora on a birthday, Christmas, or Hanukkah list.

In a Nutshell

Fisher-Price has done a nice job with the “We Did It!” Dora doll. She was a hit with our testers, and she was cute and well-designed. We give her:

5 out of 5 stars

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