ruins of old rides

[Mickey1984]

You might want to check out this video posted on youtube. Some guys managed to sneak into the former River Country. It's pretty creepy, the background music that used to play all over the park is still playing. You can't see much cause it was taped at dawn, but hey, the music is loud!

I only went to River Country once, but it's still sad to see how they just abandon and forget about what used to be a really fun park.

Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4JwgmPEIDQ

nice video, but surely Disney do not still have the music paying - this must cost them a fortune, whats the point?

 

[Rob562]

nice video, but surely Disney do not still have the music paying - this must cost them a fortune, whats the point?

It's probably just a speaker or two that are hooked into the same music loop that's playing over by Pioneer Hall, and no one ever bothered to disconnect it (Electricians or A/V techs cost money...).

-Rob

 

[marr5]

A bit of track from the Fort Wilderness Railroad still exists
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...0659,-81.55486&spn=0.000964,0.001186&t=h&z=20

 

[flavious27]

There were the mockup rooms that eisner had made before the hotels were built. I doubt they still exist, but I have seen picture of them sitting in some field.

 

[flavious27]

nice video, but surely Disney do not still have the music paying - this must cost them a fortune, whats the point?

it can't be turned off if it is hoked into the rest of the sound system at FW.

 

[ABigBrassBand]

A major ruin site is River Country, the very much forgotten Disney World park. It was opened sometime around 1977 and closed in 2001, though no exact reason was announced:shrug:.

Are you sure about that? Last time I checked there were regulations put in about waterparks using lake water instead of filtered water, and the lake had harmful bacteria in it as well.

 

[flavious27]

Are you sure about that? Last time I checked there were regulations put in about waterparks using lake water instead of filtered water, and the lake had harmful bacteria in it as well.

i have heard that, also typhoon was open. river country wasn't getting any business and new regs gave disney a reason to close it.

 

[ABigBrassBand]

i have heard that, also typhoon was open. river country wasn't getting any business and new regs gave disney a reason to close it.

Yea, it was going to go down anyways, but the new regs told them that they had to. :shrug:

 

[disneyrcks]

Are you sure about that? Last time I checked there were regulations put in about waterparks using lake water instead of filtered water, and the lake had harmful bacteria in it as well.

I heard the same thing about the bacteria but my dad/stepmom and sisters live in Orlando and when I said that to her she laughed at me (and she is 17 lol) I have been to River Country a handfull of times before it closed it was so awesome. As far as the bacteria I would think they would ban all lakes in Orlando if it was that much of a problem.

 

[ABigBrassBand]

I heard the same thing about the bacteria but my dad/stepmom and sisters live in Orlando and when I said that to her she laughed at me (and she is 17 lol) I have been to River Country a handfull of times before it closed it was so awesome. As far as the bacteria I would think they would ban all lakes in Orlando if it was that much of a problem.

It's not the fact that the lakes have it--it has to do with the fact that Disney was running an entire waterpark on that lake water, which could easily find it's way to contaminate guests.

 

[Phonedave]

I heard the same thing about the bacteria but my dad/stepmom and sisters live in Orlando and when I said that to her she laughed at me (and she is 17 lol) I have been to River Country a handfull of times before it closed it was so awesome. As far as the bacteria I would think they would ban all lakes in Orlando if it was that much of a problem.

It is not bacteria. It is an amoeba - specificaly Naegleria Fowleri

It lives all over the place, in bodies of warm fresh water. It can enter the body through the nose - or more correctly, throught the nasal membrane. It does not happen too often, but when it does, you are pretty much dead.

People have died (and continue to die) from this all over the US and all over the world. It is just not very common.

N. fowleri is present in about 80% of all Florida lakes. Most of the time it is present at the mud/water interface, but it can be found free swimming at times. It is also much more active in hotter water temperatures.

So, yes, there is a very real threat in Florida's fresh waters.

However, there was never any clear reason given as to why River Country was closed. It is a lot like the closing of the Skyway. There was never any clear reason for that as well. There was a death, people would drop things / spit, but there was no defining reason given as to why it closed.

You will note that Sammy Duval operates ski and para-sailing in the lake. Most of the time the ameoba is at the bottom of the lake, so your chances are lower if you are on top - such as sking. In addition, if you want to be ubersafe, wear nose clips.

-dave

 

[flavious27]

It is not bacteria. It is an amoeba - specificaly Naegleria Fowleri

It lives all over the place, in bodies of warm fresh water. It can enter the body through the nose - or more correctly, throught the nasal membrane. It does not happen too often, but when it does, you are pretty much dead.

People have died (and continue to die) from this all over the US and all over the world. It is just not very common.

N. fowleri is present in about 80% of all Florida lakes. Most of the time it is present at the mud/water interface, but it can be found free swimming at times. It is also much more active in hotter water temperatures.

So, yes, there is a very real threat in Florida's fresh waters.

However, there was never any clear reason given as to why River Country was closed. It is a lot like the closing of the Skyway. There was never any clear reason for that as well. There was a death, people would drop things / spit, but there was no defining reason given as to why it closed.

