Review: 41430 Summer Fun Water Park
Posted by MeganL,
The Friends have had an adventurous year! They started out with glamping, a hospital and a friendship bus. The second half of the year took them to the jungle, and in the largest Friends set of the year, they're taking some time off and going to 41430 Summer Fun Water Park. At least three of them are…..I guess the others are still in the jungle, perhaps looking for alpacas? In any event, this set caused some anticipation because of the tube pieces used for the water slides. Let's take a look to see if the set's worth the money to splash out on. I can say that those who look for Friends beds and bathrooms will not be disappointed.
Inside the box there are eight numbered bags, two unnumbered bags with some larger plates, slides, tubing and other accessories, a perfect bound instruction book and an instruction booklet, and a large sticker sheet.
I smiled when I saw the small bag of vibrant coral marine life accessories. These were featured prominently in the marine rescue theme as well as the amusement pier set from last year. I have visions of the Friends design team sitting around a table, saying: "Okay….we have these marine accessories from last year, and we want to use them again this year. How else can we incorporate them?" And so, we have a water park!
Minidolls
Three of the Friends are in this set - Emma, Olivia, and Stephanie, as well as Mason, Stephanie's brother. All are dressed suitably for a day at the water park. Emma has a blue high neck halter top with a detailed filigreed design, a pair of pale blue capris and white flip flops. Olivia has a multi layer iridescent pink and blue tank top, a pink skirt and shoes. Stephanie has an angled crop top with cutouts, a pink skirt and black sandals. I'm very impressed with the detailed printing on all of these torsos. Olivia's torso is new to this set, the other Friends' have been seen in just one set from last year. Mason, on the other hand, doesn't have the benefit of having a shirt at all, which makes sense as he's supposed to be there as a lifeguard. According to the database, Mason's torso is also new, which is interesting, considering his only other appearance in a set (41347 Heartlake City Resort), he was also not wearing a shirt and also there as a lifeguard.
The most excellent trend of detailed printing on the back of the torsos continues. I'm particularly impressed with the keyhole closure of Emma's halter top and the asymmetric slashing on Stephanie's top.
There are few accessories for the minidolls, as they are scattered throughout the build. There are three sun loungers for the Friends when they take a break from the fun. However, they'd better watch out, Mason is taking a break from his lifeguard duties and is coming after them with a water gun!
Fortunately, Emma spots Mason just in time for the other to flee and return Mason's "fire". Or is that water?
Astonishingly enough, there are no (gasp) animals in this set! Which does make sense (who would bring a cat or a rabbit to a water park?), but I feel for the Friends' pets. Considering they're in just about every set, they have to be going through some separation anxiety around now.
Auxiliary builds
There are three smaller builds included in the set. The first is an ice cream truck, perfect for providing treats on a hot summer day. Some details are provided by stickers, and I love the brick built ice cream cones on the roof, advertising the purpose of the truck very easily.
The roof lifts off, allowing for access inside. The truck is relatively basic, but does have enough room for a driver, a freezer chest and a stack of ice cream cones. Having only ice cream cones inside doesn't quite explain the popsicle on the outside shelf, but perhaps that means the truck has run out of stock.
There's a lifeguard post for Mason that includes the necessary supplies, such as binoculars and a life preservers. A cabinet stores an AED (automated external defibrillator), which I think is a first that I've seen in Friends sets. A welcome addition, as well as a statement of how pervasive these safety devices have become.
The last build is a unicorn floatie, and I think this is my favourite of the three. It's a fun little whimsical add to the set, and I love the expression provided by a sticker.
The main model
This is quite a significant structure. The build experience is pretty straightforward, although there are some nice techniques that are used in making the different areas come together at an angle. It's a great way of teaching different techniques to the targeted age range of the set.
The back of the build isn't quite as attractive, but does show several features that can't be seen from the front.
Taking a closer look at the ground floor, there's a locker area with a changing room (not pictured in this shot). But….there are three Friends, and two lockers. I'll let the Friends work that out amongst themselves.
Logically, right next to the locker room is a bathroom. There's a handy outdoor shower right next to it, so the Friends can shower off before/after going to the locker room or the bathroom.
The bathroom itself has the required plumbing, and is the second set this year to make use of the clamshell piece for a toilet. In this set, it gets adorned with a pink heart piece.
In the center of the structure there's a ladder to the second level - I'm always happy to see a means of getting to the different floors! The rest of the ground floor is devoted to the spa, which has a spacious hot tub, complete with bubbles.
There's a bench area to cool off before heading to the rest of the park.
