River Country

[Lou Mongello]

Well, the old swimmin' hole has been closed for some time now... Has anyone heard any rumors about this long-lost water park?

I've heard it was going to be refurbished and made into a Fort Wilderness Resort play area, but I can't see a potential moneymaker like that being used for just one resort.

Any thoughts?

[Xharryb]

why not? it's just sittin' there takin' up space right now. It wouldn't necesarily have to be only for Fort Wilderness guests (although I'm sure they would use it more than anyone else), it could be available to all resort guests. There is a lot of nostalgia for the place, but it's actually quite obsolete compared to today's bigger, better, more inventive theme parks. transforming it into a fun themed area for the fort wilderness crowd (both campground & lodge) would certainly seem like a better idea than scrapping it entirely (which would seem to be the only other option). This is Disney we're talking about though, and they seem to be perfectly content letting opportunities like this just sit there unused and rotting away.

[Lou Mongello]

Unused and rotting...

e.g. Discovery Island, River Country, 20K Lagoon (please no Pooh), Fantasyland Skyway station (i know it's small and currently a character meeting area, but the buidling is still empty).... I know I'm missing others

I would actually like RC to re-open almsot as-is. A nice change from TL and BB.

[LilMarcieMouse]

I heard they would never open again. The buildings were made in to dorms for some group or something like that.

[TrendyMagic]

Currently there are no plans to re-open as it was. Many rumors out there of what it will be but nothing I have been able to confirm yet.

I had never been there but it is what set the standard for water parks today. Sad to see it go.

[dizchick73]

I was never at river country, but have heard a lot about it. does anyone have any picture of it? was it like typhoon lagoon or blizzard beach but smaller?

[Xharryb]

I was never there either, but if you take the boat from Magic kingdom over to Ft. Wilderness you go right by it, and can get a pretty good look.

[aesalsa]

I've also never experienced this park, but I'm sad to see it go. From what I've read about it, it seemed like such a wonderful place--very natural. Was it opened in DEC. 2002? What about Discovery Island? When my then-future hubby and I were planning our honeymoon, DI was one of the places that I wanted to hit, but we didn't get to visit it . Does anybody know if anything will be done with DI in the future? Sorry for going a bit off-topic. . .

[Lou Mongello]

Erika,

River Country closed at the end of the season in 2001 and never reopened, partly due to the attendance issues as a result of 9/11.

Discovery Island has been surrounded by rumors for some time now. At one point, there were rumors of it being coverted into a themed land based on the computer game "Myst" which never developed. It has recently been rumored to be converted into an exclusive, very upscale resort, wincluding villas, etc. catering to the honeymooning crowd.

It's a shame that the island sits there abandoned like that. (maybe they should make it a "Hunt for Winnie the Pooh Safari"! )

[Granny]

My family enjoyed River Country a lot when we visited in 1998. At this point, I wish they'd at least open the regular pool there (with the cool slide coming down from the rocks). If nothing else, maybe that would keep the Fort Wilderness people from overcrowding the Wilderness Lodge pool!

We did enjoy RC, but DW says she was never comfortable "swimming in Bay Lake".

[mondo1748]

If you read or see different Disney World material it will sometimes refer to the WDW resort having 3 Water Parks still . I need to see if I can ramp up that conversion of the Beta's I have and then you can all see the River Country Water Park from a small Mousketeer Club (I think late 70's) music tribute to it. AKQJ10 I'll probably send it to you first

[aesalsa]

If you read or see different Disney World material it will sometimes refer to the WDW resort having 3 Water Parks still . I need to see if I can ramp up that conversion of the Beta's I have and then you can all see the River Country Water Park from a small Mousketeer Club (I think late 70's) music tribute to it. AKQJ10 I'll probably send it to you first

We have out first trip to WDW recorded on Beta ! I'd love to see River Country in its glory days. . .it would be really cool.

[Lou Mongello]

I know I have an old WDW promo video around here that shows scenes from River Country. I'll have to find it and upload it for ya.

[mondo1748]

well I sent you the DVD AKQJ10....Take the River country part out and post it....again the quality is OK but for a dying BETA and a 3rd generation copy pulled to a DVD its not to bad.

[DAKVET]

I heard that River Country is closed due to 1. attendence and 2. pipe/plumbing problems. I don't know how true it is but I heard that the pipe problems would be way to expensive to fix.