Disney's River Country

Disney's River Country
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 / 28.411325; -81.5646805556Coordinates: 28°24′41″N 81°33′53″W / 28.411325°N 81.5646805556°W / 28.411325; -81.5646805556

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Theme Old-fashioned swimming hole
Owner The Walt Disney Company
Operated by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Opened June 20, 1976 (1976-06-20)o
Closed September 1, 2001 (2001-09-01)
Status SBNO
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 ceased operations on September 1, 2001.[2] On January 20, 2005, The Walt Disney Company announced that River Country would never reopen. As of 2016, the once grand water park is overgrown with trees, and is in extremely poor condition.[1] Along with Discovery Island, it is one of only two Disney parks in their history to close permanently. Both parks were left to deteriorate rather than demolished.[3][4]

History

Positioned on the shore of Bay Lake, near Discovery Island in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando, Florida, River Country 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]

River Country was featured in a musical number from the 1977 The 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 the attractions at the park.

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 from the lake 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 new water park, Typhoon Lagoon. It had much more parking, many more slides, newer amenities, and was a much larger water park. In 1995, Disney opened its third water park, Blizzard Beach. River Country was much smaller than the other two water parks, yet the park remained, surviving the competition.

As it did every year, River Country closed at the end of the warm-weather season (the park closed on September 1, 2001), with the expectation that the water park would reopen in the spring of 2002. But after the 9/11 attacks, the decline in business for all Disney parks and hotels prompted Disney to halt the reopening of River Country. On April 11, 2002, the Orlando Sentinel reported, “Walt Disney World’s first water park, River Country, has closed and may not reopen.” The report concluded 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] River Country never reopened and remains abandoned as a forgotten Disney relic as of today. Disney employees monitor the area for trespassers.[9]

List of attractions

Attractions included:[10][11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Almost Forgotten". Teen Disney: For Kids By Kids. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
  2. ↑ Smith, Dave (September 2010). "Ask Dave". D23. Archived from the original on September 28, 2010. Retrieved September 28, 2010.
  3. ↑ Fritz. "Abandoned Disney River Country". Abandoned Disney series. ImagineeringDisney.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  4. ↑ "River Country Neglected". DisBoards.com. Retrieved November 28, 2012.
  5. ↑ "River Country". WDWhistory.com. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  6. ↑ "A Tribute to Disney's River Country". BigFloridaCountry.com. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  7. 1 2 http://www.yesterland.com/rivercountry.html
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ Sim, Nick (March 29, 2015). "Abandoned: The Rise, Fall and Decay of Disney’s River Country". Theme Park Tourist. Retrieved November 1, 2015.
  10. ↑ Weiss, Werner. "River Country News". Yesterland. Retrieved December 5, 2012.
  11. ↑ "River Country". WDWinfo. Retrieved December 5, 2012.

External links

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