Whatever will become of River Country?

[pumpkin7]

Why demolish when they can just leave it and eventually the earth will reclaim those lovely plastic slides...?
I saw a great picture someone posted of one of the staff rooms at River Country. It was pretty much a massive mess but there was a placard honouring all the staff members of the month on it. Such a shame.

 

[Rainbow Dash]

When disney abandons a place on their property which is relatively easy to access, I don't get why they don't take all of the memorabilia/staff/expensive stuff away. That, and things like paperwork and test vials.

 

[Andyjshort]

I only spent a few hours there, way back in 1998, before a thunderstorm closed it down for the day but I would love to go back.

 

[Mouseketeer #1]

or they could put in the abandoned pirates water park idea

I like this idea a lot. I think it would be great if they made this Pirates Water Adventure and then had boats to and from Discovery/Treasure Island which could feature a Pirates themed adventure or treasure hunt. That would be amazing!

 

[flavious27]

Doubt that disney would reopen as is because of the reasons they closed it. Namely it is remote without a parking lot and it is much smaller. There have been so many threads about a rumored dvc here, that I think only a 5th gate has more.

 

[RedFurredCadet]

Secluded archives block? Repurposed wildlife preserve for Floridian wildlife? Who knows?

 

[JessAnn]

I stumbled upon some 'abandoned themepark' videos on YouTube earlier this evening, and ended up finding a video of some older men (I think..) breaking into the old River Country water park, and showing what all was left of it.. I read the stories online and it sort of concerned me. The park from the map looked nice, and from what I know, I've never heard the park's name before besides from after that video. I did my research, and from what I discovered I couldn't figure out a reason why it had closed in the first place, aside from some kids getting a brain-devouring bacterial infection which took their lives. But, the one thing about that theory was that the cases were almost 20 years before the park's closure, and seemed sort of 'irrelevant'. I know for sure that when I go in June I will scope this out, and stay in the guest areas, to see what I can see in-person, as I never got the chance to visit in during it's peak in history.. But, what if Disney went in and fixed it all up and brought it back? I for one am not a very big fan of the current waterparks, besides the big wave-pool at Typhoon Lagoon, and think that a 3rd water park would be nice to have, considering the other ones are packed FULL of people during the summer.

If you have any pictures or video, I would LOVE to see them.

Link to the YouTube video:

 

[PlutoHasFleas]

Ha. ATW. I want to sit down and talk with him soon, at least while he's back in FL.

Anyway, I heard Florida passed a bill back then that said water parks couldn't use water from lakes or other natural sources because of the conditions amoebas, and thats why Disney finally closed RC.

Deaths don't stop Disney.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Ha. ATW. I want to sit down and talk with him soon, at least while he's back in FL.

Anyway, I heard Florida passed a bill back then that said water parks couldn't use water from lakes or other natural sources because of the conditions amoebas, and thats why Disney finally closed RC.

Deaths don't stop Disney.

No, it was a financial thing.

 

[NormC]

The park was open for 21 years after the "Amoeba death". It was not the reason for the closure.

 

[sshindel]

The closure, as far as I can tell, was solely financial as @PhotoDave219 mentioned. Timely today, but the economic downturn after 9/11 seems to have done it in. It closed as normal on 9/1/2001, back then it typically closed annualy for the winter. When the travel downturn came post-9/11, it just didn't open back up.

In a Sentinel article in April of 2002, it's said that if there is "guest demand", they would reopen.

Disney World spokesman Bill Warren said that River Country could be reopened if "there's enough guest demand."

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...1_river-country-typhoon-lagoon-blizzard-beach

How 'bout now Disney? Is there guest demand???

The other day I was at a local park and looked around at the pool area there, and was slapped in the face with nostalgia when I saw that they had one of the slides like River Country had. Where it just stopped at a certain point and dropped you to the pool. All it was missing was some faux-rockwork!

Man did I love River Country.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Looks like it's time for this clip again....

 

[dumboflyer]

Can we all agree that @JessAnn wins BUMP of the day? That was a solid 18 months of bumpage. Very nice.

 

[dstrawn9889]

NIIIICCCCEEEE @JessAnn, necro'ed a dead thread

 

[Bairstow]

Well... since the thread got bumped, in the latest Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill said he believes River Country is set to be demoed to make way for another DVC construction project.
Supposedly this one will be very similar to the bungalows at the Polynesian, with suites extending out over the water.

 

[sshindel]

Well... since the thread got bumped, in the latest Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill said he believes River Country is set to be demoed to make way for another DVC construction project.
Supposedly this one will be very similar to the bungalows at the Polynesian, with suites extending out over the water.

I wonder how closely it will resemble the plans we saw around here 2-3 years ago.

 

[djlaosc]

Well... since the thread got bumped, in the latest Disney Dish podcast, Jim Hill said he believes River Country is set to be demoed to make way for another DVC construction project.
Supposedly this one will be very similar to the bungalows at the Polynesian, with suites extending out over the water.

I think that this plan was mentioned on here back in July...

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-spirited-8th-wonder-wdws-future-you.887031/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...er-wdws-future-you.887031/page-2#post-6221696

 

[Bairstow]

I think that this plan was mentioned on here back in July...

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/the-spirited-8th-wonder-wdws-future-you.887031/
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...er-wdws-future-you.887031/page-2#post-6221696

Probably.
Just not in this thread.

 

[4disneylovers]

Unfortunately my phone battery is going to die before I can read this thread. This is so ironic because this morning I was thinking of searching for a video of abandoned River Country. I went there all the time as a kid.

 

[UofMGuy423]

I would love to see it reopened, I can't imagine the cost of converting the lake portion of the swimming hole to a pool with filtered water would be that expensive. It would require cleaning up the overgrowth and repairing the slides, etc. Would seem to be cheaper than building a whole new water park. Seems like such a waste to let it sit there unused.