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The Secrets of Walt Disney World’s Tom Sawyer Island-Part 3 of 3

19 July 2010 by Suzannah Otis 9 Comments

In part one and part two of our Tom Sawyer Island pictorial review, we saw caves, mines, a fort and even a play area chock full of adventure. Today we conclude that adventure by visiting the final spots on the island.

When we left off, we were about to cross this barrel bridge to parts unknown, yes? As always, click to enlarge photos.

What will we find there?

view from Tom Sawyer Island
First, you get this nice view of Liberty Square

Pollys Tom Sawyer Island
Then we come upon a lovely little spot, Aunt Polly's...sadly, it does not seem to be open much at all anymore.

Polly's Tom Sawyer Island
Relaxing seating area with a view at Polly's

view from Tom Sawyer Island
Why look, it's the Liberty Belle again - really makes you feel like you are on the Mississippi.

Tom Sawyer Fence
Our friends left their mark on a fence as we make our way to Harper's Mill.

Haper's Mill
Harper's Mill is ours to explore...

Harper's Mill
Inside Harper's Mill we find some new little friends...

Harper's Mill
A little blue bird has made a happy nest in a very noisy mill!

Harper's Mill
...and an owl keeps him company.

To learn more about these little guys, head over to the Main St Gazette for the full story on how they pay homage to Disney’s 1937 short, The Old Mill. (It is listed there as being in Potter’s Mill but they actually reside in Harper’s Mill which Ryan realized when we saw them together-we bloggers have a lot of details going on in our brains you know! 😉 )

And that concludes our travels on Tom Sawyer Island. We have discovered many secrets along the way, some of which I’ve left out for you to explore and find on your own adventure. I will leave you with one last secret, perhaps the most well-known of its kind among Disney fans – the Tom Sawyer Island paint brushes! If you are among the first visitors to the Island in the morning, be on the hunt for some paint brushes that Tom and Huck may have left around. Pick one up and bring it to a cast member for a fun surprise. Here’s one a fellow Disney Mom found on her most recent trip to Tom Sawyer Island:

Tom Sawyer Island paintbrush
One of the elusive Tom Sawyer Island paint brushes! Will you find one?? photo courtesy of Kara B.

I hope you enjoyed our tour of Tom Sawyer Island. I know I loved my first-ever visit there and can’t wait to go back and search for paint brushes myself. Perhaps the best secret of the island is, as in most things, the journey itself. I had so much fun taking time out from the fast-pace theme park atmosphere to just talk, explore and discover. As if being rewarded for our time spent stopping to smell the roses, Ryan and I got a beautiful show on the raft back to Frontierland…

sky at walt disney world
We saw the strangest and most beautiful phenomenon in the sky...it hadn't been raining, those colors just appeared on their own.

Thanks for visiting, I’d love to hear your stories of Tom Sawyer Island too!

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Filed Under: Disney Attractions, Walt Disney World Tagged With: Disney secrets, Frontierland, Harper's Mill, Magic Kingdom, Main St Gazette, Main Street Gazette, off the beaten path, Pictures, Ryan P. Wilson, The Old Mill, Tom Sawyer Island, Tom Sawyer Island paint brush, Walt Disney World

About Suzannah Otis

A child of the 80's, Zanna climbed trees and roller-skated till the streetlights came on. She sipped her her first iced coffee at age 10 and never looked back. Growing up outside of Boston, all of these things shaped her life, as did the original EPCOT Center, which brought her where she is today.

Zanna is the mother of 2 adult humans, a 13-year old (also human), and 6 (yes, 6) cats. She is also the wife to one husband, who lovingly puts up with all of the above. Zanna tries to find that one little spark in everything, and thanks you very much for taking the time to read this.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stephanie says

    19 July 2010 at

    The last picture of the sky is beautiful! What a neat thing to see!

    Reply
  2. Zanna says

    19 July 2010 at

    I agree, it was super cool! 😀

    Reply
  3. Mumsie says

    20 July 2010 at

    They would have to pry that brush outta my hands! lol…I wouldn’t give it up for (almost) anything! 😀

    Beautiful shot of that sky…

    Reply
  4. Zanna says

    20 July 2010 at

    Thank you Mumsie! I kind of feel the same about the paint brush but I’d be
    good and just take a million pictures! 😉

    Reply
  5. Amy Lupold Bair says

    20 July 2010 at

    I'm so happy that you have been blogging about Tom Sawyer Island. I feel like it is a neglected treasure, and I hope that Disney plans to give it some love and attention in the future. The picture of Polly's really captures the feeling that I have when I'm there – that it has been abandoned in many ways.

    I also think that most people don't realize it is there or what it is! During our visit in June, I overheard a mom telling her son that the play area near the Splash Mountain exit WAS Tom Sawyer's island so he could go ahead and cross that off its list. Hopefully your posts will draw more people to the island because for many Disney newbies, it is a mystery.

    Reply
  6. Zanna says

    20 July 2010 at

    Thanks, Amy. I feel the same way, and it took me 36 years to get there! My
    childhood fear of Injun Joe aside, I always just thought there was ‘nuthin
    good’ over there and I proved that wrong. I feel that even both of my kids
    (a video-game addict and a girl that’s said she’s bored approximately 497
    times this week) would enjoy it over there because it is your OWN adventure,
    with some Disney touches added in. It’s a great lesson about slowing down
    and appreciating things that aren’t there to thrill you in the traditional
    sense. 🙂

    Reply
  7. francis says

    26 August 2010 at

    Awesome photos! I’ve wanted to visit Tom Sawyer Island but i don’t have the budget, i am from
    Sihanoukville in Cambodia. Are there any promos that i can avail to visit Tom Sawyer Island?

    Reply

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