If you go to the store and buy a Bachmann HO thomas & friends set -- which I've done. You get an engine, some cars, a loop of track and DC controller -- a figurine too. No sounds -- well maybe these days a little bit of sound but no DCC control that I'm aware of.
Here you get similar but railsounds, and the lionchief remote -- and the catalog says you can control it with DCC or DC as well...
And it's plug compatible with standard DCC controllers (although you'll lose the lionchief remote)... if you decide it might be fun to do that which some of us do find to be fun.
The bachmann stuff -- which I like -- doesn't really work for little kids as well as one hopes -- it's hard to put the track together (even though it's "easy" -- getting the track joiners right is a chore) and the engine/cars fall apart in little hands.
So to me this offering seems promising -- the track seems like it could be easier to put together, the sounds should be nice, the controls are a bit better out of the box -- and more flexible overall as it includes the DCC option, and maybe the engine/care are a little more sturdy, built a little more solidly for small hands.
It's appealing to me at least at face value.
