Originally Posted By sjhym333 The Orlando Weekly has 24 pictures up, many of them taken at River Country recently. As you will be able to see, Disney would basically have to bulldozed to be able utilize the property. Interesting pictures to say the least. <a href="http://photos.orlandoweekly.com/index.php/24-unbelievable-pics-of-walt-disney-worlds-abandoned-river-country-attraction/1-river-country-fun-via-gorillasdontblog-blogspot-com/" target="_blank">http://photos.orlandoweekly.co...pot-com/</a>
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Unfortunately Disney has let portions of Fort Wilderness go that used to give it some of its charm. The last time I stayed at Fort Wilderness (7-8 years ago) the Swamp Trail was poorly maintained and overgrown. I assume it has only gotten worse... it no longer appears on the Fort Wilderness maps.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros While I don't think there's any chance of it returning in the forseeable future, it's been clear for a while that they would need to demolish large parts of it if they wanted to reopen it. It looks like the Whoop and Holler slides are supported by a wooden structure, which would be pretty precarious after 40+ year exposed to the elements (and the last dozen years with no maintenance). Additionally, the layout of several elements, like the slides that drop you ~10' into a pool, the swinging boom, and even the tire swing, that would likely be removed entirely in today's legally-minded world. It looks like it was a fun little place, and I'm sad that I never got to experience it. Hopefully they'll be able to revive it at some point in the future; if Stormalong Bay at the Yacht and Beach Clubs can be more than just a basic swimming pool, maybe they can do the same for the Fort Wilderness/Wilderness Lodge complex
Originally Posted By virk4 River Country was the 1st "water park" at WDW. My family enjoyed it for years. Now we enjoy the new parks and pools but I would love to see a modern RC.
Originally Posted By sjhym333 I think there is s certain nostalgia about River Country. It was a nice pkace for what it was at the time. Today it would seem quaint. It mighf have made a great pool for Fort Wilderness but having been out there a couple of months ago i can say that most of it is unsavable. Not to mention that lots of the water features used water from Bay Lake. Disney no longer allows swimming in Bay Lake at all.
Originally Posted By R K Orton Been there several times in my younger years. It was a really neat place in the day. We used to camp at WDW back when there was only the Magic Kingdom.
Originally Posted By R K Orton Been there several times in my younger years. It was a really neat place in the day. We used to camp at WDW back when there was only the Magic Kingdom.
Originally Posted By tonyanton I can see River Country return in a different form if the rumored Fort Wilderness DVC ever gets built in this area...They would probably have to demo all that's left, but could rebuild something with a similar/same theme for the FW and new DVC guests. Kind of like others have said...a western themed "Stormalong Bay" just for guests staying there.
Originally Posted By Blufusion12 I would love to see something like this come back. I got to enjoy it in 1982 on my 1st visit and in 1985 . It was special. BUT can we just not build any more DVC or anything now . Maybe they could actually add something to their parks.
Originally Posted By RoadTrip <<BUT can we just not build any more DVC or anything now . Maybe they could actually add something to their parks.>> I'm sure they could... if they could sell 40-year-access to those attractions at $25K like they do with DVC.
Originally Posted By Blufusion12 RoadTrip. let me ask you one question. if you could fly to Disney World or could drive to Diseny World . Which would you rather do?
Originally Posted By RoadTrip Last year we drove, and will be doing that again this year. WDW is about 18 hours away from SW Missouri where I live... makes for an easy two day drive, arriving at WDW before it is very late in the day. I used to always fly, but airfare has become outrageous and the flying experience keeps getting worse and worse. It is no longer worth it.
Originally Posted By Blufusion12 from 1985 and from 1988 to 1992. I wiuld drive by myself from Amarillo Texas to Orlando and back . Take 2 weeks off it was great. Then in 1982 I made the mistake of taking my brother and EX sister in law on the trip and she ruined everthing for me. and when we left people were leaving the stae for Hurricane Andrew and traffic was back up till we got to the panhandle. My brother wanted to get back home in 24 hrs. thats almost 1700 miles . We did it in 27 hrs . I got them home saidd I hated them and didnt see them for 6 month later. and she has now been my ex sister in law for that and other reason. lol
Originally Posted By leemac I have very fond memories of the old fashioned watering hole - particularly in the early nineties. Sure it did seem quaint once Typhoon Lagoon opened up in '89 but it had a rustic charm to it. The slides were fun without being overly thrilling and it was landscaped to perfection. The crazy thing is that both of the WDW water parks are consistently at capacity in the summer and turning guests away. That demonstrates that existing capacity that could be turned on would have been beneficial. It is criminal that WDW Co. have just allowed it to rot away.
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn River Country utilized the water from Bay Lake, which has far too much bacteria for lawyers to be happy about.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Maybe I'm a little naiive, but how hard would it have been for them to put River Country on its own water source. Just build a more permanent dam, line the bottom of the pools with concrete, and you're set, right? And are we sure that the reason that guests are kept out of the water is because of the bacteria? It seems like water activities have an inherently high liability, which only increases when you add in dark/murky water and boat traffic. While water skiing is perfectly safe for reasonable people to do on their own, the high instance of minor injuries would certainly be reason enough to scare away Disney's lawyers. Add in boat traffic near the beaches at the hotels, low visibility for lifeguards, and potentially choppy conditions, and you've just scared every corporate lawyer in town. I know of the one instance of a bacteria-related death, but that was years (a decade or more) before they banned swimming in Bay Lake or Seven Seas Lagoon. It seems like it might be plausible that other factors were also involved
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn Though not explaining everything, here's a little background: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.yesterland.com/rivercountry.html">http://www.yesterland.com/rive...try.html</a> Disney revealed in 2005 that RC would be closed permanently.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The Yesterland articles tend to gloss over large portions of an attraction's history and highlight obscure details, but the way that article was written makes me think that perhaps Disney was being honest when the shut it down 'for the season' River Country typically closed for the winter, much like how BB and TL take turns being closed in the colder months. However, due to RC's small size, it was closed for the entire offseason, rather than just a couple months. When it closed in 2001, there would have been no reason to assume it wouldn't come back However, by spring 2002, the economy (and tourism business in particular) was in a very different place, and Disney was doing everything they could to save money. There was talk of closing the individual theme parks on different days of the week to reduce operating costs. Port Orleans French Quarter was completely closed for a couple years, and Riverside only operated about 20% of its room, as the hotel space simply wasn't being filled Since a hotel complex was closed temporarily during this era, there's no reason to believe that the 'temporary' closure of RC through the summer season wouldn't be undone in the future. However, I assume that by the time the additional water park capacity was needed a few years later, the RC infrastructure had been neglected for too long to recover. In an unusual instance, I really don't think there was any hidden funny business behind River Country's ultimate demise
Originally Posted By mrkthompsn I think they should reopen it and Discovery Island, and reserve them for group functions such as Boy Scout jamborees
