Educational toys are big business nowadays. When I was a kid, my parents threw me outside and told me to play with a stick. And I turned out fine! But alright then, let’s try harder with today’s youth.

The VTech Go! Go! Smart Wheels – Mickey Magical Wonderland playset is ready to take your child to where the magic never ends:

The playset consists of multiple pieces that make up a town through which Mickey and his car can drive, with help, of course! You can help Mickey ride on a Ferris Wheel, to slide down a ramp, spin some gears, and there’s a boat. Peek-a-boo windows also help young minds develop motor skills. I think that means dexterity and stuff, not engines.

The key feature of this playset is Mickey and his magical car that I just happened to find at a local Charity Shop without knowing just what it was:

When you place the SmartPoint Mickey Mouse Car on the five SmartPoint locations, it triggers phrases, sounds, and melodies, that play through the cars tiny speaker.

In total, the car plays Mickey’s voice, fun sounds, phrases, and three sing-along songs with six melodies. I’ve heard them, and while none of them will top the Hit Parade, they should amuse the littluns. And while the car is doing all of this, the headlights flash:

Are you ready to jump in the passenger seat and drive along with Mickey? Then start the engine and click away:

You can tell that at the end of the audio clip, I was frantically trying to get the car to ‘do’ more, but it was mic shy, I guess. Obviously it would work better if I was using it with the playset. Apparently, somewhere along the road, this car is supposed to teach the kids about the letter ‘C’ and the name of the vehicle. Um. Would that be… CAR?

There are many playsets to choose from, one has Mickey in a train for example, and you can interchange the vehicles and join the sets all together to make a bigger town.

Toys-R-Us are presently selling these playsets for $69.99 US.

If you want to go all Old School on your children and force them to… GASP: Read(!), then check out the printed option of The Wonderful Worlds of Walt Disney book set. Each volume is a page-turner. Hey, that should develop motor skills!