What Happened to Disney's River Country?

[barnstormercrazy22]

I was thinking bout this the other night, and why did river country close?

 

[Em&Em]

I was thinking bout this the other night, and why did river country close?

From what I heard it was closed because it had actual lake water you landed in after you got of the slides. I was at the Mickey's BackYard BBQ the other year and walked back to the bathroom and saw the entrance to River Country. Everything still looked like it was there, I mean they had slides and something that looked like a baby/toddler water area. I never got to go there, but it was really cool seeing it when I went to the Backyard BBQ.

 

[jacensolo3]

ive never even heard of that before how long ago did it close?

 

[Em&Em]

ive never even heard of that before how long ago did it close?

It has been a long time. I will check the date on google. It says it closed November 2001

 

[Babyjustrun]

This is my absolute favorite Lost World of Disney thing.
I just find this incredibly interesting.

It closed for different reasons. I can't pinpoint the actual one, because people argue about it alot. I believe it had to do with contaminents in the water.

It was permanently closed in January of 2005, but it had been 'closed for renovations' for several years (but was used to special events).

Instead of destroying it or making something new, they just left it to rot. It's beyond repair. There's rumors that animals are living in it now, and there have been recenter pictures of it, it's basically got that green guck you see in swamps all over it.
Things are falling apart...
=/

 

[crazytp93]

Yeah it was just really dirty with the water.

But... I heard that Fort Wilderness is taking over some of the land to build their own small water park area (slides and stuff.)

 

[Loves Disney]

The most popular story linked to the reason of it's closing it because the bacteria in the lake is a health hazard to people. The water park was made to be like a watering hole to swim in so they used actual lake water. Once they found out of this bacteria, they disallowed people to swim in it so it had to be closed. It's another reason why people can't swim in the seven seas lagoon or bay lake.

When I go down to FL we stay at the GF and I'll usually take out the water mice (sea raycers). While you aren't supposed to stop and take pictures when you are in these boats, I have a couple pictures of River Country in its current state - only they're on my phone and I'm not sure how to upload photos from it to here haha.

 

[Babyjustrun]

The most popular story linked to the reason of it's closing it because the bacteria in the lake is a health hazard to people. The water park was made to be like a watering hole to swim in so they used actual lake water. Once they found out of this bacteria, they disallowed people to swim in it so it had to be closed. It's another reason why people can't swim in the seven seas lagoon or bay lake.

When I go down to FL we stay at the GF and I'll usually take out the water mice (sea raycers). While you aren't supposed to stop and take pictures when you are in these boats, I have a couple pictures of River Country in its current state - only they're on my phone and I'm not sure how to upload photos from it to here haha.

I've really wanted to do that. I have this real fascination of it.
I wish they could do something, I know it's beyond repair but it makes me sad to see it.

I think, you should have a usb plug for your camera? And then plug it in, go to your portable devices, open it up and copy the pictures off.
I think that's how it's supposed to be done.. idk, don't have a picture phone right now. That's what I do with my camera though, I hate uploading programs.

 

[KidGoofy]

I heard it was because of the bacteria and because alligators stay in shallow water an because they had the slide going into the lake they couldnt use it anymore. It looked pretty cool but it ha green stuff on it when we passe it when we were at FW

 

[imabrat]

I've never actually been to it, we're an EPCOT hotel family. It was on one of my old planning videos though, and I always thought it would be so cool to go to.

 

[barnstormercrazy22]

So theres a video on youtube of river country and theres a comment and it says tht they are going to bring it back to life for disneys new resort or something thts coming in late 2012. But the person who wrote that comment says that they work for disney. So i dont knw if its true

 

[Babyjustrun]

A lot of people hear rumors like that about River Country, idk, CM sometimes say things that aren't all true.
Now if it's on the internet, it's even less likely to be true.

 

[Loves Disney]

So theres a video on youtube of river country and theres a comment and it says tht they are going to bring it back to life for disneys new resort or something thts coming in late 2012. But the person who wrote that comment says that they work for disney. So i dont knw if its true

I actually heard that rumor while I was down at Disney this summer. I think this rumor can be filed away with the "Villian's Park" rumor lol.

I actually wasn't a huge fan of River Country. I mean, it had this wicked fun slide that just dropped you off before the water so you kinda free-fell for a second or two - that was fun - but for the most part, there wasn't anything that exciting about it for me lol.

 

[msim93]

-I read that new legislation forbid water parks from using natural bodies of water.
Some cast members have stated this. it was part of a new state rules regarding water parks.
-I've also read that water snakes were a bit of a problem.
-Another possible reason is the murky water. if someone was in trouble, the lifeguards wouldn't be able to effectively see and rescue someone.

just some things I've dug up on the web

 

[ears4all!]

The park last operated in Nov. 2001, and Disney officially declared it closed on Jan. 20, 2008. I have seen pictures of it currently, and it looks terrible.

I reserached and I saw that somebody said that the entrance is blocked off and the slides are overgrown with weeds and are rusting.

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=nr1pxh862nn3&style=o&lvl=2&scene=3930025
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VArObNa-1SA

 

[Ms.Squeakers]

Wow thats really sad.

I remember a thread on this a wile ago, with a bunch of depressing pictures.

I have never been, nor heard of it until that thread, but it was still really sad to hear about.