The Remains of River Country

[Lord Fantasius]

They did finish Art of Animation resort to pretty positive reviews. A value resort.

O.k., yes, I should have said, they haven't "broke-ground" on anything except DVC resorts... Art of Animation was built-out of the abandoned extension to POP Century after Disney, Inc., finally listened to the cries of families not having "affordable" suites ala' Holiday Inn, etc. Only took 6-8 years even at that, AND THE STRUCTURES WERE ALREADY BUILT!

 

[gdrj]

It certainly impacts their reputation for attention to detail.

Not really. They tend to let things sit. Discovery island, wave machine from the poly, horizons at Epcot sits empty and to me is the saddest neglect in a major park. Pleasure island sat half empty for a long time.

With river country no need to do anything until they develop, it's remote and if they did clear would just sit empty as it is now.

The different rumors over the years are interesting. It would be neat to see a Wild West type of hotel and DVC. While camp grounds are vale priced cabins are deluxe priced. New resort would not need to be tied by vale or moderate, resort could easily be deluxe.

 

[larryz]

By the looks of those overhead shots - what a great place it would be to exile misbehaving guests....

They get enough misbehaving guests in there already...

 

[NavyDad]

O.k., yes, I should have said, they haven't "broke-ground" on anything except DVC resorts... Art of Animation was built-out of the abandoned extension to POP Century after Disney, Inc., finally listened to the cries of families not having "affordable" suites ala' Holiday Inn, etc. Only took 6-8 years even at that, AND THE STRUCTURES WERE ALREADY BUILT!

I think you may have a few of your details slightly wrong...

I stayed in Pop Century in July of 2009. There were only a few building up on the AoA side (what is now the Little Mermaid section I believe). They were basically just a few shells that were abandoned years before.

Once they actually broke ground on building the main part of the resort(2010 I think?) they moved pretty fast as the resort had been completely done for a few months when we stayed at AoA in September 2012.

Honestly it doesn't make any financial sense for Disney total resort capacity as long as they are continuing to offer pretty big discounts in order to fill that capacity.

 

[gdrj]

O.k., yes, I should have said, they haven't "broke-ground" on anything except DVC resorts... Art of Animation was built-out of the abandoned extension to POP Century after Disney, Inc., finally listened to the cries of families not having "affordable" suites ala' Holiday Inn, etc. Only took 6-8 years even at that, AND THE STRUCTURES WERE ALREADY BUILT!

You are correct after 9/11 it sat for a number of years. I think they also saw that with over 8200 value rooms they did not need more of the same, along with the family suites off site.

The DVC construction by all appearances seems to be the priority. It is a big cash cow, and occupancy once sold out is really gtd, since the rooms are basically prepaid and the collection of maintenance fees comes in every year.

 

[Robo]

Art of Animation... Only took 6-8 years even at that, AND THE STRUCTURES WERE ALREADY BUILT!

Actually only a very few were actually built. And, of what was there was just bare concrete.
The property remained in the condition seen below for about 10 years.

Pop Century -Legendary Years UNFINISHED - 3 Bird'sEye - Only Unfinished area

Pop Century -Legendary Years UNFINISHED - 2 Satellite - Only Unfinished area

Pop Century -Legendary Years UNFINISHED - 3 Bird'sEye - Only Unfinished area

Pop Century -Legendary Years UNFINISHED - 4 Bird'sEye Both Room Bldgs -North

Pop Century -Legendary Years UNFINISHED - 5 Bird'sEye Both Room Bldgs -East

Pop Century -Legendary Years UNFINISHED - 6 Bird'sEye Clubhouse/Lobby Bldgs

 

[Isildur's Bane]

Those photos are amazing they already had the layout of all the buildings

 

[chartle]

Those photos are amazing they already had the layout of all the buildings

Yes it looks they had all the concrete pads done.

 

[Robo]

Those photos are amazing they already had the layout of all the buildings

They were in the process of building those when (due to the tragic events of Spet. 11, 2001) the vacation business
was severely diminished. They just pulled the plug on the construction of that "half" of the Pop Century Resort.
It was to represent the decades of the first half of the 20th Century,
as you can see by the giant numbers (00 10 20 30 40) along the front of the unfinished clubhouse/lobby building.

 

[MolonLabe]

For those who didn't know the hub bub, 4 children died after exposure to those microbes.