You will note that Sammy Duval operates ski and para-sailing in the lake. Most of the time the ameoba is at the bottom of the lake, so your chances are lower if you are on top - such as sking. In addition, if you want to be ubersafe, wear nose clips.

-dave

Disney closed all of their skyways because there were deaths, guests were misbehaving and there was an escalating cost to maintain them.

The reasons river country was closed are already well documented. Could disney reopen it, doubtful unless there was a financial reason to do it. They will let it sit for the foreseeable future because they don't need the land and there currently is not any risks to guests or employees.

 

[Phonedave]

Disney closed all of their skyways because there were deaths, guests were misbehaving and there was an escalating cost to maintain them.

The reasons river country was closed are already well documented. Could disney reopen it, doubtful unless there was a financial reason to do it. They will let it sit for the foreseeable future because they don't need the land and there currently is not any risks to guests or employees.

They never issued a press release or declaritive statement as to why either was closed.

There are clearly a lot of factors, but Disney never came out and said "we closed River Country because of *reason*". There was never a declaration that River Country would close on a specific date, it just sort of faded away. Limited hours, a desparation party, non-opening, and then just faded away.

The Skyway closed in a similar way. It was problematic, it required staff to run it, it provided a view of some ugly rooftops, and then there was the death. But unlike Disneyland, where an announcement was made that it would be closing on a specific date, WDW Skyway was just closed temporarly with no declaration of a closing date or reason. Permanent closure was announced at a later date.


-dave

 

[Master Yoda]

They never issued a press release or declaritive statement as to why either was closed.

There are clearly a lot of factors, but Disney never came out and said "we closed River Country because of *reason*". There was never a declaration that River Country would close on a specific date, it just sort of faded away. Limited hours, a desparation party, non-opening, and then just faded away.

The Skyway closed in a similar way. It was problematic, it required staff to run it, it provided a view of some ugly rooftops, and then there was the death. But unlike Disneyland, where an announcement was made that it would be closing on a specific date, WDW Skyway was just closed temporarly with no declaration of a closing date or reason. Permanent closure was announced at a later date.


-dave

That seems to be the MO of all closures at WDW. I know I might be missing one but I can not think of a single attraction at WDW whose closure was announced. They seem to go "seasonal" with sporadic reopenings until the bulldozers and construction walls show up.

 

[Captain Hank]

Just an update: The 20K sub is now behind World showcase in the would-have-been-Equatorial-Africa site, IIRC. The Tembo Truck (Kilimanjaro Safaris vehicle) behind the Vehicle Maintenance building at DAK is no longer there. Presumably it was refurbished and returned to service.

 

[Phonedave]

That seems to be the MO of all closures at WDW. I know I might be missing one but I can not think of a single attraction at WDW whose closure was announced. They seem to go "seasonal" with sporadic reopenings until the bulldozers and construction walls show up.

HISTA was announced I belive. But I don't think people were lining up to get in one last showing

Was ExtraTERRORistrial Encounter announced ?

I can't think of many either


-dave

 

[flavious27]

HISTA was announced I belive. But I don't think people were lining up to get in one last showing

Was ExtraTERRORistrial Encounter announced ?

I can't think of many either


-dave

HISTA's closure was announced as part of the announcement about capt eo coming back.

 

[blm07]

Just an update: The 20K sub is now behind World showcase in the would-have-been-Equatorial-Africa site, IIRC. The Tembo Truck (Kilimanjaro Safaris vehicle) behind the Vehicle Maintenance building at DAK is no longer there. Presumably it was refurbished and returned to service.

Yep, I was gonna say the same thing, the sub is behind Africa, and so is a Jungle Cruise boat. I wonder what else is in that piece of land. All of the Food and Wine booths and props are just chilling between France and Morocco, you can see them on Google Earth. A while ago that little underwater house that Joey and the other guy (I shall dub him "Huey") from Full House was in (when they went to WDW) was sitting behind the Seas.

 

[disneyrcks]

I do not think this was the reason that River Country closed...as Dave stated water sports continue at resorts in the same water. Also I really think the dangers of the amoeba couldn't have just been realized in 2001 when River Country closed. Of course I don't know anything as fact but in the modern age of science I think it is not unreasonable to consider that the effects of this amoeba in FL bodies of water were not known throughout (at least) the 90's. River Country had some awesome aspects such as the zipline and big drop slides. However Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach became the major waterparks. I think that is why River Country closed

 

[NYwdwfan]

I do not think this was the reason that River Country closed...as Dave stated water sports continue at resorts in the same water. Also I really think the dangers of the amoeba couldn't have just been realized in 2001 when River Country closed. Of course I don't know anything as fact but in the modern age of science I think it is not unreasonable to consider that the effects of this amoeba in FL bodies of water were not known throughout (at least) the 90's. River Country had some awesome aspects such as the zipline and big drop slides. However Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach became the major waterparks. I think that is why River Country closed

In addition to all the other speculation - there's the issue with River Country being un-heatable murky lake water. That lake gets COLD. It was seasonally closed for long periods of time, and although I have an affinity for that park because it was a staple of my childhood, it was certainly not awesome on the scale of what water parks today can offer. Aspects were cool - without a doubt - and I miss it for what it was - but it can no hold a candle to the 2 water parks they have now.