The Remains of River Country

[JennaDeeDooDah]

"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.

So dumb. If it was really all about people getting a chance to see River Country and not about the personal fame, she would have stayed off camera and just showed the abandoned waterpark. Showing her friends and herself on camera acting like the backside of a horse in an abandoned and off limits area of WDW is not going to go over well with Disney. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I like seeing videos of things like River Country, but not videos of teens acting like idiots in the area.

If a person wanted to show a video of River Country (or another off limits area of Disney), I would think it wouldn't be too hard to do it without getting caught, though. Couldn't you just create a youtube account linked to an email address that you don't use for anything else? How would Disney find out who you are?

 

[JanaDee]

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

Three hundred plus dollars a night is not a value resort.

 

[DisneyMandC]

Man, those pictures of River Country make me sad. I have some great memories from there from when I was little.

 

[chartle]

But seriously, DVC at Fort Wilderness? Seems kind of impractical considering Disney is developing DVC at the deluxe resorts, not the mods.

I don't think it was ever going to be a DVC expansion to FW such that it would be DVC campsites or cabins. It was going to be a separate resort that maybe shared some of the facilities of FW but doubt it would have been something like the Villas at Fort Wilderness.

4 years or so ago they setup some dummy walls and literally sent up a trial balloon to check site lines. But then there was a change of heart and GF and Poly DVC was built probably because they didn't need to add things like restaurants.

 

[LadyRayado]

"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.

Maybe not this girl in particular, but Disney is definitely "watching." Years ago a blogger ventured out on Discovery Island and posted photos, I'm pretty sure I remember reading he was banned from all Disney properties for life.

 

[Robo]

So dumb. If it was really all about people getting a chance to see River Country and not about the personal fame, she would have stayed off camera and just showed the abandoned waterpark. Showing her friends and herself on camera acting like the backside of a horse in an abandoned and off limits area of WDW is not going to go over well with Disney. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I like seeing videos of things like River Country, but not videos of teens acting like idiots in the area.

If a person wanted to show a video of River Country (or another off limits area of Disney), I would think it wouldn't be too hard to do it without getting caught, though. Couldn't you just create a youtube account linked to an email address that you don't use for anything else? How would Disney find out who you are?

'sall about the selfies.

(And, yes, to being able to post videos from a blind account.)

 

[gdrj]

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

Thanks for the correction!

 

[Lord Fantasius]

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.

I think when we were there in 2007, there were a few more buildings up than what was shown in the pics, and a lot of construction fencing around it. But from what I understand, one or two of the bldgs were being used to house college interns for the summer. It was right after then that the announcement came that they would be finishing that side of the lake.

However, even with deep discounts, Disney's value resorts are still quite a bit more expensive than anything "outside." I'm not saying there's not a lot of added-value staying on property, but when Disney offers discounts to fill the resorts which are then still priced higher than anything outside (of a similar "level"), they're not really hurting.

I, myself, would like to see another moderate resort...kind of tired of the Caribbean-Mexicala-Bayou theme we're limited too. Would really enjoy something along the lines of an Ancient Civilizations (Egypt, Alexandria, Greece, Rome, etc.), Colonial, Tudor, Royal Palaces, or Frontier-themed moderate to be added to the mix.

 

[grecorj]

Three hundred plus dollars a night is not a value resort.

Well technically it is classified as a value resort. And the suites sleep 6 I believe -- you'd need 2 standard rooms elsewhere.

Besides you missed the point. Yes, current focus has been GF and Poly DVC, but they all completed a non-DVC resort as well.

 

[Lord Fantasius]

Well technically it is classified as a value resort. And the suites sleep 6 I believe -- you'd need 2 standard rooms elsewhere.

Besides you missed the point. Yes, current focus has been GF and Poly DVC, but they all completed a non-DVC resort as well.

Begs the question...did/does every deluxe resort have to have a DVC component?

DVC members already get to pool-hop to any Disney resort on property, while not even Deluxe hotel guests have that option. Umm...

 

[Reddog1134]

Begs the question...did/does every deluxe resort have to have a DVC component?

DVC members already get to pool-hop to any Disney resort on property, while not even Deluxe hotel guests have that option. Umm...

Yacht Club is the only deluxe resort without a DVC component. No, not every resort needs DVC. Actually, no resort needs DVC. However, as Chartle stated, the infrastructure is already there with the deluxes. So it's much cheaper to attach DVC resorts to them.

DVC members can pool hop but there are some restrictions/exclusions including AKL, BLT, AoA, Poly and Stormalong Bay.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Thanks for the correction!