On climbing the ladder to the second level, there's a choice of going left or right. Making the right turn, there's an option to go down a short straight slide to splash into the main pool.
Turning left, there's a massage/lounge area, with a couple of recliners and a table for two Friends to enjoy some refreshments. It's rather nifty that this area is shielded behind a waterfall, though I've removed the waterfall piece for the purposes of this picture.
From the lounge area, it's a short step up to prepare to go down another slide. This slide has a notification red/green light system telling the Friends when it's safe to descend. Here, there's another ladder to go to yet another level.
This slide is a bit more exciting, as it involves two curves. There's an extra shower waiting at the bottom of the slide. In this picture you can also see the lounge area with the waterfall piece in place.
Climbing to the top level provides access to the park's marquee attraction - the two storey water tube. A Friend must cross the width of the structure once getting to the top. I do like the sticker detail of wet footprints.
At the top of the water tube, there's an option to use a water cannon to fire on those below before getting in. There's a red/green light system, plus some visual instructions on how to get in the tube.
The tube is constructed with new tube pieces for this set, though pieces similar to this have been used in Duplo sets. It's appropriately decorated with fish and marine accessory pieces.
A splash landing at the bottom gets a Friend in close contact with a watery treasure chest.
In the center of the main pool, a shower is provided just in case a Friend hasn't been waterlogged enough.
Topping the whole structure is a large sign. What's notable about the sign is that it also provides a moving function. The large clamshell is only partly connected, so slight pressure on the 2x4 tile from behind the sign will cause the clamshell to drop, thereby dumping "water" on anyone in the pool.
While there's aren't animals in this set, there are two that are used for decoration: a flamingo that is new this year, and a lavender seahorse that is new to this set.
Overall thoughts
This is a absorbing build, and is a good way of introducing some interesting building techniques to younger builders. There's plenty going on with all the slides, water cannons, waterfalls, etc., so plenty of opportunity for play. The set should also be easy enough to customize with other slides for additional experiences. The minidolls are quite good, though it would be nice to see Mason with a shirt on sometime!
For the price (1001 pieces, $99.99, £89.99, 97.47€), you get a substantial build and something that will provide hours of play. I can speak from personal experience it's quite fun to send the minidolls and/or their pets down the water tube. The coral colour pieces are quite striking and I appreciate that the colour scheme is not overwhelming pink; in fact there's not many pink pieces to be found in this set. Speaking of pieces, there are interesting new pieces and parts in this set, you can find an inventory here.
This set has some strong competition from other Friends sets in this general price range, but when looking at a sizable present for a Christmas or birthday gift, 41430 definitely merits some consideration.
Many thanks to LEGO for providing a copy of this set for review. All opinions expressed are mine.
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15 comments on this article
I always love meganL's reviews! Awesome point of view
Those tubes are interesting pieces. I haven't been much of a Friends fan, but I have to be honest I can see those tubes being useful in sci fi mocs.
Someone's gonna die on that tube slide. That's a steep drop!
So cool! How do the sloths not included in this set and the pandas pandas pandas like the slides?
Why is there kryptonite by the hot tub?
@xboxtravis7992 said:
"Those tubes are interesting pieces. I haven't been much of a Friends fan, but I have to be honest I can see those tubes being useful in sci fi mocs. "
I've been eyeing this set for the tubes as well. They look quite a lot like hamster tubes.
I also like how the backsplash of the sauna looks like a Dots mosaic!
Would love a Creator Expert version of that set!
Why do all the cool things have to be in Friends sets?!
@Balthazar_Brannigan said:
"So cool! How do the sloths not included in this set and the pandas pandas pandas like the slides?"
I think they're off looking for the alpacas....they may make an appearance in that review. Of course, they are not included in that set....
I’m thinking about getting this for my daughter, so thank you for the review!
People are freaking out over the kryptonite in the steam room, and I'm more perplexed by the heart in the toilet.
Is this resort secretly a cover-facility for some crazy super-villain base?
@Zordboy said:
"People are freaking out over the kryptonite in the steam room, and I'm more perplexed by the heart in the toilet.
Is this resort secretly a cover-facility for some crazy super-villain base? "
Shh, don't tell anyone you have found Dr. Evil's new secret lair. I mean, there's a reason the Water Park is run by Virtucon...
;-)
Fish says ‘am I a joke to you?’
This is a fantastic set. I love the overall "sand castle" aesthetic with three different "thrill levels" of slides. The angled base construction is extremely cool and all of the details you'd hope to find at a water park are there!
These Tubes remind me of Satisfactory. I wonder what interesting MOC potential lies in them.