All about Tom Sawyer Island in Magic Kingdom, the attraction which closed in 2025:
On July 7, 2025, Tom Sawyer Island in the Magic Kingdom permanently closed. The whole area, including the Rivers of America and the Liberty Square Riverboat, will be “transformed” into Piston Peak, a Cars-themed area.
Unlike Muppet Vision 3D, which I believe should have stayed open, I am okay with the closing of Tom Sawyer Island. It does have a lot of history, and there are things I will miss about it, but Disney World was never meant to be frozen in time.
That being said, I have some good memories from Tom Sawyer Island! I remember visiting it during my first trip as a child, when I was around 9 years old. While I didn’t visit often as an adult, I did explore the island one more time before it closed. And there were a lot of neat things to experience there! I wanted to put together a “farewell” blog post to preserve some of the memories.
History of Tom Sawyer Island
First, a brief history of this attraction. Tom Sawyer Island first opened at Disneyland in California in 1955, one year after that park opened. The Magic Kingdom version opened in Florida in 1973. There is also a version of Tom Sawyer Island in Disneyland Tokyo.
Much of the attraction today is the same as when it first opened in 1973. You could visit Fort Langhorn, explore caves, and play on a playground. A quick service restaurant called Aunt Polly’s was there when the island first opened – that remained until 2001.
Exploring Tom Sawyer Island
Come journey with me as I explore the island for the last time! In order to reach Tom Sawyer Island you needed to take a raft ride over. They ran continuously and the wait usually wasn’t too bad.
Unlike many attractions at Disney (and anywhere in life, really) you had a lot of flexibility and freedom for how you approached it!
It was a pretty huge area – which I’m sure is a big reason why they want to use the space for something else that might get more attention. The rafts arrived at Tom’s Landing, and from there you could go down any path you’d like and just start exploring.
In case you weren’t sure where to begin, there was a welcome sign from Tom (definitely wuz not Huck) to tell you about the caves, mystery mines, and shaky bridges. I started off by going to my left, down towards the bottom edge of the island.
There were a lot of places to just chill and hang out here. One section had a number of rocking chairs and a checkboard. I made my way towards Superstition Bridge and crossed that toward Fort Langhorn.
As you explored the fort, it was good to peek in all of the windows and check out everything! The guard at the Guard House was not doing a great job, as you could hear him snoring before even approaching the window. Taking a look through some of the other windows would also show you some animatronic horses and chickens.
Going up the stairs of the fort led you to an area with cannons, and then the Rifles Roost. These rifles were mounted but you could still move them a bit and pretend to shoot – they had sound effects as well.
Once you were done in the Fort, you could leave the “normal” way – or you could use the Secret Escape Tunnel. When they say tunnel they do mean it! It was fairly dark and narrow, though there were typically bits of sunlight coming through.
Back on the “main” part of the island, there were lots of bridges and caves to explore. Old Scratch’s Mystery Mine was way more involved than I expected! There were some cool details in there.
But the caves were even more fun to explore – and a bit scary! They were really dark, narrow, and a bit cramped. And they seemed to go on for quite awhile. I was surprised something like this was still at Disney at that point – I was being pretty cautious but I think it wouldn’t have been hard to get injured there, especially if kids were running around. I’m not a small person, but I’m not particularly big either – and some of those caves felt a bit cramped. Maybe this means I’m an old person now but I was a bit tempted to put on my phone’s flashlight so I didn’t trip!
The Scavenger’s Fort was actually a small playground, with an area to pretend you were captain of a pirate ship, a slide, and various things to climb.
A fun bridge to cross over was the Barrel Bridge – it was on top of barrels, so it was pretty shaky when you went across it!
There were a number of other small bridges to explore too, like the little crooked bridge. They took you to various places, like the above mentioned playground. Sometimes you’d just discover a pretty area with a stream or greenery. There were some picnic tables or benches scattered around too.
Although it was no longer operating in recent years, Aunt Polly’s still had a lot of seating and some vending machines. If you were looking to save money and bring in your lunch in a cooler, this would have been a great place to eat it.
Some details from the Tom Sawyer books were found throughout the island. My personal favorite was the half painted whitewashed fence. It had some of the characters’ names on it, including Tom and Becky. It was neat having my name in Magic Kingdom! But alas, no more.
You could get a lot of good views from the island too. There were some great spots to see Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and of course the Liberty Square Riverboat would float by.
Video walkthrough of Tom Sawyer Island
Why it was great
Honestly, I was more impressed with Tom Sawyer Island on my recent visit than I expected to be! I knew there were a few things to see, but it was much more involved than I expected. I loved that it really fostered a sense of independence, creativity, and imagination. Kids were encouraged to touch things, climb on things, and go at their own pace.
Especially in a theme park where so many things are structured and regulated, it was a nice outlet for those who don’t necessarily thrive in that sort of environment. If you had kids who needed some time to run around and be active, this was a great place.
For adults too! Sometimes you just need to get away from the craziness and crowds of the theme park. Tom Sawyer Island could be a good option to just chill for a bit.
And for us literary nerds, there were lots of fun details and nods to the original Tom Sawyer novels!
Why it wasn’t so great
The first thing that struck me about visiting Tom Sawyer Island in 2024 was the lack of accessibility and potential for injuries. Not every guest could access Tom Sawyer Island. ECVs and strollers were not allowed on the rafts or the island. There were a lot of small spaces that were a bit tricky to get into.
Many of the caves were also quite dark and had some tight corners. It would be easy to trip or hurt yourself if you weren’t careful.
It also just wasn’t that easy to get to. The fact that you had to take a raft over to the island made it a bigger time investment than just something you could quickly check out. So I think a lot of people didn’t prioritize it or work it into their plans regularly.
Personally, I think Tom Sawyer’s Island was a great experience while it was there, but I’m okay with it closing. I never got around to visiting it all that much, I don’t think the majority of visitors experienced it.
I do hope Disney continues to build more play areas for kids, where they can explore and run around. They may never again be as large or as involved as Tom Sawyer Island, but I think it’s important to keep these experiences in the parks. “Attractions” that aren’t just rides. Moana Journey of Water is a nice addition to Epcot and allows for exploration. So I have hope that Disney will continue to create areas like that which are relevant and fun for kids.
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Did you ever visit Tom Sawyer Island? What did you think of it?
Your article brought back happy memories of our visit there. I’m glad you got a picture of yourself as a grown-up in front of the fence with your name on it! I do think it’s nice to have attractions like this instead of more “rides,” so I’m not very happy about it being closed.
It was a unique experience! It still exists at Disneyland, at least for now.
Bring a can of paint next trip and I’ll slap a big BECKY any which where – perhaps right outside the Cosmic Rewind gift shop? Beneath the drop window on Tower of Terror? How about under the Stitch statue in Tomorrowland so we have someone to blame? 😂
I’m good with any of those spots 😉 Maybe once they finally build that Cars area there will be a prime location where it once was.
I totally agree about kids needing a place to run around and explore! But when I went to Tom Sawyer Island as a kid, I thought the caves were too dark and scary. (I only went once lol)
I can’t quite remember, but I suspect I also avoided them as a kid!