So if Disney rebuilt a River Country exactly as it was

mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
How many on here would enjoy going to it again?

I know they won't before anyone explains that, I suppose another way of putting it would be "Was it really that good to begin with"? I remember going a couple of times before the other water parks at Disney opened and did enjoy it to a certain degree. The highlight of it was probably the feel of the sand squelching between your toes as you swam in the lake in the cordoned off area trying to avoid the deadly bacteria. It also felt quite secluded tucked away from everywhere else whilst still providing a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom from the lake's edges.

As a downside I hated getting there. When you drove and parked there, you then had to take a bus from the parking area to the water park itself. If you'd just missed the bus (I did), then you had to stand around waiting for the next one for what seemed an age. It was nicely themed but in reality there wasn't that much to do there activity wise, certainly not compared to the current offerings at TL and BB.

In it's day it was probably very good and a nice little diversion from the hustle and bustle of the other parks. Each time I rent a sea racer from the Contemporary mariner I always head over there for a little bit of nostalgia. But the reality is, if it still was there, I probably wouldn't visit it.
 
Tuvalu

Tuvalu

Premium Member
We always stayed at the Contemporary when I was a child and one of the highlights of our vacation was riding the boat over to Ft. Wilderness and going to River Country. Water parks did not exist where we lived and water slides (especially the inner tube rapids ride) were unbelievably cool!! Such fond memories :).

But yes, both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach blew River Country out of the water, so to speak. My children had the same reaction to BB as I had had to River Country. In fact, we visited River Country in the late afternoon of the same day we had spent at Blizzard Beach...and my children could not understand why I had liked River Country so much!:eek:

Though it saddens me to see River Country abandoned, I understand why it closed.
 
Ariel1986

Ariel1986

Well-Known Member
I loved it! I think there was a simpleness to it and a relaxing secluded atmosphere that made it special. I was 13-14 the times that I visited and I went to TL and BB at those times as well, but loved River Country just as much.
It was my dad's favourite and we used to bring a picnic, sit at the tables in the far corner looking out onto the lake and make a day of it. I loved the feeling of swimming in a "lake" and the "adventure" feel to it. And I also used to think the drop slides in the swimming pool part were really high and the drops were huge! I remember doing a scuba session in that pool too. I'd definitely revisit it if it was to re-open, even if just for nostalgia's sake. I think I would still appreciate it for what it is though.
 
B

Boardwalker

Active Member
mergatroid said:
How many on here would enjoy going to it again?

I know they won't before anyone explains that, I suppose another way of putting it would be "Was it really that good to begin with"? I remember going a couple of times before the other water parks at Disney opened and did enjoy it to a certain degree. The highlight of it was probably the feel of the sand squelching between your toes as you swam in the lake in the cordoned off area trying to avoid the deadly bacteria. It also felt quite secluded tucked away from everywhere else whilst still providing a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom from the lake's edges.

As a downside I hated getting there. When you drove and parked there, you then had to take a bus from the parking area to the water park itself. If you'd just missed the bus (I did), then you had to stand around waiting for the next one for what seemed an age. It was nicely themed but in reality there wasn't that much to do there activity wise, certainly not compared to the current offerings at TL and BB.

In it's day it was probably very good and a nice little diversion from the hustle and bustle of the other parks. Each time I rent a sea racer from the Contemporary mariner I always head over there for a little bit of nostalgia. But the reality is, if it still was there, I probably wouldn't visit it.
Click to expand...

Let me fix your question
"If they rebuilt river country exactly as it was, would it still suck?"
Yes
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
mergatroid said:
How many on here would enjoy going to it again?

I know they won't before anyone explains that, I suppose another way of putting it would be "Was it really that good to begin with"? I remember going a couple of times before the other water parks at Disney opened and did enjoy it to a certain degree. The highlight of it was probably the feel of the sand squelching between your toes as you swam in the lake in the cordoned off area trying to avoid the deadly bacteria. It also felt quite secluded tucked away from everywhere else whilst still providing a glimpse of the Magic Kingdom from the lake's edges.

As a downside I hated getting there. When you drove and parked there, you then had to take a bus from the parking area to the water park itself. If you'd just missed the bus (I did), then you had to stand around waiting for the next one for what seemed an age. It was nicely themed but in reality there wasn't that much to do there activity wise, certainly not compared to the current offerings at TL and BB.

