What happened to River Country?

[cottontail]

Hi:

I was just on the disney site and looking at the water parks and noticed there are only two water parks, blizzard beach and typhoon lagoon.

What happened to river country?

Deb.

 

[buzz2400]

they closed it because of the bacteria. rumor has it that they might open it someday to be used as a pool area for I believe it was fort wilderness.

 

[WDSearcher]

It closed for several reasons, one of which was the "environmental factor" (a/k/a fresh water bacteria and the fact that it's not environmentally sound to dump chlorine in a fresh-water pool.

It's not likely to be opened again any time soon and will likely become a fond memory, just like Discovery Island.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

I also don't think it wasn't getting the attendance the other water parks were.

 

[Dznefreek]

they closed it because of the bacteria.

No.

It closed for several reasons, one of which was the "environmental factor" (a/k/a fresh water bacteria and the fact that it's not environmentally sound to dump chlorine in a fresh-water pool.

They did not use chlorine it was Bromine. It operated for 25 years without a problem.

The true reason will never be known and it will just fade away.RC is still there and maintained but it is covered with Duckweed (a type of algae).

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

It was sad to see on our recent trip. We went over on a boat and showed our kids where it was and told them about it. It was a fun place but the kids see TL and BB as the standard now. They were surprised we liked it as much as we did.

HBC

 

[wdwoldtimer]

RC is still there and maintained but it is covered with Duckweed (a type of algae).

Geez, what kind of maintenance is that? Duckweed? I'll have to take whatever they are calling the water sprites these days, over there next time.

 

[Dznefreek]

The facility itself is maintained not the water.

 

[wdwoldtimer]

Really? Like if one of the tire swings rots off or something, they'll go fix it, but leave the place looking like a swamp? How odd. But then again..so is the 20k Leagues Lagoon.

 

[DVC-Don]

Attendance was low and did not justify the maintenance and staffing expenses. Never reopened after the 9/11 slump in attendance.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I never went to RC but it sounds like so much fun! I've never seen it so can someone explain the fresh water/chlorine/bromine comment? It's not a pool with a filtration system? It's a natural body of water??

D4D

 

[soccercruiser87]

i loved river country, it wasnt that crowded at all like Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach. I miss it a lot and wish they would open it again, we can only hope they will.

 

[Stepharoonie!]

What's interesting is they still have signs all over the place advertising it.

 

[OK!]

What's interesting is they still have signs all over the place advertising it.

That was what struck me as very strange when we were there this past December; Disney usually seems to wipe away any trace of a discontinued attraction immediately (or gets rid of its signage, at minimum) once it's been closed.

I miss RC. My family used to go to WDW quite often when I was a kid and that was always one of the highlights of the trip for my brother and me. I found a tape of our 1987 trip the other day and wanted to cry when I saw the RC footage.

 

[PatriciaH]

Check these out:

http://pages.cthome.net/coz/disney/rivercountry.html

http://www.disneypix.com/Recreation/River/WaterParks_RC.htm

http://www.thedibb.co.uk/web/waterparks/rcmap.gif

http://intercot.com/themeparks/waterparks/rivercountry/default.asp

 

[soccercruiser87]

i love the pictures PatriciaH, it brings back memories

 

[WDW LOVR]

We love RC. Staying in FW it was like having your own personal water park.

We can only hope some day they'll reopen it.

 

[Trackerbee]

just got back and we were talking to the head of the stables at fw and he said sadly it will not reopen. he was telling us that there is a crack in the main pool area that would be to costly to fix and that alot of the fixtures had been taking out.

 

[wasabi girl]

Thanks for the pics! It was one of those place I always wanted to go (like 20,000 Leagues!) and never got the chance...looks like it was great fun.

 

[NCRedding]

On ouyr Wishes cruise last week, our boat captain (OK, off duty life guard) said that the reason it closed was because the depths of the water varied, and it wasn't safe for non-swimmers; also that the regulations regarding the slopes of the slides had changed. He said it would open back up.

We all kinda nodded and said "sure"