Dora the Explorer "We Did It!" Doll Review and Giveaway

Can you believe it? Dora the Explorer is 10 years old! It seems just yesterday that The Pea was jumping up and down in front of the tv, yelling "Arriba! Abajo!" and singing "We Did It" along with Dora and Boots and Benny. But yes, last month Dora the Explorer celebrated her 10th anniversary -- and to get the party started, Fisher-Price has released an updated version of the popular "We Did It! Dora" dancing doll. We received one of the dolls to review (and we're giving one away!), so keep reading to find out what we thought about it:


The Basics
Fisher-Price's new version of the original We Did It! Dora Doll takes Dora into the 21st century. Dora has longer hair, new clothes, and new dance moves.

Here's what Fisher-Price has to say about the new doll:
In honor of the 10th anniversary, Fisher-Price has taken Dora and her signature “We Did It” dance to the next level as the doll comes to life like never before for an entirely new generation of Dora fans. Fisher-Price introduced its first We Did It! Dora Doll in 2002 and it quickly soared to the top of kids’ wish lists as one of the best-selling toys of the holiday season.

The original Dora doll sang the “We Did It!” song and swayed back and forth to the music. Eight years of technological advances later, Fisher-Price turns the new Dora doll into a truly magical experience. This year, Dora engages kids with her signature songs and dance and moves her arms, swings her beautiful long hair and swivels her body to the beat as she teaches kids the steps to her signature dance and engages them with four modes of interactive play: Teach-Me (where Dora teaches kids the “We Did It!” Dance), “We Did It!” Dance, Freeze Dance, and Say It Two Ways bilingual dance game. The “We Did It!” doll is for children three years and up and retails for $39.99.


The Bongga
Fisher-Price certainly Did It with this doll -- I'm amazed that The Pea liked this doll so much! Not because the doll sucks (quite the opposite), but because she's nine. If The Pea likes this doll, imagine how a 3 year old Dora fan would feel! Here's what we loved the most:

* The Pea loves Dora's silky long hair (I'm glad they decided to have real hair on the doll instead of plastic molded hair!) . It's a lot longer than the older version, so little girls can style it.

* You all know I'm not a big fan of the newer, tweeny Dora version, so I'm so glad this Dora looks like her preschool self, albeit prettier and a bit more feminine -- which I think actually makes her look great. This is one Dora makeover I approve of!

* Dora has some pretty sweet moves! She waves her arms up and down, swivels her hips and turns around. To a grownup she might look a tad possessed, but I think kids really love her.


Ummm... oops. I guess I held my camera the wrong way! Here's a better version......



* There's a lot of variety in Dora's songs and dialogue, so kids don't get bored. Also, each song lasts quite a while so kids don't have to keep pressing the button to restart.

The Blah
Here are some things that I think could be improved:

* There are long periods of time when Dora doesn't move at all, which might make parents wonder if she's broken already -- but don't worry, she's not.

* You can't remove Dora's orange trousers. It would be nice for girls to be able to change Dora's outfit!

* Also, this doll doesn't come with instructions. I know, how hard can it be to press a button, right? But she's marketed as having 4 modes of interactive play, so it would be nice to know from the start how to switch from mode to mode. Even a short blurb on the carton would be nice.

The Bottom Line
Dora is destined to be a hit with preschoolers for decades to come, and this new We Did It! Dora doll is destined to be a must-have item for a whole new generation of Dora fans.


Win a We Did It! Dora Doll
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will receive a We Did It! Dora doll.


Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and tell me your child's favorite Dora the Explorer character. This entry must be completed before extra entries qualify.


Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).

1) Grab my blog button and post it up on your blog (1 entry).

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3) Leave a comment on my We Did It! Dora video on YouTube (1 entry):

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6) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Twitter and tweet this, up to once per day (1 entry per day, leave a comment with the tweet link for each tweet):

It's Dora the Explorer's 10th anniversary! Celebrate on @bonggafinds by entering to win a We Did It! Dora doll http://tinyurl.com/28zkx7n #giveaways

7) Join any of the giveaways currently running on Bonggamom Finds (1 entry for each giveaway you've joined).


The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on September 30, 2010; I will draw a winner at random on October 1 and post the winner's name after the winner confirms acceptance. US addresses only. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!

Disclosure: I did not receive a sample or monetary compensation for this post. I received a product sample, but was not paid to review the product or give my opinions. Product information is provided by the featured company/product and is clearly indicated as such. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.