FROM: MouseMerch Published Thursdays

Park Playsets

When you're at Disney World, you can drop the act. You can be a kid again - a big kid, maybe, but still a kid. Don't want to lose that 'big kid' feeling? No problem. Chris Taylor has the solution: bring Disney home with you in the form of a park playset.

- by Chris Taylor, April 14, 2011

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Yes, folks, you can actually bring the Disney Parks home with you, and I'm not talking about some souvenir that evokes a feeling, or pictures of you in front of the Castle, but a living, breathing Disney park experience.

Of course, it's a little smaller than you're used to.

Chris Reveals His Master Plan

I'm talking about Walt Disney World toys. Games, playsets, and figures based on the Walt Disney World Resorts. Someday, I'll have a room in the house where I can build my own miniature version of WDW and rule over it with and Iron Fist!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAH...

I'm kidding, but only about the iron fist part, I'd really like to have a WDW playset, complete with a monorail. I was never a big fan of model trains when I was a kid, but had I had a monorail - oh, I think I would have enjoyed that!

click an image to expand:

Theme Park Characters Collectible Figures

WDW Monorail Playset

K'Nex Space Mountain Playset

There are entirely too many Disney Park toy choices out there for me to cover them all in this space, so we'll focus on a few of the ones I like best. These are available in the Parks, at the Disney Store. and online:

Walt Disney's Theme Park Characters Collectible Figures - three sets of six to eight figures featuring Park favorites like Sorcerer Mickey from Fantasmic and the Haunted Mansion's Phineas to EPCOT's Figment and Big Al from the Country Bears. Made from good, sturdy plastic.

The Magic Kingdom Game - There are many Disney editions of brand-name games, including Disney Monopoly, Disney Trivial Pursuit, and Disney Apples to Apples, but this is the only one based on the Magic Kingdom. Your goal? To visit as many of the lands and attractions as you can before anyone else. Sounds like my average WDW trip!

WDW View Master Reels - Remember View Masters? I do, and I think they still hold up now. Get your Liberty Square, Adventureland, or EPCOT World Showcase reels out and relive your trip. IN STUNNING, FULL-COLOR 3D!!!!! Yes, you can still find these in the Parks and online, but you can find even more on eBay.

WDW Monorail Playset - These have been around for a number of years, and Disney releases new versions and updates fairly regularly. I know a lot of you put your monorail under the Christmas tree every year. You can find a Cinderella's Castle, Spaceship Earth, and the Contemporary Hotel to add to your set, along with red, orange, green, and blue trains, plus character passengers and resort signage. These can be pricey and hard to find, but like model trains, part of the fun is building it up over time.

Finally, my favorite, the K'Nex Space Mountain Playset - This playset is so comprehensive in its design that it's used by a number of high school technical associations and university design courses. Which, of course, makes it perfect to construct your own indoor roller coaster. The set comes with track, glow-in-the-dark stars and moons, two cars, and even a set of four figures wearing mouse ears (squee!). It runs on batteries and is full of awesomeness. However, it can be hard to find and is expensive; prices range from $125 - $200 online.

More? You bet. Pick up a copy of Toy Story Mania for your Wii, a Disneyland model train set, or Disney Resort bus chew toy for your own Pluto. There's plenty of stuff available to satisfy your Disney Park craving at home.

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