Disneyland Resort Update: Tom Sawyer Island Returns

Disneyland Park, Anaheim, CA

As I mentioned in yesterday's update, this past Friday, Tom Sawyer Island reopened after a refurbishment lasting over a year.  Granted, the Island wasn't being continuously worked on for all that time--a sizeable portion of the downtime was due to work on re-routing the Rivers of America.  But the Island did get some nice TLC in the form of new paint, some new theming elements, and a refurbishment of the Pirates Lair elements around the island.  Now that things are done, lets take a look at how everything turned out!

Hey, Tom Sawyer Island is pretty much back to normal! If it weren't for those pesky construction cranes in the background, photo bombing, you wouldn't even suspect that there was large scale work going on at the park.

It is nice to see the Rivers of America refilled and looking nice and rustic again.  At long last the Disneyland West drought is over!

Tom Sawyer Island reopened on Friday to... some fanfare?  I'm not sure.  But on Saturday, things were relatively quiet.

After taking the rafts across the Rivers of America to Tom Sawyer Island, we check out the FANTASMIC stage area in front of Lafitte's Tavern.

The building looks great with its new coat of paint!

Various theming elements have gotten repainted or replaced.  Although in this picture, one log is not quite like the others...

The water wheel is still here, and the Columbia has taken up dock at Frontier Landing on the other side of the water.

This little boat is new.  Does it play any role in FANTASMIC!?

The water wheel.

When Pirate's Lair was overlaid at Tom Sawyer Island ten years ago, they incorporated references into the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise.

The TLC looks wonderfully rustic and nicely aged.

Climbing up the hill behind Lafitte's Tavern gets us to this treehouse.

Signs of the old Tom Sawyer Island.

Too bad you can't quite get up there for a perch.

For all you cascade loving Disneyland fans still distraught about the passing of the Disneyland Hotel Fantasy Waters, here's a waterfall.

Heading over to the rope bridge area, we find some things not quite complete.

For whatever reason, the bridge was closed. Probably because there was still some minor amount of work left to do.

Fortunately, the pontoon bridge was open for guests to lurch across.

This should be a disclaimer everywhere. "If you enter an environment and perform an action that results in a natural reaction from the environment, don't get mad, ya dummy."

A pirate skeleton clutching a treasure chest is unveiled to those who crank a spinning wheel carefully.

Otherwise, it sinks into the water.

All of this was present on the Island before, but it's been re-aged.

Glancing from a distance.

A shipwreck crashed upon the rocks of Tom Sawyer Island lies further up the isle.

Again, there's a sort of fresh aging feel to it.

The pirate treasure photo op at the back of Tom Sawyer Island.

Moving over to the Critter Country Side...

One of the fun features that has always been a part of Tom Sawyer Island are the caves.

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, these were the cave of Injun Joe and filled with secret treasure.

The Pirates Lair overlay kept the treasure theme and enhanced the buccaneer part.

These caves have always been a child's playground, with many tight quarters that adults would have trouble with.

Fortunately, these features remain and have not been altered.

Theatrical elements are particularly strong in Dead Man's Grotto.

Inside, signs of Davy Jones abound.

Is that a chest of his beating heart? Yes. Yes it is.

There is a wonderfully spooky atmosphere in here.

The lighting makes for a very photogenic scene.

But some souls have not been as lucky.

Beware, all explorers.

But it's a great little space.

Elsewhere, guests can discover more treasure locked away.

Some of it appears cursed by spirits.

One chamber even features a poor captive pirate, doomed to be locked up forever.

He bemoans his fate.

Lets come back outside.

We'll end with a view people haven't been able to witness in a while.  But it's great to have Tom Sawyer Island back!  Another step toward the return to normalcy along the river!

And that does it from the Disneyland Resort this week.  We still have Ghost Town Alive! on tap for this very busy week, so stay tuned for that!  Cheers!