For those of you who go in the water at 7 Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake...

[TuckandStuiesMom]

we were sad when we went back in 2003 and saw it was posted.

 

[AJKMOM]

Someone asked about swimming in the triathalon with the alligators. I read here that during the race, there is only a roped off channel to swim in, and the lake is heavily patrolled by boats when the swimmers are in. Knowing what I know about Bay Lake, they couldn't pay me to swim there.

 

[Seahunt]

Local info on the lakes in FL - I think Disney is playing it safe:

Q - Is it safe to swim in Florida lakes? Amoebas have been known to infect children and then some die?

Yes, unfortunately, there have been a few tragic deaths caused by amoebas in freshwater lakes in Florida. And no, Florida state health officials have advised against swimming in freshwater areas until it cools off.

In July 2002, two boys in the Orlando area were affected after swimming in warm lakes, where they got the infections. One boy, 12, died after being infected by an amoeba (a microscopic organism) in the Conway chain of lakes. Being infected by this kind of amoeba is almost always fatal, as it is said to travel to the brain and not respond to antibiotics. Another boy, 15, was doing better as of this writing after battling a bacterial infection caught at Lake Talmadge. He reportedly had a cut, where the bacteria may have entered his body.

These aren't the first people to be infected this way -- you may hear about such cases almost every year -- but the infection is pretty rare. According to health reports, only 150 cases of the amoeba infection have been reported (18 in Florida from 1962-2000), and there have been only 50 cases of the 15-year-old's bacterial infection. Florida may see a greater percentage of these kinds of infections because these organisms thrive in the warm muck of the lake bottoms -- and people seek the swimming holes to get a reprieve from the heat.

Florida state health officials have advised against going into Florida freshwater areas until temperatures drop. If you must go into a lake, according to the Florida Department of Health, "wear nose clips, avoid stirring up sediment and avoid swimming near lake bottoms, where organisms are more concentrated."

 

[Disneyholic]

In 1997 on our first trip to WDW River Country was still open. They had a regular pool with chlorine as well as the lake area with slides and such. DS, 10 at the time ended up coming down a slide into very deep water and ended up swallowing quite a bit till I got to him and got him out. That night he had a bad case of diarrhea. From what I remember this lake was a sectioned off part of Bay Lake. It had a sand bottom and the water was GREEN. It was really gross. We also went to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon during this trip and loved both. DS and I even did Summit Plummet. DH is not a swimmer and doesn't like water slides, so he stayed down at the bottom.

I really wasn't surprised when I heard that River Country had closed. I would never go back there! Can't imagine letting kids swim in any part of the lakes at WDW. They just don't look healthy, plus the idea of swimming with alligators is not my idea of fun. The ducks in the swimming pools are bad enough.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Someone asked about swimming in the triathalon with the alligators. I read here that during the race, there is only a roped off channel to swim in, and the lake is heavily patrolled by boats when the swimmers are in. Knowing what I know about Bay Lake, they couldn't pay me to swim there.

Well if I was participating in the triathalon it would be a re-enactment of Jesus walking on water! I would be running across that water like Dash! Between the bacteria and the gators it seems like it is a race for survival!

 

[HappyDznyCamper]

Sometime in the late 80's or early 90's a filtration system was added to River Country, so that even if the bacteria levels were high in Bay Lake, River Country was as clean as possibly. The pumps and filters need losts of attention and the cost help to close the very first water park.