Review: 42703 Mermaid Roller Coaster Ride
Posted by MeganL,
There are several fun sets in the summer wave of Friends this year, but the one set that caught my eye over the others is 42703 Mermaid Roller Coaster Ride.
It's the fourth roller coaster in the Friends world (41130 Amusement Park Roller Coaster was the pioneer, followed by 41375 Heartlake City Amusement Pier in 2019, and 41685 Magical Funfair Roller Coaster in 2021).
While those sets were fun, the roller coasters themselves were pretty pedantic, with not much in the way of thrills on the ride itself.
42703 looks to change that with some new (to Friends roller coasters) track pieces to make for a much more interesting ride. And it has mermaids!
Summary
42703 Mermaid Roller Coaster Ride, 864 pieces.
£89.99 / $109.99 / €99.99 | 10.4p, 12.7c, 11.6c per piece.
Buy at LEGO.com »
The best Friends roller coaster yet
- Absolutely fabulous mermaid minidolls
- Fun roller coaster layout
- Extra moving functions
- Better coaster car design
- Some interesting logistical challenges
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
Inside the box there are seven numbered bags, two unnumbered bags with multiple roller coaster pieces and one 8x16 plate, and an instruction package with two books and a sticker sheet. The stickers are mostly gratuitous, but do add to a summertime festive feel.
Minidolls
There are five minidolls in this set. Three of them are from the regular crew: Leo, Autumn, and Liann. The box art for sets this year seems to have pared the regular crew from eight to five - these three are still included (can't say the same for Olly, Zac, and Paisley....). They're all wearing outfits we've seen before, and all come with accessories.
Leo is gearing up for a day on the coaster by consuming a mass amount of sugar with his cotton candy. Autumn has her Stanley mug on hand to ensure she won't get dehydrated. Liann is carrying an adorable looking plushie and a $100 bill, which is arguably how much she would spend at an arcade game in order to procure said plushie.
Autumn is provided with an extra expression in this set, which looks like she isn't quite as thrilled by the roller coaster as some of the others. Also, I included a better view of the plushie because, well, it's a very cute plushie!
The standout minidolls in this set are the mermaids, Azurea and Serina. They are absolutely gorgeous! The printing on both the torsos and the bottom/tail pieces is absolutely fantastic. The end of the tails are clear, which is the first time I recall seeing that detail.
While there isn't much to see on the back printing, the hairpieces on the mermaids are absolutely fabulous.
Both mermaids come equipped with microphones, so I wonder if they're supposed to be sirens?
The completed model
There's a small side build, which includes a map of the park - obviously there are more sets in this subtheme - a kiosk to buy tickets, and a height requirement (which fortunately the Friends meet. This small build accounts for a disproportionate amount of the stickers in this set.
While not quite side builds, there are two rock pillars that are featured in the middle of the roller coaster. Both the pillars can be easily removed from the roller coaster.
The first has a large oyster shell with a luminescent pearl inside. The rock face underneath it is dedicated to some large speakers, clearly allowing everyone in the park to hear the mermaids' siren song. There are spots on either side of the pearl for the mermaids.
Looking at the back of the oyster, we find a mainstay of Friends sets - the bathroom!
I always love to see the different ways that Friends team designs bathroom facilities. This isn't the first time that I've seen a clamshell piece used as a toilet, but it's always fun.
The other pillar is a little more interesting to look at. One side is a dual-purpose kiosk where the Friends can get both beverages and candid photos from their time on the ride.
Did someone say beverages? Other visitors are always down for that.
(Note: beverage seeking sloths not included in this set.)
The other side of the kiosk gives a great view of the brick built jellyfish adorning the top of the pillar. Behind the counter there's a slushie machine, and a colour printer for the photos. What's interesting is that the preview on the screen is a sticker, but the photo strips coming out at the bottom of the printer are printed pieces.
Now, on to the main attraction - the roller coaster! I took a picture of the coaster without the rock pillars so you can see the track a little better.
Thanks to some curved track pieces that also provide some elevation, this roller coaster is able to be configured into a corkscrew pattern, as opposed to the simple hills that were present in previous Friends coasters. One of the splat gears atop a pillar is constructed so that it spins when a coaster goes by, allowing for some extra movement. It's too bad this technique wasn't used more in this set.
