My Disney Kitchen

My Disney Kitchen starts with your new neighbors, Mickey and Minnie Mouse, peering in your kitchen window, then dropping some obvious hints that they'd like to be invited over for some home cookin' later on. You've got appliances, utensils, and cupboards full of comestibles. Master this point-and-click kitchen, and Disney's two top celebs will grace your table for a meal.

You'll find a garbage disposal and a microwave in this kitchen, but sorry, no dishwasher. Instead, designers borrowed the magic mop from the Fantasia set, and it does a dandy job on cleanup. The pantry is stocked with everything from fresh fruit to whole chicken, and kids can chop, cook, or puree almost all of it. Use something up and Mickey will drop by with replacement groceries. There are three activity areas in the kitchen: the Good Morning Grill, the Make-A-Cake Oven, and the Magic Recipe Box. They all involve point-and-click "cooking," except for the recipe box, which contains kid-friendly treats to cook in a real kitchen. Some of the more interesting-looking recipes were "Steak on a Stick" and "Skeleton Crudite and Dip for Brains."

My Disney Kitchen is a lot like Disneyland. Wonderful to look at, fun to play in, but pretty two-dimensional when you really start nosing around. Aspiring Martha Stewarts might get frustrated when they can't warm a hot dog bun in the toaster, and mess makers will be disappointed when they leave the faucet on forever and the sink refuses to overflow. But fans of Mickey and Minnie will be elated when the two characters drop by, enthusiastically devour breakfast, and lavish compliments on the cook. (Ages 3-7) --Anne Erickson