Tom Sawyer & Swiss Family treehouse with kids

[megster1123]

I'm considering taking Tom Sawyer & Swiss Family treehouse off our touring plan because I'm not sure if they will really appeal to my 4 & 5 year olds. I've heard mixed reviews of both, but nothing from families with kids of similar age. Is there enough there to keep their attention? I'm worried about burning through time on the raft over to the island only to find there's not really much there for them, then having to raft back. From the walkthrough videos online of the Swiss Family treehouse it looks like just a lot of...walking. Any thoughts on that one? It just seems like a lot of time to invest in a couple of attractions that may not be worth the time with kiddos.

 

[smiths02]

I have never been to Tom Sawyer at DW (have at DL many times), I do like the Treehouse. The treehouse is not a huge time killer. You just walk up some stairs and look, there generally isn't a line or anything.

Anyhow, I would tend to agree that while your kids might like it, if your touring plan is tight, I would do other things. We always spend at least a couple of days in MK and there is enough we want to do without doing this things.

 

[msmama]

I would say both are good for just moving little bodies. There is a lot of standing and waiting and looking at cool things and just...stuff at WDW. My son likes both just as a change of pace (thought like someone else said, if tight for time okay to skip).

I love watching kids just PLAY, especially at Tom Sawyers island. While Disney is all fun stuff, there are still a lot of rules - hold hands, no running, no yelling, be polite, etc. A mid day trip to TSI gets the wiggles out and we can have a successful rest of the day with him behaving.

 

[eyeblaura]

We haven't done Tom Sawyers island but my 3 and 6 year old liked the tree house on our last visit. We are heading back this weekend and my then 6 year old who is now 9 is disappointed the tree house is down for refurb. Personally it was a one and done for me.

 

[stobaugh6]

I have 7 kids ages 19 down to 3. We've been to MK many times over the years and my kids always enjoyed both attractions when they were your kids ages. We always plan on doing both mid afternoon when the park is busier. I wouldn't waste prime touring time for either attraction though. Have fun!

 

[Goofy for 1971]

We have a blast doing the Treehouse. We just get silly with it. My kids are 7 and 11. They love climbing and going up super high. It's not thrilling, but it brings us together as a family.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Tom Sawyer's Island may be my 4 year old son's favorite attraction as WDW. He enjoys playing in the fort, exploring the caves, the bouncy bridge, etc.. He thinks it's super cool and it's a good place for him to run around and blow off some steam.

 

[megster1123]

I didn't think about using the island to burn off some energy, that's a good way to approach it!

 

[DisneyOma]

My now 22 and 25 year old still love both attractions, and loved them as young kids too. There are caves on Tom Sawyer's island, a small playground, a barrel bridge, a fort, etc. The Treehouse has a lot of 'food for the imagination', ie, we talked about what it would be like to live in that tree house! Years later my older daughter and her dad built a pretty nice tree house.

 

[katie111]

TSI is definitely a must do for us. My kids are now 14, 12, and 9 and on last year's trip we still spent about 45 minutes there. We would spend even more time when they were younger. They love the fort, the caves, and especially the bouncy bridges. It's fun to sit & watch Thunder Mountain from there. I love it because there are actually a couple places I can sit & relax, something you rarely get at Disney.

The treehouse is ok. Probably only takes 10 minutes tops and it's cute. If your kids are super tired, I wouldn't do it. We had an exhausted kid in front of us last time & she cried and whined the whole way up and down.