River Country

[danny1649]

Is it closed for good?If it is,have you heard what they might do with it?It's got a great location I think Disney would want to use it for another attraction.Did you or family go to River Country before it was closed?We did one time and had a great time.It was like going to a old swimming hole you had around your area when you were a kid.

 

[drusba]

Still closed; likely for good. Rumor at one time is that it would be made the pool for Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge combined. Otherwise no real indication of what it might become. In the long period it has now been closed they have done no work over there, thus indicating they are no hurry to decide anything.

 

[kcarp]

Hi danny1649,

I know what you mean, I was at FW for 17 days, and I loved RC, it was a great place to hang out, if you didn't want to be around the huge crowds like at TL & BB

 

[kiddoc]

I agree!! I hate that River Country is closed I went to RC as a young child when it was one of the only waterparks in the country! I wanted to take my girls on an upcoming trip, but looks like they'll never get to experience it. Oh, well! We're planning to try BB.

 

[slo]

2 years ago when my family and I were staying at the Poly we were sitting on the beach and my 4 year old DD was playing in the sand and getting water from the Seven Seas Lagoon. There are signs posted that you can't swim in the water which really bummed me out because when I was a kid and stayed at the Poly you could swim in the water and in fact Goofy was waterskiing and came up on the beach on his waterskiis.

Anyway, my DH and I were talking about this and an elderly gentleman who works for Disney told me that the reason for this is because they have found Alligators in the water and some type of bacteria that could make you very sick. He said that this is not for public knowledge (I don't know what made us so special to hear about it) but he told us anyway. He said Disney is just very good at keeping things quiet so people don't get freaked out.
I'm assuming that if Disney doesn't allow people in the water at the resorts for this reason, that the same reason would apply to RC.

I just thought I would share this with everybody. I don't know if this man is right or not, but it sounded like a pretty solid reason.

Have a good day!!!

 

[kcarp]

Hey slo,

Where I come from ,we swim and ski knowing that Alligators are in the water. They really don't attack like some people think.

 

[Poohbear123]

And talked to the Boat driver between Contemporary and WL, and he said that he knows of NO plans at this time, and that also Discovery Island is now "falling apart." He said that there is NO maintenance on either of these places, and what a waste, as they could be used for something.

 

[alloyd1170]

Wasnt Discovery Island closed years ago? I thought a Cm said that they wanted to protect it and that having all those people coming over was destroying it. I remember taking the boat over and walking around, then when I went back in '00 it was closed. I used to love looking at the birds and flowers and have some great pics. Maybe its closed because they have animal kingdom now? As for River Country-theres no mention of it in my travel books or any signs on the roads. I remember going there once and freezing my butt off the water was so cold! As for the alligator thing-sounds legit (seems theyve been doing a lot of migrating lately- we hear stories about them popping up in mid SC where its normally too cold (theyre on the coast though)). Imagine what would happen if one got a little kid at the most magical place on earth!

alison

 

[Saa62]

I know RC has been closed for quite some time now, but while we were waiting for the doors to open for the Hoop-Dee-Doo, I walked down to the entrance of RC. I thought is was strange that as far as I could see into the park from the gates you would never think it had been closed for years. The side walks were fairly clean and all of the landscaping had been kept up. If fact, a flower bed just outside the entrance area appeared to have fresh plants. I think they were a rose type of plant with a thorny stem but they didn't look dead, they looked a bunch of newly started plants. There was even umbrellas still out inside the park. They were folded down but still in place and looked like they were in good condition. I would think that the landscaping would beovergrown, the sidewalks dirtly looking and anything like benches and umbrellas would be removed. Does anybody have any insight why this would be in such good condition? Maybe the area is used for private parties or something like that? I thought it looked like there might be some shelter house areas farther into the area.