Why is River Country still there?

[kymom99]

Our first trip was in June of 2004. My research at the time was done through the Unofficial Guide and Birnbaum's guide. I remember reading about River Country. The info out there at the time was that it was closed for refurbishment. So I guess at the time the books went to print, they still hadn't decided for sure what was to become of it, or they hadn't made anything public at that point. The books also referenced Pop Century as coming in the future, but as I was planning I heard where it was slowed down after 9/11. I guess it opened right around the time we were there. We stayed at AS Sports. Back at that time, we could walk up in the morning to GS at Epcot and get a reservation for Le Cellier for dinner the same evening! Times sure have changed!

 

[rteetz]

what i heard about discovery island is that it is now a natural reserve for protected wildlife because the Osprey has taken up residence. Maybe that is the same for Rivercountry? Of course i heard it from a boat captain while doing the Wishes Cruise, so who knows how true the Discovery Island story is.

River country I don't think has that problem I'm almost positive it doesn't. River country would be very costly to demolish so i believe disney is waiting until they have something planned to demolish it and then build something new. Either you have a pile of rubble to look at or you have what you have now. It is rumored a DVC hotel might go there in the future.

 

[chartle]

I recently came across an old Disney Commemorative book at a flea market that appears to have been published the year WDW opened. (no date on it)

It was very cool to read, it appeared to be written prior to the actual park opening, and it has a map with some cool things that never came to be. There was an Asian hotel, which turned out to be Poly., a Venetian Hotel, and a pirate island, which they were calling Blackbeard Island.

As a huge Pirates of Caribbean fan, I think this would be an AWESOME idea, maybe a hotel and water park, or even a few rides! I had heard rumors before about something with Pirates at Tom Sawyer Island, but that was just a rumor.

I am sure that the cost of refurbing the island would be huge, but I for one would love it if they made it a pirate island!

At first I think Discovery Island did have Pirate Theme and for years some of the props were still around.

There was also a rumor that it was going to be turned into a Myst Attraction based on the PC Game.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst

 

[Disneyhayes]

River Country being left the way it is doesn't suprise me. Remember what AOA was like before when they had stopped construction on Pop Century - early years? It was left like that for a decent amount of time. With that I think it was kind of a waste as the buildings themselves were constructed. I am not sure if they tore them down and started over or not?

 

[chartle]

River Country being left the way it is doesn't suprise me. Remember what AOA was like before when they had stopped construction on Pop Century - early years? It was left like that for a decent amount of time. With that I think it was kind of a waste as the buildings themselves were constructed. I am not sure if they tore them down and started over or not?

Not really the same thing but maybe kind of.

They didn't tear down anything at AoA because there was a very good chance that they would just restart construction and keep the same value layout.

At FW there was very little chance that if it would reopen, it would reopen in the same configuration due to a lot of changes in water park design and safety. But still they could have used some of the features and also it been pointed out that the demo budget would be part of the construction budget. Unless it was going to cause some safety or impact guest experience they were not going to spend money on it.

As far as I know, they did not tear down any main buildings at AoA. At best they just had to tear out any drywall and refinish the walls in one or two buildings. The rest were concrete shells that could easily be cleaned or just foundation pads.

 

[ParrotBill]

A new "stormalong bay" shared by WL, WLV, FW and maybe CR/BLT seems like a great idea, but a DVC in the campground's back yard seems like an awful idea! (and I am a DVC fan)

 

[chartle]

A new "stormalong bay" shared by WL, WLV, FW and maybe CR/BLT seems like a great idea, but a DVC in the campground's back yard seems like an awful idea! (and I am a DVC fan)

I doubt they would build from scratch a new stormalong bay type area for those resorts. The main FW pool just (last couple of years) got a remodel that added a few SOB features.

As for a new DVC its not really in the backyard, its an area between WLV and FW. It would make the area seem a little cramped.

 

[luvthemouse71]

Forget that amoeba the one we should be worried about is this one jumping to humans...Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.

Cool! Thanks for posting. The medical geek in me loves reading about new outbreaks..ghoulish of me, I know.