utrythinkinof1
Member
I was just wondering that....
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Recent photos of River Country
- Thread starter CHAPPS
- Start date
Why does this look like a slide going into the ground? Or is it THAT swampy??
This used to be the kiddie slide that emptied into a wading pool that was never very deep. The water that was in it is long gone and it has just become completely overgrown with weeds. Click the following link to see a picture of what it used to look like:
http://www.disneypix.com/Pana-Vue/DisneyWorld/River%20Country/WDW-925%20-%20The%20Ol'%20Wading%20Pool.jpg.htm
mrtoad
Well-Known Member
I was thinking the same thing about Logan's Run, don't know how many people here are old enough to remember that movie.
Great "insider" photos, how about that lonely yellow innertube sitting in all that pond scumPLus I love the last picture of the "River County is Closed" sign....really:lookaroun
It could be used for a movie set of Logan's Run in Disney World!
Loved it as a kid. I watched it a few years ago on TNT or some channel after not seeing since the 1970s and I am surprised it was PG when it came out. There is a scene where he is being chased through a club and though it is hard to see everything the way it is filmed, everybody in the club is naked and it seems like a "love" club. Don't remember that as a kid, so maybe it was cut on TV back then. Ratings were very soft back then I guess, the original Planet of the Apes is rated G and they are shooting people and stringing up the bodies, Chuck H. drops his drawers, etc. Today it is much more strict.
summergirl32
New Member
These pictures are very sad. I love TL and BB but I enjoyed the nostalgia of River Country. It reminded me of a time when the main attraction in a water park was the water not the high speed slides.
natalia1681
New Member
I love River Country!! The pics of the kiddie slides really bring back memories of when I thought I was some big business sliding down that while my parents watched.
Thanks for the pics and the memories!
Thanks for the pics and the memories!
pinjim
New Member
Disney vault
The reason River Country closed was because the pool was leaking into the Disney Vault, which is located below the main pool area. How else do you image then could hide such a large project, but disguise it as another project which came out as River Country back in the day. Besides, haven't you noticed that Disney opens and closes more of the video part of the vault these days!!!:wave:
The reason River Country closed was because the pool was leaking into the Disney Vault, which is located below the main pool area. How else do you image then could hide such a large project, but disguise it as another project which came out as River Country back in the day. Besides, haven't you noticed that Disney opens and closes more of the video part of the vault these days!!!:wave:
optjay
Well-Known Member
Very well put!!
I wory that all the high speed attractions Disney is building/thinking of building will have the same affect on Disney classic rides in the parks.
I know whan I was young, River country was such a relaxing good time.
domndebs
Member
Thanks for the pics. It's the first time I've ever seen any pics of River Country, looks like it must have been a beautiful place to relax.
As a teenager on earlier visits to WDW with limited time the attraction of bigger slides and stuff at TL & BB won over everytime. Now looking at the pics I whished we had gone to RC once, it may not have the slides, but I bet it was a great place to spend some time. I can't beleive it's still sitting there though!
As a teenager on earlier visits to WDW with limited time the attraction of bigger slides and stuff at TL & BB won over everytime. Now looking at the pics I whished we had gone to RC once, it may not have the slides, but I bet it was a great place to spend some time. I can't beleive it's still sitting there though!
That seems to be a common practice. When AK's pool was closed a while back, they were giving guests free admission to Blizzard.
Thanks for posting the pictures. It is the most thorough documenting of River Country I think I have ever seen.... I haven't even seen photos of some of those areas when they were open! It brings back a lot of memories.
Recreation CMs in Fort Wilderness have heard that there is discussion every budget year about trying to bring back at least the pool area for the use of Fort Wilderness, since the (plain, boring) pools at Fort Wilderness always score low on guest surveys. Any resort that doesn't have a pool with a slide gets complaints about not having a slide, and Fort Wilderness is one of them.
Personally, I cannot imagine it happening any time soon. The pool area could be rehabilitated, but the effort to do something with the lake area, with its forlorn yellow tube, would be an expensive one. I had forgotten how big the rest of River Country was. Even just filling the area in and putting in volleyball courts or something would be a big effort because they would have to do something with the slides.
piratelass
New Member
It always kinda creeps me out to see pictures like that. Between those pictures and the ones of the unfinished part of Pop Century, it looks like an atomic bomb has landed and wiped out half the population. ><
Horizons1
Well-Known Member
Why does this look like a slide going into the ground? Or is it THAT swampy??
