Bird Sanctuary??? River Country???

[PongoFan1]

Hello, I am wondering if anyone can help with a question I have...regarding old "skool" Disney and something they had a long time ago. Does anyone remember
the island you could walk through and hold the birds and see different animals (circa 1991-ish), way before Animal Kingdom was built?? I remember you took a boat there...but I cannot remember the name of it or anything...any help would be great!

When I had gone when I was kid, it was there, then years later, it was gone without so much of mention. Same as River Country, just up and gone...I mean I do love Typhoon Lagoon (Blizzard Beach not as much), but River Country was the original so it'll always have a special place in my heart!

 

[goalie5hole]

Discovery Island-closed about a year after Animal Kingdom opened. Maybe July 1999ish-not sure. There is now an area in Animal Kingdom called Discovery Island that used to be called Safari Village.

 

[Hathaway Browne]

Yup, the original Discovery Island. Wasn't too bad, went once or twice, bit of a hidden gem from what I remember.

Shame it closed, but when you've got Animal Kingdom ticking the same boxes you can't really expect people to pay twice for the same thing.

I wonder if they still have some of the birds over there? I presume those that could be rehomed in the Animal Kingdom aiveries would have been moved, but I wonder if any wild birds still inhabit the place?

 

[KYMickey]

Yup, the original Discovery Island. Wasn't too bad, went once or twice, bit of a hidden gem from what I remember.

Shame it closed, but when you've got Animal Kingdom ticking the same boxes you can't really expect people to pay twice for the same thing.

I wonder if they still have some of the birds over there? I presume those that could be rehomed in the Animal Kingdom aiveries would have been moved, but I wonder if any wild birds still inhabit the place?

Actually it was even worse because if I remember correctly Discovery Island was free. It was always a nice place to visit during the afternoon, it was never crowded and the walk along the paths and elevated walkways was well shaded from the afternoon sun.

We've seen a few birds flying around there after it was closed to the public, I believe all the netting was taken down so wild birds wouldn't get caught in it. They were also a rumor parts of the island were actually quite toxic due to the accumulation of bird feces. Not sure if that's true or not.

 

[disney1990]

I don't think that Discovery Island was free, but wasn't expensive. We went a couple times. It was a nice break from the parks.

 

[Dznefreek]

It was $7.00

 

[BRERALEX]

It was a cute island. Funny, I probably spent the same amount of time at DI as I do now in AK!

 

[skier_pete]

River Country closed sometime around the turn of the century. (Sorry, I love using that phrase!) It is abandoned. There are threads around here with pictures of the it abandoned. (Couldn't find one with a quick search, though.) That was a victim of both the other two water parks, and the fact that it used water from the lake, which the health department no longer allowed. While it might hold memories for some people, honestly can't say it is that much missed from my perspecive. DW and I went there on our first trip...it was basically a swimming hole with 2 tiny water slides...BB and TL were way better, and a lot of the resort pools are now on par with what RC provided.

Discovery Island...I remember holding a parrot lying on its back as a kid...they had trails and a few interactive exhibits...I don't remember when it closed, but I thought it was slightly before AK opened. (say 1997-1998), it was definitely a victim of AK. According to Jim Hill (who seems to report on pretty much anything anyone at Disney corporate mentioned while talking in the hallway - so take it with a grain of salt) was at one point talked of turning into a corporate retreat where they would have pirate themed cruises / dinner theatre.

SkierPete

 

[Dznefreek]

 

[anthony2k7]

i vaguely remember reading discovery island was sinking so had to be abandoned. Is that right or have i dreamt reading that?

 

[WDWFWfan]

Discovery Island was a nice afternoon diversion to visit. It is sad to see the facilities allowing to waste away like so many other areas of WDW. It looks a little minimal upkeep would keep the area useful for future expansion.

BTW, the pictures of the pool at RC...just sad. I understand why they had to close the part of RC that used the water from the lake, but why not partition that part off and allow the guests of FW to use the pool as a part of the campground? It just seems like such a waste.

 

[KYMickey]

i vaguely remember reading discovery island was sinking so had to be abandoned. Is that right or have i dreamt reading that?

I never heard a rumor and by looking at the island on recent trips it doesn't look like it's sunk any. The reason given for the closing (which makes sense) was that it was basically duplicated by parts of AK.

 

[goalie5hole]

i vaguely remember reading discovery island was sinking so had to be abandoned. Is that right or have i dreamt reading that?

Have you been watching LOST?

 

[skier_pete]

Have you been watching LOST?

There's an idea...retheme discovery island as "The Island"...you "crash" on the island with a group of strangers, and through a series of vague and bizarre clues have to figure out how to get off (or not get off) the island. Several hatches would have to be built...it's a three-day all-immersive experience at $1000 a pop! Hatches, smoke monsters and others...oh my!

SkierPete

 

[foodrocksluver]

BTW, the pictures of the pool at RC...just sad. I understand why they had to close the part of RC that used the water from the lake, but why not partition that part off and allow the guests of FW to use the pool as a part of the campground? It just seems like such a waste.

I agree. But last summer my mother spoke with a lady that had worked at FW for a long time and she said that the big rock structure where the regular swimming pool was is in such bad shape that it would be less expensive to build a whole new pool then refurb the RC pool.

Actually it was even worse because if I remember correctly Discovery Island was free.

We've seen a few birds flying around there after it was closed to the public, I believe all the netting was taken down so wild birds wouldn't get caught in it. They were also a rumor parts of the island were actually quite toxic due to the accumulation of bird feces. Not sure if that's true or not.

Discovery Island was not free. You could get a joint pass for the day that would allow you to go to both River Country and Discovery Island for something like $14.

If you notice, birds still flock to Discovery Island. I don't know why but if you ever take the boat from the MK to FW take a look at it and notice all the birds that are on that island as opposed to all the other.

 

[Dznefreek]

Actually a couple of ideas being tossed around in the late 90's was using the island as a full blown version of the game "Myst" which was very popular at the time. Another was to turn it into an adults only honeymoon/resort island. The only problem with the second was the handling of medical emergencies that may arise on the island.

 

[WDWFWfan]

I agree. But last summer my mother spoke with a lady that had worked at FW for a long time and she said that the big rock structure where the regular swimming pool was is in such bad shape that it would be less expensive to build a whole new pool then refurb the RC pool.

I wonder if that's the reason it wasn't converted in the beginning or its just from being left unattended without maintenance.