Pounding Mountain Set: Not Worth the Money (to me, and DEFINITELY to my Mom)

If I tell Mom, she won't be happy at all. :/

Well, it's been about a day and a half since the Thomas & Friends Plarail Pounding Mountain Set arrived in the mail and I hope to God I didn't wreck the box too much, and that Mom will be away from home in the next few days. I'm really hoping I can find out whether or not I can return this set, as the 85 dollars my grandmother spent on it was not worth what I got as opposed to what I was expecting. I mean, I at least hoped this would be applicable to other layouts than what I'm given, but the curved tunnel is too sharp to put straights through, and tracks going through the tunnel and the spiral track in one lane won't meet if the female end of the mountain doesn't have 3/2 straight track behind it followed by a turn and another 3/2 straights, and then curve tracks all the way until you come out of the other end of the tunnel. I am happy that long trains work because of the many side-barriers that double as shrubbery, and the sliding teeth at the bottom of the mountain that catch the activation tab on the bottom of engines to slow them down, but that's the only redeeming quality other than the mountain itself, which I believe should only be reason enough to buy a set if it works well with other sets.
Anyway, end of my rant.

If any of you guys have this set or have seen layouts with it, could you give some suggestions on how to incorporate it into a massive layout? I was hoping to somehow put it on the layout plan I have right now, but the only way I can think of doing it now that I've discovered the tunnel's major flaw would literally be out of sight and a waste of track.


If not, I guess I will have to accept the fact that sometimes life is unfair and whatever you waste on something that ends up not worth it, you just won't get it back, and the only thing you can do is hope and try your best to make better decisions and have better luck in future.
Doesn't mean I'm any less ticked off.