Obviously we're talking about a very small number of children compared to the hundreds of thousands who were likely in the water when these microbes were present.

Also, state laws changed about using existing water bodies for water parks due to these deaths and the spread of the microbes.

http://martincountytimes.com/disney...es-concerns-about-extreme-sports-project-here

 

[glassslippergirl]

It certainly impacts their reputation for attention to detail.

I don't really see how. The remains are fenced off, and guests are not invited to go snooping around. It's only a curiosity to the relative few who know and really, really care what's behind the walls. I admit I've watched the YouTube videos of rogue explorers, but when I'm in FW, I rarely even think about what's beyond the barrier. If it was an out-in-the-open eyesore, then it would affect the attention to detail.

 

[Robo]

I don't really see how. The remains are fenced off, and guests are not invited to go snooping around. It's only a curiosity to the relative few who know and really, really care what's behind the walls. I admit I've watched the YouTube videos of rogue explorers, but when I'm in FW, I rarely even think about what's beyond the barrier. If it was an out-in-the-open eyesore, then it would affect the attention to detail.

To be a bit more specific, RC does reveal itself more prominently (and to far more guests) as some of the shuttle boats pass in proximity as they arrive and depart from the FtW dock.
But, it does not appear as "ruins" so much as it generates a lot of questions from unknowing guests.

(Ditto for the former "Discovery Island.")

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Not really. They tend to let things sit. Discovery island, wave machine from the poly, horizons at Epcot sits empty and to me is the saddest neglect in a major park. Pleasure island sat half empty for a long time.

With river country no need to do anything until they develop, it's remote and if they did clear would just sit empty as it is now.

The different rumors over the years are interesting. It would be neat to see a Wild West type of hotel and DVC. While camp grounds are vale priced cabins are deluxe priced. New resort would not need to be tied by vale or moderate, resort could easily be deluxe.

Horizons isn't sitting empty as it became Mission Space. Wonders of Life, however, just sits there vacant.


I can't imagine them doing a Fort Wilderness DVC. That just seems like a poor idea. Fort Wilderness is the cheapest resort at WDW and people stay there for primarily one or two reasons. First, it's inexpensive and a way for them to save money. Second, they genuinely love the camping part. Now, a DVC property would be expensive which goes against the inexpensive cost of Fort Wilderness. Second, it would be a resort and not a campground which goes against the camping aspect. The only ones I can see a DVC property working for would be those who stay in the cabins. The problem is, I'm not sure how they would do something true to the property and improve upon the cabins enough for people to pay for a studio or one bedroom villa. The cabins cover those with them already having a bedroom, full kitchen, patio with grill, etc. I suppose that they could make bigger cabins or space them out farther to justify charging more, but I'm not sure there is enough of a demand to justify doing that.

 

[Kona65]

River Country and Discovery Island, Loved them both.

 

[Robo]

I can't imagine them doing a Fort Wilderness DVC...

True.
For all of the reasons you mentioned, plus there's the very slow and complex system of transportation now at FtW.
A completely new road system would be needed in that area to allow for guests driving/parking their cars at a DVC property,
and to carry the traffic of many more direct buses that would be needed to handle when guests did not drive.
(Likely more boats to the docks at MK.)

 

[bwang123]

Here are two videos where someone recorded themselves inside of abandoned River Country. The 2nd one has a posted date of January 2015.

 

[Robo]

Here are two videos where someone recorded themselves inside of abandoned River Country. The 2nd one has a posted date of January 2015.

"So, if you're watching, Disney, my name is..."

If you can believe what this same genius gal says in THIS video, apparently Disney IS watching.

 

[bwang123]

"So, if you're watching, Disney, my name is..."

(If you can believe what this same genius gal says in THIS video, apparently Disney IS watching.)

Over Christmas time, someone made a bunch of videos flying a drone over River Country and Avatarland and now those videos have been removed from Youtube. Sure Disney had something to do with that.

 

[WEDWDW]

Those photos are amazing they already had the layout of all the buildings

Also,the Legendary Years numbers-00,10,20,30,40-were on Generation Gap Bridge(known as the Bridge To Nowhere until AoA opened) until AoA opened-it looked very "strange".

 

[kymom99]

"So, if you're watching, Disney, my name is..."

If you can believe what this same genius gal says in THIS video, apparently Disney IS watching.

I'm not sure I believe it.