Tom Sawyer island is a sneaky cool attraction at Magic Kingdom that you can explore on your own but it is not a playground.
Parents should be warned about the island that can be found off the shoreline of Frontierland. To get there, you need to take a boat, which is actually quite nice. It's a short ride to the island and you load just across from Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.
So what is the warning? Well, the island itself is self-exploratory which means once you get there, there isn't a guide and there is only a handful of cast members to watch out for you. In other words, if you want to jump off the bridge no one is there to stop you. They will catch you on the camera but, well you get the point.
The most important thing you need to know is that while you may have control of your kids, other parents don't really care. They let their children roam free and explore and quite a few times, those kids are not very nice.
There are caves and tunnels to explore and they are quite dark with limited visibility. For younger kids, they can be both fun to walk through and a little scary at the same time. It doesn't help when a couple of tweens or younger hide just outside the exit or around the corner in a dark hole and scream at the unsuspecting.
On a recent visit, I listened to a family console their young 8-year-old daughter after they let her go into the caves. Dad was at the front and mom was at the back. An older 13-year-old sister was with her. She was terrified by the screams from a couple of other kids.
My own 5-year-old ran out screaming and almost got hurt trying to get out of the cave. He was with his teenage sister and brother. When I asked, I was told two kids were terrorizing the kids that went into the cave. Cast members are non-existent around here and they probably should be.
The reality is, if a kid gets hurt in the dark caves, that island will close and Disney will be held responsible.
I am not one of those parents who feel the need to correct other children. That is not my job but when I saw the two hooligans sitting above the exit and scaring the kids leaving, I opened my mouth. I simply asked where their parents were and they begged me not to tell on them.
Disney is a great place for families and couples alike but it isn't a personal playground to dump your kids while allowing them to do whatever they want, especially when it is at the expense of others.
In this case, Tom Sawyer island should be a fun area to explore and that includes the caves.