The Reason You Can't Swim In Bay Lake...

[AndyMcV]

Just from this thread alone I wouldn't want to swim in Bay Lake. That is for sure.

However... on our last trip I took some pictures at the Polynesian and noticed the people swimming in the lake??? What's up with that? If people can get truly VERY sick from swiming in the lake should Disney do something about this? I don't understand.

 

[dancin'girl]

We also saw kids swimming/wading in the water at the Poly while we were there. This happened right in the middle of the day, with lifeguards on duty and other staff walking around. I'm starting to think that Disney just wants to keep all their guests happy - even if it means looking the other way when guests aren't following the rules. In this case, safety is an issue. Don't know why they wouldn't say something.

 

[CaptHomer]

I wouldn't get in the water because of the alligator we saw from the monorail next to MK.

 

[winnapooh]

Slightly OT, but when you said this, it reminded me of a super fun and super dangerous "water park" that I frequented as a child in Orange County, CA as a youngster. The place was called "The Mud Hole" (or some variant thereof) and was basically that: murky, muddy water studded with wooden platforms (some partially submerged, and often complete with rusty nails), rope bridges, and all of the other great stuff that has been phased out due to the
myriad injuries---and the lawsuits they spawned---that resulted from visiting the place. I'm sure the OC park operated without insurance, as it would have been impossible to get for such a place even then (early 1970s).

We were going through some old photos the other night and found a few from a birthday party I had there (circa 1976 or 77). My wife and I were joking that the location is probably a strip mall or housing development; I can't even remember precisely where it was. But it was an actual place that charged admission and was VERY popular.

Anyone from Southern California recall this attraction?

And now, back to your regularly scheduled parasitic warning , already in progress!

Best Regards,

Scott in MO

Is this it? http://www.beachcalifornia.com/adventure-playground-kids-vacation.html

I've never been there, but you peaked my curiousity!

 

[kapoof]

i can't figure out who would want to swim in murky lake water anyways??

 

[EnnEss]

The amoeba is real. Its been really overhyped in the past 2 - 3 years. Another poster listed lots of detail on it. Far more people drown than die from this. This is just scary and frightening for various reasons so it makes good (read sensational fox news) news. I think there have been something like 31 cases in 20 years and most were fatal but not all. Basically more people die driving to the beach than from this, far more.

I think Knox got the correct response, that it had to do with the lake and water park co mingling and they needed to upgrade it and it wasn't doable because to rules/laws that had been implemented since its creation. Would have required a complete overhaul so they just made a new park.

 

[IndyClown]

We did a fireworks cruise on 8/5 and our boat captain said that River Country was closed because for the cost of refurbishments they built BB, he also added that another factor was River Country had attractions that did not have safety in mind, like the cliff dives into a 10ft pool...he said you will never see those in a WDW water park again.

That's why I loved River Country......the drop off/free fall slide into the pool, the zip line into the lake....fun stuff!

He's right, you would never see that kind of stuff in today's sanitized fun parks but nobody thought anything of it back then.

 

[MissionMouse]

However you can still waterski, tube and jetski in the lake. Not to mention I've also seen people fall out of the sea raycers. The risk can't be too great to allow these activities to continue.

The risk is greatest in shallow warm-stagnate waters...so when you are in the water away from the warm shoreline water the risk factors drops dramatically.

 

[Endeavour105]

Just from this thread alone I wouldn't want to swim in Bay Lake. That is for sure.

However... on our last trip I took some pictures at the Polynesian and noticed the people swimming in the lake??? What's up with that? If people can get truly VERY sick from swiming in the lake should Disney do something about this? I don't understand.

The real question here is why don't guests pay attention to and heed the warning signs that have been posted about no swimming?

 

[Missin'Disney]

Does anyone know if anything has ever happened to any of the triathalon participants after swimming in Bay Lake? My DH wants to do this event & I'm just not convinced of the safety of it

He did the NYC tri last summer & a guy from Argentina that he was swimming right next to actually died right in front of him b/c there were so many jelly-fish in the water (hudson river ) stinging the swimmers & this guy was allergic to the stings and had an anaphalaxic reaction. They pulled the guy out but it was too late. Sad.

 

[MissionMouse]

Anyone interested in Naegleria (what you are actually talking about)

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/naegleria/factsht_naegleria.htm

http://www.volusiahealth.com/eh/public_updates/amoeba.html

 

[PrincessMama605]

Is this it? http://www.beachcalifornia.com/adventure-playground-kids-vacation.html

I've never been there, but you peaked my curiousity!

OMG that kid with the saw!

 

[Erin1700]

We saw kids playing in the water at the GF. They were right at the shoreline, but they were sitting in it.

 

[Endeavour105]

We saw kids playing in the water at the GF. They were right at the shoreline, but they were sitting in it.

Hmmmmm...alligators find little kids and pets sooooooo tastey. Yes, there are alligators occasionally spotted in Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake...and fish...and snakes...and...

 

[lbklyn]

This is a bit off topic, but if you search youtube for "river country" there is an awesome home video of RC. It brought back so many memories, made me kind of sad... #1 that RC is gone and #2 that I'm getting so old. Oh well, you're only as young as you feel.

Is that the home video where there is music playing? Not quite sure at the moment but was it the song "I will remember you"?. Well, whatever song it was I watched it a few months ago and became a blubbering mess!!!
It seems like yesterday I was there with my mom and brother (he was 10 or 11 at the time) and it has actually been 30 years!

 

[allie_to_you]

I don't care much for swimming in lakes anyway, but I think i'd be much more afraid of the snakes and gators than amoebas or bacteria.

 

[CanadianGuy]

And think of this..

Bay Lake and the Seven Seas lagoon pretty much function as a "closed' watercourse.

Now think about the amount of boat traffic in that water... oil, grease, lord knows what else.

It's not a healthy water system for the most part.

Triathlon or not - you couldn't PAY me to get in that water in anything other than a boat.

 

[Feralpeg]

There will always be those who think the rules do not apply to them. As a previous poster pointed out, a lot more people die from drowning than from the amoeba, but why take the chance with your family? Those few that contract it, rarely survive. At certain times of year, the likelihood of contracting it are much less. It lives in warm water.

As for the marathon swimmers, they are usually not swimming in the stagnant shallow waters of the lake.

I just don't understand why anyone would want to swim in dirty lake water full of "things" when there are beautiful swimming pools available.

 

[PrincessSuzanne]

You know you would think when you check in at the resorts with the lakes they would remind you not to swim in them, since most people aren't DIS board folks that know not to swim there I mean, I am like Pegy, why would you want to swim in the nasty lake, when you have some of the most beautiful pools at your disposal.

I would never swim in a lake anywhere for any reason anyway.

Suzanne

 

[GrillMouster]

I haven't read all the posts, so I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but Dr. G, from Discovery Health, recently discussed this amoeba threat on TV. Dr. G is the chief medical examiner in Orlando, and she has a show on Discovery Health, where they go over her cases in the morgue and how she discovered the causes of death. She just came out with a book "How not to die" or something like that, and they just aired a "Dr. G: How not to die" show on TV the other day. I recently saw her on the Rachael Ray (sp?) show plugging the book and the special, and it was in that show that she talked about the top five ways to avoid death, and the amoebas-in-the-water thing came up.