Agree. You usually need to be on the first raft over. The cast member usually tells you the story about how Huck and Tom left the brushes. We had it once whether the CM didn't tell the story. We asked and they did have the brushes out. They might be in plain sight, or hidden. It's fun for the kids to run around and look. Only one paintbrush per family. It can be quite competitive if there are enough people on the raft. I've been told they might put the brushes out later in the day, but I'm not sure if that's correct or not.