In it's day it was probably very good and a nice little diversion from the hustle and bustle of the other parks. Each time I rent a sea racer from the Contemporary mariner I always head over there for a little bit of nostalgia. But the reality is, if it still was there, I probably wouldn't visit it.
Click to expand...
That's a fun little thought experiment.

One would not build River Country as a stand-alone water park anymore.

But theme parks age too, ripen. Nobody would build Peter Pan anymore either nowadays. Or the Jungle Cruise, or Small World. And yet their appeal is timeless. It is partly their very age that lends them charm. It gives them an aura of innocent charm, products of a more civilised age, that goes very well with the general Disney sentiment. River Country in 2015 would still be awesome, the way Disneyland is only more awesome for being sixty.

River Country itself was always nostalgic, build as an ol' swimmin' hole of a bygone era. The effect would only have been strengthened when combined with the memories of generations. If you walked Main Street with your parents decades ago, then the nostalgia of Main Street becomes almost tangible, personal nostalgia being mixed with the nostalgic early 1900s theme, both reinforcing and strengthening each other.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
A little off-topic, but have there ever been any murmurs about Disney building a 3rd full-scale water park?
Since they've already got a tropical-themed park (like 95% of the water parks out there) and a weird winter/Olympic-themed park, would the "River Country" name and aesthetic be a viable basis for a theoretical 3rd water park?
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
Bairstow said:
A little off-topic, but have there ever been any murmurs about Disney building a 3rd full-scale water park?
Since they've already got a tropical-themed park (like 95% of the water parks out there) and a weird winter/Olympic-themed park, would the "River Country" name and aesthetic be a viable basis for a theoretical 3rd water park?
Click to expand...
Weird winter/Olympic/ski resort/Christmas/Alpine/gator-themed park. BB is great, but I too wish they would've streamlined its theme.

The water parks are overcrowded. Meanwhile Disney has let the competition build/announce four water parks, on top of all those hotel swimming pool / water park hybrids.

You'd think a third water park would be a no brainer. Maybe there is some metric doing the rounds that shows daily per guest spending is less at a water than theme park.

At any rate, a River Country name and aesthetic would totally work, I think. But then, for me Horizons also totally works whereas common wisdom holds that we need celebs or toon IP for the snowflake generation. And would they even understand the Mark Twain imagery? ('Mark Dwayne who?")
 
THEMEPARKPIONEER

THEMEPARKPIONEER

Well-Known Member
My nalstalgia is at Typhoon Lagoon. River Coubtry to me was just a mini vershion and not much different to me. Although I was exited when I stayed at Fort Wilderness because the water park was right there and it happened to close right before our trip.
 
Bairstow

Bairstow

Well-Known Member
The Empress Lilly said:
Weird winter/Olympic/ski resort/Christmas/Alpine/gator-themed park. BB is great, but I too wish they would've streamlined its theme.

The water parks are overcrowded. Meanwhile Disney has let the competition build/announce four water parks, on top of all those hotel swimming pool / water park hybrids.

You'd think a third water park would be a no brainer. Maybe there is some metric doing the rounds that shows daily per guest spending is less at a water than theme park.
Click to expand...

I'm sure it was, but I'd be willing to bet that in-water-park spending is one of the things the MagicBands has really helped.
I found it really handy to not have to swim with my credit cards or cash last time I was at their water parks, and Disney does a really good job of making sure there are a wide selection of beers and other drinks at the water parks. Come to think of it, the bars at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach rival most of the ones at the theme parks.
 
WondersOfLife

WondersOfLife

Blink, blink. Breathe, breathe. Day in, day out.
I would imagine that it wouldn't be big enough to stand up to the Disney water park prices currently.. Probably as a hotel bonus as part of staying on-site maybe..

Like Matt said, I already don't even go to the 2 water parks that exist. Just not my thing. Theme parks are my ally xP
 
cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
I'd visit once, but probably never go back after. Just not enough there to really get me to spend my money there when there are four better water parks in Orlando.
 
A

Andy64

New Member
Bairstow said:
A little off-topic, but have there ever been any murmurs about Disney building a 3rd full-scale water park?
Since they've already got a tropical-themed park (like 95% of the water parks out there) and a weird winter/Olympic-themed park, would the "River Country" name and aesthetic be a viable basis for a theoretical 3rd water park?
Click to expand...

There may be some information somewhere but I remember the name Rajin Cajin being banded around as a possible 3rd park to be built near Port Orleans and Dixie Landings (Riverside now of course)...
 

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