River Country????

[LuluLovesDisney]

Hi, guys! I did a search on River Country, nothing came up, so I paged through the last few pages on the rumors board- nothing.

Does anyone know what's going on with this piece of land? It is in such a great location!!

 

[doconeill]

Hi, guys! I did a search on River Country, nothing came up, so I paged through the last few pages on the rumors board- nothing.

Does anyone know what's going on with this piece of land? It is in such a great location!!

Look at the thread FW Update- there may be a possible answer there. But the rumors haven't been very strong about them doing anything for a while.

 

[Dznefreek]

Disney Makes Improvements At Campground

POSTED: 7:50 am EDT August 25, 2008


LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Walt Disney World is making the largest set of improvements in the last two decades to its Fort Wilderness Campground.

The Central Florida theme park is in the process of adding extra-large camper pads for recreational vehicles, cable-TV and Internet service, Segway scooter tours, a mini-water park, a dog park and an improved electric-cart rental operation.

Jean Gallagher, the campground's general manager says the area hasn't seen many improvements in its 37-year history, mostly because of the traditionally rustic nature of camping. Gallagher says the new upgrades will better meet the expectations of modern guests.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

 

[JimB.]

a mini-water park

Hmmmmm. I wonder what this means........

Could they actually be planning to DO something to River Country?

I snuck near there the last time I was in that area and it looks like a 100 year old ghost town...............

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Hmmmmm. I wonder what this means........

Could they actually be planning to DO something to River Country?

I snuck near there the last time I was in that area and it looks like a 100 year old ghost town...............

There's pics of it somewhere online- it's all overgrown, drained pools filled with rainwater, algae and mosquito nests. So sad.

Thanks for all this info. I really would love to see them do SOMETHING with it! I am sure that would be great for people who stay at Fort Wilderness. It would certainly encourage me to consider a cabin.

 

[minnie61650]

There's pics of it somewhere online- it's all overgrown, drained pools filled with rainwater, algae and mosquito nests. So sad.

Thanks for all this info. I really would love to see them do SOMETHING with it! I am sure that would be great for people who stay at Fort Wilderness. It would certainly encourage me to consider a cabin.

Some recent photos of River Country :

What a shame!

 

[OrlandoMike]

Taking some of the slides from River Country and moving them to one of the pools...

River Country is dead!

 

[doconeill]

Weren't there rumors last year of a company getting a contract to rebuild the filtration systems or some such that sounded an awful lot like a River Country rebuilding...maybe they weren't the usual rumors.

"A mini water park" makes sense. It's less than half the size across and probably 25% of the area of either Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard beach, and probably couldn't come near being able to support the capacity needed if it were opened as a regular water park again. But as an extension of FW, it could work as a big draw, similar to Stormalong Bay.

 

[OrlandoMike]

From the news release....

"Disney also is adding a themed water-slide and splash-zone attraction to The Meadows area pool. Fort Wilderness abuts River Country, Disney World's original water park, which closed a few years ago. Now designers and engineers are looking over what's left of that park, and they're thinking about moving and recycling the park's signature water tower to the Fort Wilderness pool and building a slide into it."

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

Thanks, OrlandoMike, so that still leaves the land open. Hmm. Maybe they can move the Adventurer's Club there? Or build more DVC.

I really hope they do something!

 

[IMACM]

It looks like gator country!!!!!!!!!!!!! eeeccckkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rutgers1]

When I last stayed at Fort Wilderness a few years ago, I just stared in disbelief when I saw what had become of River Country. As a kid, it was my favorite part of Disney. In hindsight, I probably wouldn't feel comfortable letting my kids out of my sight while swimming there since I can't see the bottom, but it really provided great memories for myself and my family.

Best Memory: Back in the days when the WWF ruled, I was splashing around and looked up to see former WWF star Big John Stud. The guy was huge!

 

[maleficent94]

I talked to a CM on our boat trip from the MK to FW 3 weeks ago. He said he heard rumors of Disney re-opening RC for FW guests.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Which rumor, if you read Orlando Mikes post, just isn't true. Looking at the pics suggests it would be a major effort to re-open it, even if they wanted to.

 

[sidnu]

That is really sad

 

[Captain Bryman]

Does anyone know why it closed in the first place?

 

[moredisneyplease]

Does anyone know why it closed in the first place?

Great question! anyone?

All I know is that I have very fond memories of RC! My husband and i got to experience it together as newlyweds right before it shut down.

 

[doconeill]

Does anyone know why it closed in the first place?

I don't know if an official reason had ever been given - there has been a lot of speculation about contamination from Bay Lake, etc.

But essentially it became redundant and underutilized after Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach were opened.

 

[Captain Bryman]

I don't know if an official reason had ever been given - there has been a lot of speculation about contamination from Bay Lake, etc.

But essentially it became redundant and underutilized after Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach were opened.

But wouldn't it be more profitable if Disney had another water park open. It would be more convenient for the people who stay at the monorail resorts. I guess they closed it because it is actaully in bay lake and the upkeep was too costly I guess.

 

[mousebrain]

I don't know the specifics... but if the water temperature gets above 90, a very NASTY and DEADLY bacteria grows.... if you get this in your nose, you are in deep deep trouble and will probably die. I'm not making this up! RC used the water from Bay Lake, maybe one time it was clean enough, but I would not swim in it. I think some kids died last summer in Orlando of this.