River Country

[DisneyDarling13]

I was just looking at some old photos of my sister and I at River Country when we were kids. '93, '96 and '97. I was 9 and 12 in those years and my sister 6 and 9. It makes me sad that we will never again have that experience. I know that RC has been closed for quite a long time but I remember when we went back in 2000 and 2002 I was holding out hope that it would be open again. It wasn't until after those dates that Disney "officially" announced that it closed. River Country was my favorite place in Disney the first time my parents took us. So many great memories there. I absolutely LOVED the t-bar and the "drop slides" in the pool section. I know this seems random, and it is, but I am having a really deep pang of sadness/nostalgia about this wonderful little "hidden" gem. I'm sure others feel the same!

 

[davedmaine]

I was just looking at some old photos of my sister and I at River Country when we were kids. '93, '96 and '97. I was 9 and 12 in those years and my sister 6 and 9. It makes me sad that we will never again have that experience. I know that RC has been closed for quite a long time but I remember when we went back in 2000 and 2002 I was holding out hope that it would be open again. It wasn't until after those dates that Disney "officially" announced that it closed. River Country was my favorite place in Disney the first time my parents took us. So many great memories there. I absolutely LOVED the t-bar and the "drop slides" in the pool section. I know this seems random, and it is, but I am having a really deep pang of sadness/nostalgia about this wonderful little "hidden" gem. I'm sure others feel the same!

Very well said

 

[Disneypeach]

totally agree with you. It was a great place!

 

[North of Mouse]

Yes, I agree. We miss it so much and the worst thing has been seeing it 'slowly' decay. Wish they would have just torn it down - looks so sad and ghostly!

 

[DisneyDarling13]

Yes, I agree. We miss it so much and the worst thing has been seeing it 'slowly' decay. Wish they would have just torn it down - looks so sad and ghostly!

I agree-seeing it "rot" is so very sad.

 

[tiggerdad]

Just allowing it to rot away is a black eye on Disney. When something that so many people have fond memories of is just allowed to be reclaimed by nature like that it really isn't fair. I never got the memories, never had a chance to attend RC, but have seen and heard enough to know that it was a great place for a lot of people for many years.

 

[DisneyDarling13]

Just allowing it to rot away is a black eye on Disney. When something that so many people have fond memories of is just allowed to be reclaimed by nature like that it really isn't fair. I never got the memories, never had a chance to attend RC, but have seen and heard enough to know that it was a great place for a lot of people for many years.

I couldn't agree more. I have always spoken so highly of Disney (still do, for the most part) but allowing RC to be abandoned like that where guests can still see it is just terrible. I recently saw some photos of the abandoned RC and it actually brought tears to my eyes, to see the exact places where my family made such great memories just rotting away.

 

[Mmketeer]

Agreed, you'd think with all that Disney can build they could have just recreated River Country by using a cement pool instead of the lake water. I mean what was really wrong with the rest of it?

 

[BDL]

There was a thread that was started a few yrs ago that showed pics of the state that River Country was in. They are really "gut punch to your inner child" type pics. I still have the thread in my favorites. I'm not going to put a link here because they are so depressing. But if you PM me, I will reply with the link.

I used to love the tube runs, the zip lines and the boom swing.

 

[North of Mouse]

Agreed, you'd think with all that Disney can build they could have just recreated River Country by using a cement pool instead of the lake water. I mean what was really wrong with the rest of it?

They 'did' have a pool with slides. The other larger portion was connected to the lake with the zip line, walking on barrels, etc.

I think what really 'killed' RC was a combination of building the water parks, plus not being able to use the lake water any more.

It was a great place and we enjoyed it immensely, but I'm sure with all the work it would have needed, Disney could see that 'most' people would start going to the other water parks, and the attendance there would mostly be just from FW. JMO

But, that's no excuse for letting it slowly decay - just tear it down and be done with it.

 

[Mmketeer]

North Mouse,

LOL! Shows what Disney really knows, if they had rebulit it people would have come. I mean look how popular the Yacht/Beach club pool is. It would have been really nice to have a iconic pool at our Fort again. Oh well, I agree use it or get rid of it. Oh but, leave something to remember it by! Maybe a marker or something.

It's alot of fun to go around the campground and try to find the old attractions of the Fort like the railroad and how many people actually got to take the trail over where the new bat house is? Been there done that, almost got lost. LOL! I really miss swinging on the little swing watching the fireworks that use to hang off the little cabin on the lake. That whole area is all fenced off now. No more hunting for old icons over there. Oh well, I guess we get to watch the bats now instead.

