Whatever happened to River Country?

[Stepharoonie!]

You know, I was talking with a coworker the other day about the Disney waterparks, and he said his favorite was River Country. I made mention that it was no longer there and he about had a heart attack. When exactly did it close, and why?

 

[zen1]

I am not totally sure on this but I think the water park inspectors closed River Country, because the park was not up to code and they felt it was not safe for guests to use. The River Country water park was as old as Walt ( I think it was anyway or somthing like that), so it need to have a make over done to it. And I thought they were fixing River Country but I have not heard anything about it re-opening, yet anyway. And I don't remember when River Country closed. I have never had the chance to go to River Country, so I sure hope they re-open it.

Maybe someone else will be able to tell us more about River Country.

 

[Saa62]

I am not sure of the chronological history of the closing, but I know it has been at least 6 years give or take a few.

Want I want to know about is why is the area that is around the entrance still kept up like it is ready to open anytime. I ask this because when we were there in Feb 04, I took a walk back by there while waiting for the Hoop Dee Doo. It looked like it could open the next day. Everything was still landscaped and clean as far as I could see into the park. I would be interested on any insight that anyone has noticed in this area, or opinions of anyone that has seen this area and what they thought it looked like.

 

[Disney Debbie]

I've always assumed it was because it was so overshadowed by BB and TL it just wasn't profitable anymore. It was the first waterpark I ever went to and I ADORE it! I wish they'd open it up as a resort perk - make it exclusive for Disney resort guests or campers.

 

[paras4ri]

They closed it between 3-5 years ago, I never heard the reason.
It was the one and only water park back in the early days of the World.

I was there once, 21 years ago. It was nice, very laid-back, not at all like present day water parks.

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://waltdatedworld.bravepages.com/id220.htm

 

[Disney Debbie]

What a cool site! Thanks Dan - I figured it was economics! If only I'd know when we were there with UMP's in 2000 - I would have gone I promise!

 

[Stepharoonie!]

Wow Dan....you're the Disney man

 

[RyMickey]

Just to add another possible thought to the mix:

In the olden days, you used to be able to swim in Bay Lake (the lake that runs from the Grand Floridian back to River Country). However, it was discovered that bacteria was growing in the lake, and instead of the massive amounts of money it would cause to constantly be treating the massive amount of water, it was decided that swimming would no longer be allowed. That same water was used in River Country (as a section of Bay Lake was what many of the slides emptied into).

Now, whether this was the reason River Country closed, I don't know. This was just a rumor I heard floating around.

As I side note, I used to love River Country. I remember my favortite thing was the raft ride. There were little pockets that you could get stuck in while you were on your tube and you had to wait for someone to come and knock you out. Plus there was a hill at the end that dumped you back into the lake that I always hoped that I would be able to go down backwards (granted, I was 10 at the time, so who knows if I would think it was exciting now?).

RyMickey