Honestly, I can't tell you which one I am sadder about, either. I can't do Mission Space. At least, not unless I want to lose whatever meal I recently ate and sit nauseated for the next 2 hours or so. And I did enjoy Horizons. Watching clips online via youtube, has me convinced I would love it even more now (not unlike how I enjoy Carousel of Progress even more now than I did as a kid). Wonders of Life was so great, though. I especially enjoyed Cranium Command. Now, it all sits just completely abandoned. I'm not sure if I hate that a ride I enjoyed was replaced by something I can't do or that an entire pavilion that I loved was closed for no apparent reason just to sit vacant more.

 

[chartle]

I'm not sure if I hate that a ride I enjoyed was replaced by something I can't do or that an entire pavilion that I loved was closed for no apparent reason just to sit vacant more.

Well the story is that Met Life dropped their sponsorship.

 

[Robo]

Well the story is that Met Life dropped their sponsorship.

Met Life DID drop the sponsorship, and that is the often-quoted "reason" for closing WoL.

But, if losing a sponsorship was the reason to close a pavilion, most of Epcot FW would be sitting
in quiet piles of dust by now.

Test Track (formerly World of Motion) is the only FW pavilion that still has its opening-day sponsor.
Other biggies have been operated by Disney, sans corporate sponsor, for years at a time.

 

[JennaDeeDooDah]

Met Life DID drop the sponsorship, and that is the often-quoted "reason" for closing WoL.

But, if losing a sponsorship was the reason to close a pavilion, most of Epcot FW would be sitting
in quiet piles of dust by now.

Test Track (formerly World of Motion) is the only FW pavilion that still has its opening-day sponsor.
Other biggies have been operated by Disney, sans corporate sponsor, for years at a time.

This exactly! This! This! This! This!

 

[Lord Fantasius]

It's also been the reason Disney, Inc., has used for not building more countries around EPCOT, "Poor us, can't get a country to sponsor a Disney attraction using their tourism dollars." There's been a long list of candidates, but they've filled it up just enough so the spaces around the existing countries don't look too far apart (though the gap between China & Germany is pretty annoying).

Not to be too negative, I do like the countries that are there, and enjoy the food options compared to what's available elsewhere, however a few more countries would really round out the experience.

 

[OKW Lover]

It's also been the reason Disney, Inc., has used for not building more countries around EPCOT, "Poor us, can't get a country to sponsor a Disney attraction using their tourism dollars." There's been a long list of candidates, but they've filled it up just enough so the spaces around the existing countries don't look too far apart (though the gap between China & Germany is pretty annoying).

There are actually a lot of different spots open around WS. Something on the order of 10 or so.

 

[MolonLabe]

It's also been the reason Disney, Inc., has used for not building more countries around EPCOT, "Poor us, can't get a country to sponsor a Disney attraction using their tourism dollars." There's been a long list of candidates, but they've filled it up just enough so the spaces around the existing countries don't look too far apart (though the gap between China & Germany is pretty annoying).

Not to be too negative, I do like the countries that are there, and enjoy the food options compared to what's available elsewhere, however a few more countries would really round out the experience.

It wouldn't be hard.
v
Looking at the overhead sat photos you could easily fit one "large" country pavilion into that spot between China and Germany or 2 smaller ones (Italy sized for example).

They could add a few more countries into existing gaps.

The issue is money. Disney would rather drop a billion dollars on new tracking bands and ways to nickle and dime us as opposed to improving the parks. Epcot is one of that "legacy" items they keep around because it makes money but they don't see expanding it as making more money. I.e. the draw is MK and EP will get what it gets on it's coat tails.

When we finally learn they are going to do something new we find out it's, once again, just an overlay to an existing attraction where they swamp out scenery and sound track. I.e. Norway and Frozen.

Getting rid of Snow White and turning it into a meet and greet was cheaper than maintaining Snow White and putting the meet and greet over by Rapunzels bathroom, which was where it was going to be until the bean counters figured that one out. Yes Snow White was old, perhaps it was time to put it to pasture but why no replace it with another attraction instead of what they did?

No 7DMT isn't really a replacement for it, IMO it's only the low overdue replacement for the 10,000 leagues under the sea it's sitting on top of.

but I digress....

These kids did what I would have done at that age, had cameras been cheap and plentiful back then. Minus giving out my name or showing my face anyway, lol.

 

[Lord Fantasius]

There are actually a lot of different spots open around WS. Something on the order of 10 or so.

I believe you are correct, 9 or 10 would be the official count if it were to be brought up to the number originally designed for. But that would require some of the current countries to reign in some of spillover into the vacant areas. I think comfortably, 6 or 7 would be the way to go without having one country almost sitting on top of another without some sort of break between the two.

 

[jhaig]

The problem with adding any more countries to WS (and I would gladly welcome Australia, Russia, Brazil, and Middle Earth) is that we'll all be dead and gone by the time Disney ever got around to finishing them.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I like seeing videos of things like River Country, but not videos of teens acting like idiots in the area.

Yeah we get enough of that on Disney Channel