Sea-themed decoration abound through the coaster, including some very interesting foliage pieces, such as the coral fan shaped pieces in cool yellow. A large sign shows the name of the ride which sits above a treasure chest filled with pearlescent gem pieces.
An aerial view shows the lake in the middle of the ride. Splat gears are interlocked that allow rotation of the two outer gears. All three gears are connected to a splat gear in the back that allow the gears to turn. This is another option for the mermaids to hang out.
Three roller coaster cars are included in the set. All three have safety bars, so a Friend doesn't get dislodged.
The design of the roller coaster car piece was new to me, and I was impressed that these cars have been designed so they can't be derailed easily. That's due to the bottom tabs, which allow the cars to be easy to place on the rail but also ensure that the cars don't go offtrack.
In fact, upon pushing the cars to the top of the hill, they swoosh down the corkscrew with ease.
Adding the pillars in the middle of the roller coaster makes the ride look quite fun indeed.
I thought it might be helpful to see a video of how well the cars work. I spent way more time than I care to admit pushing the cars to the top and watching them roll down. Only then did I think of taking a video, so obviously I spent all that time playing with the roller coaster for you, Brickset readers.
Overall thoughts
I love this set! The corkscrew roller coaster design is fun, and will provide hours of amusement for play (if this reviewer's experience is any indication). Not having to worry about the cars derailing was great (it was a concern in previous roller coasters).
I do have logistical questions, though. I love the rock pillars in the middle of the ride but.....how exactly are the Friends supposed to get there? There's no clear loading/unloading area, and it looks like the Friends will have to take their chances running under the far part of the roller coaster to brave the pond (with or without sirens) in order to get their slushies and pictures. Fortunately, the bathroom is a little easier to get to!
I think it's a bit on the pricy side, but I think having the roller coaster rails is worth it. The sea-themed decorations are fun, and the rock pillars provide enough interest to what otherwise might be a plain looking roller coaster. The plain-ness of the unadorned roller coaster is more than offset by the fantastic mermaid minidolls. I do wish that there were more moving pieces when the roller coaster is in motion, though.
I tihnk this is the best Friends roller coaster set yet.
83 likes
29 comments on this article
Sorry for off-topic question but will you do a review of Minas Tirith?
I love how they were able to re-skin set 60421 for this one. The track layout there is fantastic and works super well. Hopefully we can see more builds like that where they take a fantastic set and give it a makeover.
@Legonk said:
"Sorry for off-topic question but will you do a review of Minas Tirith?"
Yes, @CapnRex101 is working on it.
60421 was great, and I believe 60501 Lave Coaster is going to have the same layout again.
Nice review! One of my favorite themes ever was Elves and I was always sad that it ended before getting to do a mermaid-focused oceangoing wave, so a lovely set like this goes a long way toward scratching that itch. I love this theme park subtheme with three different themed areas with a different mascot plushie for each!
The colors here are simply gorgeous. The lavender rocks again remind me of Elves, and the orange coral and opalescent green seaweed contrast beautifully with the blue violet track.
@Huw said:
" @Legonk said:
"Sorry for off-topic question but will you do a review of Minas Tirith?"
Yes, @CapnRex101 is working on it."
Thanks!
Love the purple mermaid. I want that kiosk rock piece with the giant jellyfish on it.
Hmmm the, uh, roller coaster itself, looks a bit FAMILIAR, but it does overall look good with the colors lol
Sirens walk the land. You will notice that this set does not include sailors.
Not anymore.
Shouldn't the bathroom have "the three shells" and not just one?
Is that the top half of the new little boulder piece in trans-purple (satin?) next to the fun park map that shows up in trans-orange in the set Lava Land and some earthly tone in City Construction?
@JGW3000 said:
"Shouldn't the bathroom have "the three shells" and not just one?"
I was gonna make this comment, but you beat me to it!
@JGW3000 said:
"Shouldn't the bathroom have "the three shells" and not just one?"
and no toilet paper!
@JGW3000 said:
"Shouldn't the bathroom have "the three shells" and not just one?"
Let's mock those Bricksetters who are not giving a like to your comment: they don't know how to use the three seashells! Hahahahahahahahaha!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7nFEnFtvCM
"While those sets were fun, the roller coasters themselves were pretty pedantic"
Did you mean 'pedestrian'?