Wow, that really is sad. I distinctly remember that part of RC from when I was little. I always loved that pool and slide. I remember how weird it felt (to a little kid anyways) to walk through the sand on the bottom of that pool and going down the slides so many times. I knew RC's condition was bad but still...
meanstreak82
New Member
About a week ago, RC was discussed on another thread and contained some other great pictures of the site...
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=108466
Also, take a look at how the whole site looks now...
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nr1nyb862nzv&style=o&lvl=2&scene=3929698
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=108466
Also, take a look at how the whole site looks now...
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nr1nyb862nzv&style=o&lvl=2&scene=3929698
I showed the photos to my sister, and she commented that it's likely that the potential of illness may not have been the cause of closing River Country. Changing standards for lifeguards have gotten tighter, and if you can't see the bottom of the water, it is not considered safely guarded.
I had forgotten.... an audit by Ellis and Associates about two years ago forced Disney to put more lights in the pool area at AKL because there wasn't enough light to see the bottom properly. There isn't enough light in the world to make that lake water safe to guard if it is held to those same standards.
I had forgotten.... an audit by Ellis and Associates about two years ago forced Disney to put more lights in the pool area at AKL because there wasn't enough light to see the bottom properly. There isn't enough light in the world to make that lake water safe to guard if it is held to those same standards.
Those photos were pretty poor quality, though, compared to the ones Chapps posted here. They all looked like they were taken from outside the fence surrounding River Country. Also I think they were taken over a year ago.
Main Street USA
Well-Known Member
Just thought this little map might apply here. Plus, it can give those who didn't know River Country a better idea of the layout to help understand where the photos were taken a little better.
minnie61650
Member
To the OP thanks for posting the photos.
River Country was a fav of my families.
It is now just a sad reminder of what it once was.
Here is a photo from:
http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id220.htm
WDW opened River Country on June 20,1976.
It was closed in November 2001 because of problems with the water quality(it was reported that some of the Bay lake water contaminated the water).
Our family went to River Country Octoberof 1976 when it was brand new and
returned several times after that. It was a favorite of our family and our son age 25 still talks about how that was his favorite water park.
Because of the water issue I do not think they will ever restore River Country the way it was.
However River Country had a really nice themed pool with a water slide and I always wondered why Disney did not at least keep the pool open for FW guests.
Upstream Plunge Pool and Slippery Slides
At the back of this clear water pool are two steep slides that drop swimmers off in a free fall splashdown.
Here is a photo:
There was a contained pool as part of River Country.
Here is the photo from this website:
http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id220.htm
The pool is in the lower right corner of the photo.
I have often wondered why Disney did not save the pool area and use it for the FW guests.
bugsbunny
Well-Known Member
Here's a 2 part million dollar question to think about.....
How many gallons and of what Methyl-Ethyl-Death chemical are they using to spray those mosquito filled incubators? :hurl:
Given the climate and very rememerable Encephalitis warnings for that part of Florida, one has to wonder the almost constant vigil that Disney needs to have on those basins.
Container breeder mosquitos needs nothing more than an overturned soda bottle cap with a few drops of water in it to make dozens, if not a hundred, little blood s__________g babies. I can only imagine that the empty pool could hold millions. I'm sure Disney has to something about it since it falls under a Dept. of Health issue.
Would just love to know what they use and are doing to combat it.
How many gallons and of what Methyl-Ethyl-Death chemical are they using to spray those mosquito filled incubators? :hurl:
Given the climate and very rememerable Encephalitis warnings for that part of Florida, one has to wonder the almost constant vigil that Disney needs to have on those basins.
Container breeder mosquitos needs nothing more than an overturned soda bottle cap with a few drops of water in it to make dozens, if not a hundred, little blood s__________g babies. I can only imagine that the empty pool could hold millions. I'm sure Disney has to something about it since it falls under a Dept. of Health issue.
Would just love to know what they use and are doing to combat it.