 

[tiggerdad]

Here's something to think about:

River Country closes: leave it to slowly rot and decay...

Lawn Mower Tree dies: dig that thing up and make a parking space out of it...


(Look, I know it is a lot easier to dig up a tree than tear down a water park, but you get the idea)

 

[North of Mouse]

North Mouse,

LOL! Shows what Disney really knows, if they had rebulit it people would have come. I mean look how popular the Yacht/Beach club pool is. It would have been really nice to have a iconic pool at our Fort again. Oh well, I agree use it or get rid of it. Oh but, leave something to remember it by! Maybe a marker or something.

It's alot of fun to go around the campground and try to find the old attractions of the Fort like the railroad and how many people actually got to take the trail over where the new bat house is? Been there done that, almost got lost. LOL! I really miss swinging on the little swing watching the fireworks that use to hang off the little cabin on the lake. That whole area is all fenced off now. No more hunting for old icons over there. Oh well, I guess we get to watch the bats now instead.

Guess we are some of those 'old timers' that was posted about on another thread!! We remember 'all' the old attractions around the Fort. We started coming in '71. The train was really nifty. The lawnmower tree was really young - can't remember it's first year (or if it was already there) but a 'lot' of the blade was showing then, before the tree grew so large around it. Sure hated to see it go. Oh, the reminiscing!

 

[Mmketeer]

Guess we are some of those 'old timers' that was posted about on another thread!! We remember 'all' the old attractions around the Fort. We started coming in '71. The train was really nifty. The lawnmower tree was really young - can't remember it's first year (or if it was already there) but a 'lot' of the blade was showing then, before the tree grew so large around it. Sure hated to see it go. Oh, the reminiscing!

LOL! Yup, one thing about Disney is that it's always changing.

 

[tiggerdad]

LOL! Yup, one thing about Disney is that it's always changing.

Hey Mmketeer, remind me again when in November you'll be there. I got November 14-23 booked. Thought your visit was similar time. Just trying to put together a list.

 

[Radiorox]

I really wish they would just fix and use the cement pool with the two drop slides. Bay Lake shenanigans aside, I don't see the problem with the cement pool except that it's in dire need of repairs.

It would be a nice additional pool to such a large resort. The main pool can get out of control sometimes.

I hadn't realize just how much of River Country you could see from walking past Trails End to where the BBQ area is. I was shocked to see the tops of the slides. I snapped this picture through the fence last September.

 

[North of Mouse]

I really wish they would just fix and use the cement pool with the two drop slides. Bay Lake shenanigans aside, I don't see the problem with the cement pool except that it's in dire need of repairs.

It would be a nice additional pool to such a large resort. The main pool can get out of control sometimes.

I hadn't realize just how much of River Country you could see from walking past Trails End to where the BBQ area is. I was shocked to see the tops of the slides. I snapped this picture through the fence last September.

EWWWW!! Makes me sick when I remember how nice that pool was 'in the day'!!

 

[chartle]

I really wish they would just fix and use the cement pool with the two drop slides. Bay Lake shenanigans aside, I don't see the problem with the cement pool except that it's in dire need of repairs.

It would be a nice additional pool to such a large resort. The main pool can get out of control sometimes.

There are more issues than just fixing it up. They would have to completely rebuild it.

Its way too deep (remember they made the main pool shallower during the last refurb).

Yes at one point in the past they let you dive into pools, there were even rocks around the pool just for this purpose. What were they thinking actually encouraging you to dive.

This points out why they couldn't just rebuilt the lagoon and just not to use lake water. All the slides had design issues that they just wouldn't allow today. the tube slide was more of a fast downhill lazy river where tubes could smash into each other and accumulate in pools along the way. The body slides dumped you into 6 feet of water.

Don't get me wrong I loved River Country as a teen ager but had a completely different experience as a father of 6 and 7 year olds seeing them slide into 6 feet of brown water.

 

[shafke]

There are more issues than just fixing it up. They would have to completely rebuild it.

Its way too deep (remember they made the main pool shallower during the last refurb).

Yes at one point in the past they let you dive into pools, there were even rocks around the pool just for this purpose. What were they thinking actually encouraging you to dive.

That's what I was thinking when we were there a couple of weeks ago. A pool with a depth over 6 feet would never be allowed today. The slide with a 6 foot or so drop would be considered a lawsuit waiting to happen.

Really sad they left this to rot.
It will probably stay that way until some plans are in place and budgeted.

 

[JanL]

If I remember correctly, River Country used the lake water. That was in the days before they connected the amoeba from warm waters to the deadly meningitis. We don't swim in the lakes in really warm weather anymore because of that.