A clam shell as a toilet seat?
Um.
Ouch.
It's interesting that they've been doing "retools" of the Robot World coaster layout with different themes. I still think Robot World is the superior design (which pains me because Rock Raiders / Power Miners are my favourite themes), but it's nice that Friends FINALLY got the coaster track piece.
The one issue with reusing the layout is that we can't really MoC too many designs (even ignoring the colour changes lol). I doubt we'll see the loop elements in a smaller set, but a boy can dream...
Nice set. And Great video, but bit short. I would have liked to see a longer version of it :)
@Dougi said:
"60421 was great, and I believe 60501 Lave Coaster is going to have the same layout again."
Yeah, the lava coaster will be the third iteration of the same layout. I have 60421 and it is really engaging set to play, I spent a lot of time just making the roller coaster go. But third time the same layout seems quite lazy. On top of that in all those 3 sets the tracks have different colors, so combining them do not yield a big coherent track.
@thor96 said:
" @Dougi said:
"60421 was great, and I believe 60501 Lave Coaster is going to have the same layout again."
Yeah, the lava coaster will be the third iteration of the same layout. I have 60421 and it is really engaging set to play, I spent a lot of time just making the roller coaster go. But third time the same layout seems quite lazy. On top of that in all those 3 sets the tracks have different colors, so combining them do not yield a big coherent track. "
I am going to be pedantic ( not pedestrian, see above,) and say no. The Lava coaster is the same as 60421, but this one is slightly smaller, it does not have a diagonal track piece in the hill, and (therefore) not all the curves in the spiral are sloped. You might be able to make an interesting coaster with, say two of these and the Fortnite one.
It should be easy enough to put 2 or 3 of these coaster tracks on top of each other, together with a motor to tack the carts to the top of a very long incline.
@Lyichir said:
"Nice review! One of my favorite themes ever was Elves and I was always sad that it ended before getting to do a mermaid-focused oceangoing wave, so a lovely set like this goes a long way toward scratching that itch. I love this theme park subtheme with three different themed areas with a different mascot plushie for each!
The colors here are simply gorgeous. The lavender rocks again remind me of Elves, and the orange coral and opalescent green seaweed contrast beautifully with the blue violet track. "
Exacly these new Fantasy themed sets give me some ideas :D
I already had a decent mermaid castle moc, so more mermaids is always good :3
"There's no clear loading/unloading area, and it looks like the Friends will have to take their chances running under the far part of the roller coaster to brave the pond (with or without sirens) in order to get their slushies and pictures."
Well, now we know how Autumn lost her hand. And why she has that look on her face.
She desperately wants that slushie but is afraid she's going to lose her other hand as well...
"The design of the roller coaster car piece was new to me, and I was impressed that these cars have been designed so they can't be derailed easily. That's due to the bottom tabs, which allow the cars to be easy to place on the rail but also ensure that the cars don't go offtrack"
As far as I can see, this set uses the same chassis (design ID 26021) as 41375 and 41685?
"42703 looks to change that with some new (to Friends roller coasters) track pieces to make for a much more interesting ride"
I suppose you mean element design 80566 for the corkscrew effect? The only friends roller coaster to not use the track system introduced in 10261 is 41130
I like the matching plushie design very much. A very thoughtful addition.
Looking a little crazy-eyed there, Autumn.
@Crux said:
"Sirens walk the land. You will notice that this set does not include sailors.
Not anymore."
Should have used earplugs or tied themselves to the mast.
This is not a corkscrew though. Corkscrew rollercoaster element is basically elongated vertical loop where you get inverted at one point.
Nice review of a beautiful set! I love those mermaid mini-dolls and the new bluish violet color for the roller coaster track pieces is just gorgeous. I wish this set was a little more detailed on par with 60421 but I do like how the space in the pillars has been used.
I'm kind of confused at the review and comments saying that Friends "finally" got the dedicated roller coaster track elements. 41685 already brought these pieces to Friends five years ago, although this example is much better since it's a proper roller coaster and not just a slightly elevated circle.
Edit: Actually, 41375 had the roller coaster elements too!
I am not normally interested in the Friends series, but that is excellent!