River Country

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River Country was Walt Disney World’s first waterpark. It opened in 1976, and closed for the final time in 2001. Since 2001, the area has sat virtually undisturbed. The slides and pools remain in place.

Here is a map of how the park was laid out:

Here are some photos taken in November, 2009.

These photos begin with photos of the slides which were known as Whoop ‘N Holler Hollow. This is the highest point in River Country. From here, you could choose between two slide, both of which dropped the guest of in rather deep water at the base of the hill. This is the walkway that lead to the higher of the two slides:

This is the slide as it looks today:

This is the view of Bay Lake and the Contemporary Resort in the distance from the top of Whoop N’ Holler Hollow:

Here are some more shots of the Hoop N’ Holler slides:

This is an old water wheel that used to spin around at the top of the hill:

This is one of the sets of stairs that led up to the slide. As you can see, the entire walkway has been obscured by vegetation:

More photos of the slides:

Here is the water wheel from another angle. You can see Bay Lake in the background:

This is the walkway that leads to the lower slide:

Things are continuing to fall and rot:

This is the beginning of the lower slide of the Whoop N’ Holler Hollow:

TCD

 

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Another fallen sign:

These are the stairs leading down from Whoop N’ Holler Hollow:

This is the lower slide:

Here are the remains of a barrel that has completely fallen apart:

Another shot of the slide:

And another shot of the stairs:

These shots are taken from the base of the hill on which the Whoop n’ Holler Hollow slides are located:

If you look carefully at the photo above, you will see that the tire swing still sits in place.

This is the life guard stand, looking out into the swimming area:

This is the old boom swing:

Some shots of the swimming area:

If you look along the left side of the bank of the water in this photo, you will see where the two Whoop N’ Holler Hollow slide exited into the swimming area:

TCD

 

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More shots of the swimming area. This is where guests could enjoy the boom swing, cable ride and tire swing:

These next photos depict the slide named White Water Rapids. This was a slide on which the riders rode on tubes. Here is the sign for the slide:

This is the area at the top of the slide where you would get into your tube, and get ready to head on down:

This is where the ride would begin:

The area at the very beginning is padded, as you can see:

You can barely see this slide now:

This is the view of the swimming area from the base of the hill on which the White Water Rapids slide is located. This is also the end of the barrel bridge that bisected the swimming area:

These photos show what the Kiddie Cove area looks like now:

TCD

 

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These are some shots from the barrel bridge:

Now we are looking at the pool known as the Upstream Plunge, and the slides known as Slippery Slide Falls:

This is the top of the slide, where guests would get in the water to slide down:

Some more views of the pool:

An old towel return box:

TCD

 

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This is the old beach area. It is very overgrown:

This is the other side of the building that we saw earlier when crossing across the barrel bridge:

This is what remains of the area called Indian Springs on the map:

TCD

 

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There is debris outside of the little building that is at one end of the barrel bridge:

This yellow thing is one of the old tubes from the White Water Rapids slide. The banner is, ironically, a banner reminding guests to recycle.

The door to the little shack was securely fastened by a piece of string:

The inside of the shack is full of trash and other artifacts from River Country, including an employee recognition plaque:

This looks like some kind of diorama or something. Notice the random doll head. Creepy!:

A few more shots from inside the shack:

That’s all I have!

TCD

 

[Disney John]

TCD you have outdone yourself!!!! These pics are amazing. Thank you so much for posting them.

 

[tileman]

Nice looking pics

So sad to see it in that bad condition

I have lived in florida for 44 yrs
And its sad I never went there as a kid or adult.

But good work and once again nice pics.

Ron.

 

[sharibrat]

Wow, these photos are amazing. Intriguing, but makes me so sad. Our family enjoyed River Country every trip when we went when I was a kid. We loved it and it was very cool there! It was one of my favorite things at Disney. The last time I was at River Country was 1997 and even as an adult I loved it!

It is so sad to see it just rotting

How on earth did you get these pictures? Was it eerie to be there? Are there gators there?

 

[mdoc]

Great pics, TCD! Did you have to break many Disney rules, or do you have an in? I wish I'd been to River Country - it looks like a fun place. Do you think they have any plans to do something with all that land, or is it going to continue to sit?

 

[LuckyinGa]

TCD these are incredible pictures. Thank you so much for sharing. For those of us that got to enjoy River Country during its Glory Days, it's so sad to see what it has become.

 

[indimom3]

My earliest childhood memory of Disneyworld is of being at that water park with my Grandparents. How very sad to see it abandonned.

 

[podsnel]

Those pics were fascinating! My boyfriend brought me to WDW & River Country for the first time in my life in the 80's- I appreciated the vacation so much, I MARRIED him!! I do remember having a great time in the water the day we were there, though. Thanks for posting the pics!

 

[Magic Fanatic]

Tri-Circle,
Great post. From your pictures we now all know where Disney raises those huge mosquitos that are so popular in central Florida. River Country was not forgotten, they just found a new use for it! West Nile for everyone!

 

[liv luvs disney]

First off, welcome back TCD...seems you've been MIA for some time.
Thanks for these extraordinary pictures!! As much as I enjoyed the trip down memory lane, it breaks my heart to see RC in such a sad state.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

TCD,,
your abilities to get into places always truly amaze me and your pics with reports are always of the top notch, I thank you for your time in providing all these absolutely wonderful reports.

That being said , it is a little heart breaking to see what use to be such a wonderful waterpark, deteriorate to nothing.
Even tho we only got to visit River Country once before it closed, it was awesome !

 

[BradyBz12]

TCD you have outdone yourself indeed!!

DH is going to love looking at these when he gets home. He has very fond memories of FW as a kid, and in particular the train and RC.

 

[CCIntrigue]

So sad ... we have great memories of RC!

 

[gillenkl]

Interesting pictures - thanks for posting. Sad to see it in such a state though.

 

[OK GRUMPY]

WOW you have out done yourself! Your PI work is amazing! Did you think you would get caught? There are some nice souvenirs just laying around! That was a neat trip down memory lane....things sure have changed! I wish they would put some money back into that and re build it. Some of what amazes me is how many Hurricanes have been there and the slides are still standing. I guess they are made to last. TC awesome man I have not seen it that well you are d man!
Thanks!