Is this true.... Have you done it?

[Amstar]

Tom Sawyer Island. The 3.3-acre site is a warren of wooded trails, caves and circa-1840s buildings. Each morning, staffers hide six paintbrushes on the island, and the first kids to find them get front-of-the-line passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Splash Mountain.

 

[Robo]

Tom Sawyer Island. The 3.3-acre site is a warren of wooded trails, caves and circa-1840s buildings. Each morning, staffers hide six paintbrushes on the island, and the first kids to find them get front-of-the-line passes for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad or Splash Mountain.

It's true.

It is not necessarily SIX paintbrushes (guests steal them) and they may or may not do it every day.

You need to ask the raft pilot on your way over to the island, when the Island first opens
(usually about an hour after MK's full opening.)

 

[Crystal824]

I've not done it, but I know it is true.

 

[kmk1180]

Ya the trouble is TSI doesn't open with the rest of the park.
usually like 10am or 11am or something.
By then we're off doing something else.
To get one sounds like you need to be on the first boat over.
For us to plan that isn't the best use of time as we're usually busy in other areas by then.
And if we wanted a short to no wait for SM or TM then we hit it at open and move on.

But it does sound fun and good luck to you if you try.

 

[ebtbmom]

My niece found one and got the fast pass.

 

[newdeal]

We got one our first trip but last trip we just spent 30 minutes walking up and down stairs in the blistering heat sweating like pigs and never found one...on hot days it isn't worth the effort since there is nothing else on Tom Sawyers island

 

[soarinup]

I find out new things that I never knew before..

 

[dsnymomof4]

Yes, we did it one trip and did find a paintbrush and did get the fastpasses! On our last year's trip, we tried to find one, but didn't. It's still fun exploring the island, walking through the caves and crossing the bridge. DS3 really enjoyed it.

 

[tarrbear]

Yes, my sister is actually a CM at TSI. And one thing she let me know is that yes they hide paint brushes in the morning, but depending on who is working, they might keep dropping paintbrushes throughout the day.

 

[dzaharchuk]

Having lurked on the boards for a year prior to our October trip, we had read many tips. We always wanted to try and find the paintbrushes, and on the last day of our trip, we just happened to be near TSI when it opened. We took the first boat, and were among 10-12 people looking for them. We were there for a long time (at least a half hour) and figured that they'd all been found. My 2 year old spotted one in the bushes, and we were given fastpasses for Splash Mountain. The kids were thrilled, even though she was too small to use it!
It was a great memory, and well worth the time spent there-even if we hadn't found a brush.

 

[umichigan10]

I find out new things that I never knew before..

I know really I had absolutely no idea this existed even though I go to tsi about every year

 

[buzz2400]

About a year ago, we decided to do this. We were the first raft over. THERE WERE NO PAINTBRUSHES. We searched high and low, even knew what we were looking for. Some cm's came by and we asked them if the paintbrushes were out. They had no clue what we were talking about. All in all we spent over an hour there when we could have ridden the two rides and gotten fastpasses. Instead we got hot and tired and fustrated.

 

[mickeyboat]

We were on the second boat over in October and found two paintbrushes (we left one where we spotted it for someone else to find). We got FPs for the whole family to BTMRR.

We enjoyed the island - it was a great place to let the kids run off some steam.

 

[rrrcjmhall]

I have never been to Tom Sawyer's island....maybe it is time to visit and hunt for those paintbrushes!

 

[HarborBlvd]

Does Disneyland do this also?

 

[sabrecmc]

I read about this on the DIS and per suggestions, checked the bucket at the well at the fort and sure enough, there was a paintbrush. We did have to be on the first raft over, but my DD really enjoyed the hunt. We were rewarded with Splash Mountain fastpasses, which we gave away b/c DD was too small to ride and we didn't want to go without her.

 

[CampbellScot]

Yep, it's true! This is my step daughter holding tight to her paint brush (while she looks for her camera!). She LOVED this! We were on the first raft over and we got fastpasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad when we turned the paintbrush over to the CM on the raft! Really fun activity!!

 

[PoohsFan1]

We tried doing this in September but had no luck. My girls are determined to do it again when we are there in May. Wish us luck that we do find one

 

[Winue]

is it just one fastpass? if so... whats the point? I know the excitement for the kids in looking and finding, but why wouldn't it be more that you get? like a fastpass for every ride that has FP?

 

[CampbellScot]

is it just one fastpass? if so... whats the point? I know the excitement for the kids in looking and finding, but why wouldn't it be more that you get? like a fastpass for every ride that has FP?

we thought FP's for everyone for one of our favorite rides was pretty cool. They are usable immediately. My step daughter was SO proud of herself. They aren't looking to give an unlimited or multi ride fast pass for finding a paintbrush. I think that might result in people being thrown in to the lake! I think it's meant to be a fun little bonus for kids. I think a bigger "prize" would lead to adults and/or big "kids" being a little nuts. As it was, there were two older girls (probably in their teens) who were plotting on the raft over to "find all the paintbrushes". It was kind of obnoxious. They were rushing around practically grabbing them from littler kids. The CM saw what they were doing and told them "one paint brush per family". It's that kind of thing that ruins it for the little ones...which is why there isn't a bigger prize. Just my opinion.