Playmobil Wiltopia Animal Care Station – 71007- Review

Reviewed by Deborah Banasko

I think it’s fair to say that my three children and I let out a collective gasp when the Playmobil Wiltopia Animal Care Station Review arrived, as this really is something special. My children are aged 4, 8 and 11 so nicely suited to the suggested age range of 4 to 10, and my older two were especially keen to get involved in building up the 347-piece set.

The Care Station is set in the Rainforest and the box depicts several scenes for suggested play, showing you exactly what you will receive inside. It states that it will take 90 minutes to set up, but realistically it took us between 90 minutes and two hours to complete using a detailed (and thankfully pictured) instruction booklet. It wasn’t difficult, but there were some very fiddly parts such as attaching a strap to the camera and adding stickers, so it is just a little time-consuming. Believe me it is worth it, but this is something to bear in mind when deciding how to present this toy to your child. For my 4 year-old the initial excitement faded within minutes of building, he wants a toy to play with right away, whereas my 11-year old thrived on the challenge. If this is a toy for Christmas, then Santa may want to build it up the night before.

I must mention that the toy contains on average 80% sustainable materials, which is always at the back of my mind when I buy plastic toys for my children, and yet the quality remains the same.

The characters included are an adult male with amazing sandals (Dr da Silva, the Station Manager), a gorgeous tropical-looking adult figure named Sofia, plus a child called Liv Palmer. The colours used are beautiful.
You also receive an adult and a young tapir, an adult and two young ocelots, two butterflies, one spider, two fish and a parrot. I love the choice of animals as they are a little out of the ordinary. There is a tapir knowledge card in the set with a QR code which can be scanned so that you can learn a bit more about the animal which is a cool feature.

The toy is comprised of the main “house” with steps leading up to the animal treatment area, complete with treatment table, research lab and x-rays. There is a ladder accessing an upper level where we placed the aviary, a picnic table and we stored the food. At ground level are two outdoor enclosures for the tapir and her baby, and a second for the ocelot and her two cubs.

The animal care station is located on the river, so at the back of the building is a door which opens up onto the veranda and a jetty leading out to a rowing boat complete with oars and a fishing net. At the side of the house is a sort of pully system where a platform is attached to a rope which can be raised, I am assuming to lift animals from the boat or food deliveries. The website refers to this as a freight elevator.

I particularly liked the aviary for the parrot and two butterflies, as well as the trapdoor down from the ground floor into the lower animal enclosure which we used as a feeding hole or access route.
The real “wow” for the kids was the x-ray machine on the wall which lights up with the push of a button, enabling you to view one of three x-rays. The lights switch off automatically after a minute or so. There is also a red light which represents a heat lamp, so we shone this into one of the in-door enclosures to keep the baby animals warm. This is not your basic animal hospital as it creates so much scope for detailed play, and in many ways becomes an education as we explained the features to my 4 year-old.

The (many) extra touches impressed me greatly and really validated the £99.99 RRP; from the water feeder and information board attached to the enclosure fence, the neck-cone used around Mamma ocelot’s neck so that she doesn’t lick her wound. There is a stethoscope, test tubes, a laptop, keys for the animal enclosures, even a watch on the arm of one of the characters. There is a map and torch which my kids used to hunt for injured wild animals, and a cute bottle warmer for the babies who are being hand-reared. The list of features is endless, as are the different stories and adventures that your children can create with the characters.

My children varied from playing vet-based games within the main building, where animals are cared for and reared, to lab work where they took blood samples to diagnose illnesses and find cures (I used to work in a research laboratory, so I did force this idea onto them). They conducted searches for lost cubs and injured animals with elaborate boat rescues. The possibilities are endless.

The price-point would be significantly more if it arrived fully built, and you really appreciate the value once this has been completed and your children are gushing over every new aspect being discovered. This Wiltopia set is not cheap, but I feel it is fully justified by how much you actually get for your money. Everything about this is realistic and fun to play with.

Whilst my 4 year-old absolutely loved this toy, the level of sophistication and detail opens it up for much more complex play so that it is accessible to older children for longer time periods without the need for any additional play-sets. I would say that the age range of 4-10 is fair, but due to the small parts which could get lost without care I would personally buy this toy for either a family group within these age ranges or for a child who I know could appreciate that the small parts need to be looked after, perhaps around the age of 6 onwards. My just-turned-11-year-old still loved to play with this set, but she is certainly at the top end of the target range.

My only niggle is with the small indoor enclosure as the front doors tend to fall off too easily which is a little annoying. I also feel that the set is missing a monkey or two, as this seemed like an obvious animal to have climbing around the place. A minor point in the grand scheme of things.

This is a complete set, and your children could spend hours playing out different scenarios. We do happen to have some of the smaller animal sets so it was nice to be able to bring some extra animals into the games, but I must stress that this isn’t necessary, and this toy alone would be a fantastic main or sole gift at Christmas for both boys and girls. There are more toys in the Wiltopia range including small packs of just one animal with food, should you wish to ask Grandparents to add to the set.

This toy really is something special, it makes me want to be a child again as “little me” would have treasured this on Christmas morning. The colours are beautiful and the quality is amazing. An easy 5/5 stars.

Rating: 5/5 stars

RRP: £99.99

You can purchase The Animal Care Station from Playmobil here.