The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk: Is It Worth Purchasing?

Product Review of the Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk - dress up set for girls, disney princess dress up - gifts for girls, dress up clothes, princess gowns
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The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk is one of the top-selling Princess gifts for dress up lovers this Christmas on Amazon.

Will those little girls who open up this gift really love it?  Or would your money be better spent on something else?

If you’re on the hunt for something to entertain your Disney Princess lover, and you’re looking at buying The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk, this review here is for you.

There’s definitely some “Buyer Beware” with this item… in this review we’ll dig into details of what you’d be buying, and we’ll conclude with our own review.

 

(As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you. Full Disclosure.)

 

A Quick Run-down:

  • Price:  $$ — see current best price   (best price found at Amazon.com – but it fluctuates with vendor availability – usually around $75 with Amazon’s usual “free shipping” option)
  • Included: The 21 piece set includes 4 shirts, 3 skirts, 3 headbands, 1 tiara, 1 choker, 3 bracelets, 1 necklace, 3 rings, 1 sticker sheet, and 1 soft goods tiara… and the storage trunk
  • Which Disney Princesses? Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White
  • Manufacturer’s Recommended Age: 36 months – 7 years
  • Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5 stars by over 22,000 reviewers (at time of writing)

 

Tell Me About The Dresses:

  • disney dress up trunk princess dresses and accessoriesMost importantly… in case you didn’t catch it yet 😉 , they are not DRESSES, but rather are tops and skirts.
  • Also important: The item stock photo of the 4 girls all dressed up is a bit deceptive – Note that it only comes with 3 bottoms… the yellow skirt is supposed to go with both the Belle and Snow White tops!
  • Size according to manufacturer: 4-6x.  This sounds correct, according to the average review… although when I read through the “Negative Reviews” section, there were several complaints that the tops fit small — around 3T-4T instead — and that the tops were also short. Ok for petite girls, but tall girls may have issues with their bellies showing, apparently.
  • Are they machine washable? Reviewers mentioned they washed just fine on a delicate/hand-wash cycle.
  • Quality: It almost seems as if there are different makers of the dresses… the reviews range from “excellent quality” and “my girls have been playing with them every day for a year and they still look great”, to “the seams of the skirts split/frayed already the first day” and “horrible quality – save your money!”  Many wrote something along the lines of “fabric is a little cheap / quality isn’t the best, but it’s held up nicely”.
  • The skirts have elastic waistbands, and the tops have small Velcro closures on the back. The Velcro closures are easy for kids, BUT they can (will) cause snags in the lace and material on occasion.

 

Tell Me About The Trunk:

  • Size: 14 x 12.2 x 7.2″
  • Weight: approx. 1.5lbs  (light enough for your Princess to lift it herself)
  • Made of glossy laminated cardboard, not wood or plastic. Even though it’s called a Trunk, it really is basically a fancily decorated cardboard box.
  • You can fit a bit more in the trunk if you’d like to add princess dress up shoes or accessories
  • It’s cute, girly, and instantly recognizable as “Disney Princess” for a Princess fan.

 


 

My Own Review

I’d give The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk perhaps a 3.5/5 star rating.

What I like:  I like the idea of the skirts and tops (easy for a young child to put off and on by herself). I like the idea of a set of “matching” items. I think the items themselves look cute… and I KNOW my daughter would love them at first site.

What I don’t like:  I think the many reviewers who write about the poor quality of the items are likely very right. If this box were cheaper, I’d say “ok, you get what you pay for!” But it’s NOT super cheap – so it doesn’t seem like a great deal.  Reading through the comments, it seems that at one point in time (2 years ago?) this set cost about half the price. I wish I knew why they upped it!  EDITED in 2022: Price went down again!!! Now, it’s “you get what you pay for…” 🙂 

So? What to do? My thoughts are that I can get probably pick out 2 or

beautiful Disney Princess gowns and a pair of adorable Princess dress up shoes, and some Princess accessories – all with more/prettier detailing and probably also better quality – for nearly the same price. They won’t look like a nice gift box/set like The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk does, but a cardboard box wouldn’t last long around my place anyways.

And THAT my friends, is my review of The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk. I don’t often review something on my site that I DON’T necessarily recommend… but as it’s a very popular item, I figure if I can save someone some aggravation, I’m helping them out. And that’s what I want to do.

Drop me a comment below if you HAVE purchased it yourself and give me your own review please! Or tell me what YOU think of it! 🙂

Cheers!

Marlaine

10 thoughts on “The Disney Princess Dress Up Trunk: Is It Worth Purchasing?

  1. Kathy December 6, 2016 at 2:52 pm

    Nice review. Very thorough and well done. From your review, I would say that you probably gave it the right rating. Wash and dry on gentle cycle doesn’t sound very reassuring. Good review!

    • Marlaine December 6, 2016 at 9:20 pm

      Thanks Kathy! I appreciate the comment!

  2. sarahsalina December 8, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    I love dress-ups for kids and have a big bin of them. But I agree with you, that cardboard trunk would not last long. You are better off buying a big Rubbermade bin that will last forever. I am not a huge fan of Disney princesses, but I know a lot of the kids love them. I could see them having fun mixing and matching the tops and bottoms. Thanks for the honest review!

    • Marlaine December 8, 2016 at 6:19 pm

      Rubbermaids are great for dress up clothes! (Well, for those of us who don’t mind wrinkles! 😉 ). I think it WOULD be fun for creative kids to mix and match – good point!

      Have a great day!

  3. rebecca cosmidou December 8, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    Hi, Marlaine!
    Thank you very much for this review! I really appreciate that you are being honest about this dress up trunk! You see i was about to buy something like this for my daughter but i was wondering about the size. You see my little girl is just 3 years old but she looks like 5 years old. To tell you the truth i buy her clothes for girls size 6+! I think that i will follow your suggestion and make my own princess trunk for my girl, my little princess!
    Best wishes,
    Rebecca!

    • Marlaine December 8, 2016 at 6:17 pm

      Glad to help, Rebecca! 🙂 Merry Christmas!

  4. Mat January 25, 2017 at 3:15 pm

    My daughter would love this box (she is 4).

    I must admit, we saw this or something similar and instead of purchasing we went for the individual dresses and also we got a box of shoes!

    Having said that I agree that its a great idea that they are tops and shorts rather than dresses.

    Its a real shame they are not very good quality, but then I guess that they are relying on kid pester power to get parents to buy.

    Thanks,

    Mat

    • Marlaine January 25, 2017 at 5:48 pm

      Looks like you made the right call. 🙂 The tops and skirts are definitely easier for little ones to put off and on, but yeah, quality is important!

  5. Kathy January 14, 2018 at 12:09 am

    I bought one of these through Walmart for $23.00 in November. I tried to get another only to see the price sky rocketed to $220. I believe these are a great value at $23. Not above that price. Why did the price go up? Guess of the demand and people would pay. I managed to get a second one through an auction on eBay for $45. Felt like I really overpaid. They are still out there at $186. Don’t waste your money. In a few months, they will come down in price when a new item becomes popular.

    • Marlaine January 15, 2018 at 8:31 pm

      Thanks so much for the heads up, Kathy, and I’m sorry you’re having trouble finding this set at a good price!
      I’d personally never (ever) pay $220 for it either… wow, that’s pretty ridiculous!! I did some searching and just found it now on Amazon(US) for $23 though: right HERE. Unfortunately it’s from a seller that lists it as “USED” condition. Best I could find is $75 for new on that same link. I think you might be right about supply & demand, and also right that in a few months there will likely be a better price again.
      Thanks for sharing, Kathy! I hope you can find what you’re looking for!
      Marlaine

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