Disney's River Country
| Disney's River Country | |
|---|---|
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| Location | Walt Disney World Resort, Bay Lake, Florida, United States |
| Coordinates | 28°24′41″N 81°33′53″W / 28.411325°N 81.5646805556°W |
| Theme | Old-fashioned swimming hole |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
| Operated by | Walt Disney Parks and Resorts |
| Opened | June 20, 1976 |
| Closed | November 2, 2001 |
| Status | Defunct[[]] |
| Pools | 2 pools |
| Water slides | 5 water slides |
| Children's areas | 2 children's areas |
Disney's River Country was the first water park at Walt Disney World.[1] It opened on June 20, 1976, and closed on November 1, 2001.[2] On January 20, 2005, The Walt Disney Company announced that River Country was closed permanently. As of 2016, the park is severely overgrown with trees, and in extremely poor condition.[1] Along with Discovery Island, it is one of only two Disney parks in their history to close permanently. Both were left to deteriorate rather than be demolished.[3][4]
History
Positioned on the shore of Bay Lake, near Discovery Island, the park featured a rustic wilderness theming, complete with rocks and man-made boulders. It was described as an "old-fashioned swimming hole"[1] with "a twist of Huckleberry Finn".[5] The original working title was "Pop's Willow Grove".[6]
The park was featured in a musical number from the 1977 Wonderful World of Disney episode "The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World", which included a song titled "River Country" and featured the then-current Mouseketeer lineup from the late 70s incarnation of The Mickey Mouse Club enjoying its attractions.
The park featured a sandy bottom and unique water filtering system using confluent water from adjacent Bay Lake, which was dammed off creating a natural-looking man-made lagoon. But even with the filtration system, the water was not completely purified. In 1980, an 11-year-old boy was killed by a deadly infection caused by an amoeba (Naegleria fowleri), which is found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs.[7]
In 1989, Disney opened a second new water park, Typhoon Lagoon. It had much more parking, many more slides, newer amenities, and was much larger. In 1995, Disney opened a third water park, Blizzard Beach. River Country was much smaller than the other two parks, yet it remained, surviving the competition.
As it did every year, the park closed at the end of the warm-weather season in November 2001, with the expectation that it would reopen in spring of 2002. But after the September 11 attacks, the decline in business for all Disney parks and hotels prompted them to halt the reopening. On April 11, 2002, the Orlando Sentinel reported, “Walt Disney World’s first water park, River Country, has closed and may not reopen,” concluding with this line: “Disney World spokesman Bill Warren said that River Country could be reopened if ‘there’s enough guest demand.’”[7] The attraction may also have been affected by a change in Florida laws, which prohibited unchlorinated natural water bodies from being used for water park attractions.[8] In 2005, the Walt Disney Company officially announced that River Country would never reopen. River Country has been left abandoned to rot, rather than demolished. Disney employees monitor the park for trespassers. Many YouTubers have been caught taping videos of themselves trespassing in River Country for entertainment purposes.[9]
As of July 2016, there are plans to make River Country a Disney Vacation Club resort. No construction has begun yet.
On August 25, 2016, it was announced that Disney would be draining and filling in Upstream Plunge, the 330,000 gallon pool, though there are no immediate plans to tear down any other part of the park.[10]
List of attractions
- Upstream Plunge, a kidney shaped clean-water pool.
- Slippery Slide Falls, two water slides that emptied into Upstream Plunge.
- Kiddie Cove, a kids zone with two large water slides and a cove. This area was targeted toward preteens.
- Barrel Bridge, a bumpy bridge with barrels under it, similar to the one at Tom Sawyer Island.
- White Water Rapids, a 330-foot (100 m) long inner tube river.
- Bay Cove, a half-acre (2,000 m²) sand-bottom lake which featured a tire swing, boom swing, rope climb, and T-bar drop.
- Boom Swing
- Cable Ride
- Tire Swing
- Whoop 'n' Holler Hollow, two water slides, 260 ft (79 m) and 160 ft (49 m) long, that emptied into Bay Cove.
- Bay Bridge
- Indian Springs, a very small splash zone with fountains spraying kids. This area was mainly designed for guests under age 8.
- Cypress Point Nature Trail, a trail among trees beside Bay Lake.
- Pony Rides
- Mercury WaterMouse Rental
References
- ^ a b c "Almost Forgotten". Teen Disney: For Kids By Kids. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ Smith, Dave (September 2010). "Ask Dave". D23. Archived from the original on September 28, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
- ^ Fritz. "Abandoned Disney River Country". Abandoned Disney series. ImagineeringDisney.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ "River Country Neglected". DisBoards.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ "River Country". WDWhistory.com. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
- ^ "A Tribute to Disney's River Country". BigFloridaCountry.com. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
- ^ a b http://www.yesterland.com/rivercountry.html
- ^ "Disney's abandoned water park was affected by same fatal virus that now raises concerns about Extreme Sports project. here". Martin County Times. June 26, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
- ^ Sim, Nick (March 29, 2015). "Abandoned: The Rise, Fall and Decay of Disney's River Country". Theme Park Tourist. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
- ^ Pedicini, Sandra (August 25, 2016). "Disney World draining, filling in long-abandoned River Country pool". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved August 25, 2016.
- ^ Weiss, Werner. "River Country News". Yesterland. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
- ^ "River Country". WDWinfo. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
External links
- A photo essay in 2009 of the decaying River Country
- Disney's River Country on Modern Day Ruins
- A four-part series on the abandoned resort