Thank you to American Girl for sending their Bowling Alley for review. No monetary compensation was received for this Rave Review, we just loved the American Girl Bowling Alley and wanted to share.

I’ve officially lost count of the staggering number of times the kiddos and I have been bowling this summer. It started when we signed up for the Kids Bowl Free program and hit up our local bowling alley multiple times in a matter of weeks, and then the number of times we went bowling skyrocketed when we found our very favorite bowling alley ever: American Girl Lanes.

We came across American Girl Lanes last month, simply stopping into the American Girl Seattle store on the day that the bowling alley came out by mere coincidence. We were across the store when we spotted it in all its glory atop a shelf in the Truly Me section and the kids went crazy. A bowling alley just for dolls was almost too good to believe, but that was even before we knew just how truly awesome it really was.

We quickly figured out that it was indeed a doll-sized bowling alley, but with one big huge surprise: the bowling alley really works. That’s right, it’s a *fully functional* doll-sized bowling alley. Be still, my heart.

Good old fashioned fun meets high tech electronic game

I don’t know how they did it, but American Girl managed to be awesomely retro and awesomely high tech at the same time with the addition of a bowling alley to their offerings. Who doesn’t have fond memories at a bowling alley from their youth? Well, now your doll can have those same memories when you take them to American Girl Lanes. The kids will want to play for hours… and who could possibly blame them?

Welcome to American Girl Lanes

One push of a button and the bowling alley comes to life – the lights above the pins come on, and the scoreboard starts flashing. Simply select one or two players and you are ready to bowl. Send the first ball down the wooden lane and watch your pins knock back and disappear and your score appear on the electronic scoreboard, no need to do pencil and paper and figure out the score on your own. At the end of each frame, the motorized pins reset automatically and you’re ready to bowl again in mere moments, which is beyond awesome.

Honestly, everything about the American Girl bowling alley is better than I expected. From the electronic bowling sounds that are just like a real bowling alley, to the motorized pins that make the whole game so realistic that it’s nearly impossible not to want to play a few games, there was no detail overlooked. I especially love the addition of the bumpers you can attach for practice or remove and place on the outside of the gutters as you improve your game. The angle of the lanes makes it so your ball is automatically returned via the gutters on either side of the lane, and there is an easy access door in the back of the lane just in case a ball gets stuck behind the pins.

All the little details

As if the bowling alley wasn’t already amazingly cool already, I haven’t even gotten to all the accessories included, or the addition of the awesome snack/rental counter that adds so much to the pretend play. With two glow-in-the-dark bowling league shirts, two pairs of bowling shoes, two bowling balls {with removable strap so dolls can hold their own ball}, a snack menu and an assortment of snacks and drinks, there’s so much to play with and do. Add the monitor module to the top of the counter, and choose which of the reversible screens you want to display depending on whether you are booking lanes or purchasing a snack or two. Then swipe the pretend game card through the card slot to “pay” for your game and treats.

More bang for your buck

We talk a lot about the “play value” of toys, and this bowling alley is a prime example. Whether you are playing with dolls or not, the American Girl bowling alley is arguably the coolest electronic game around. It gets the kids actively playing together, cheering each other on, and it’s just good old fashioned fun with a high-tech twist. Add in the dolls and there are so many ways to play with the American Girl bowling alley – whether you are serving up snacks, getting together for league night, running the cash register, or you add in other sets like we did with Maryellen’s diner for even more play options.

The American Girl Bowling Alley comes with everything you see below – not shown is all the fun you’ll have bowling, setting up dolls, and enhancing your pretend play with your tiniest friends. Click here to see more and shop on AmericanGirl.com