I was at WDW in the 70s and knew of River Country but water parks were not my thing. This time, the plans called for a restaurant to be constructed inside the new Reflections Resort. River Country was a staple of the Walt Disney World attraction lineup for 25 years, and over that period it was witness to the evolution of the vacation kingdom. If this were a decade or two ago, I might be more deferential to Disney with regard to this concept art. subsidiary, affiliated and related companies. I hope the cancellation is true! Just four years later, Disney made an official announcement that the park would not reopen. Disney's River Country opened in 1976 as Disney's first water park. (Disney, just think of how much you could pat yourselves on the back by utilizing eco-friendly and sustainable construction practicesitd be worth it in the PR alone!) In short, Disney's River Country is decaying and dissolving, the millions of visitors that passed through its gates now a thing of the past. NEW Disney Christmas Ornaments Are Online Now! More laid back, relaxing and visually appealing. It may become an area to avoid. Two years ago the island at top was rated as a "Tropical paradise". And the lake was amazing, Very special and fun days in the 80s and 90s at River Country and so special since Fort Wilderness also felt like our 2nd home. He was to little to get himself out. DisneyDining.com is not affiliated with The Walt Disney Company. Now being DVC members we get to enjoy Disney once or twice a year. I grew up in Ft. Myers Florida and in the late 70s visited River country many times. This made the water park the second of only two Disney parks in the company's history to close permanently, with nearby Discovery Island on the lake closing in 1999. If you're a Disney fan, you've probably heard of River Country. Disney, uncharacteristically, didnt demolish River Country after its closure. I got one was looking forward to the new resort. With that said, Id still expect the River Country site to be developed at some point down the road. Went there when I was a kid in the late 70s. Great point! In the end, more concept art could be released thats really good. I cover the why of that in full detail below, and feel even more strongly about this after being utterly underwhelmed and disappointed by Disneys Riviera Resort. Disney missed on a perfect opportunity to build on a theme of spending time with family and just RELAXING for a minute without the craziness of all the running to be somewhere. It is a shame I cant share this kind of quaint Waterpark experience with my kids. The cost was doable for large groups. Apparently, we were some of the last to actually go to this park. Disney has not torn down the park, but instead has allowed Mother Nature to take its course. Now? Back in the early 80's, the brain eating amoeba killed an 11 year old boy, but as many know, that had nothing to do with its closing. Maybe theyre mostly designers who view working for WDI as just another job no different than Best Western or IHG. It opened on June 20, 1976, and closed indefinitely on November 2, 2001, with The Walt Disney Company later announcing on January 20, 2005, that the park would remain closed permanently. Let us know in the comments below. The next time i went was in 2002, it was closed by then. Hopefully the replacement will offer some of the same magic as the other areas. Hate to see all the development at fort wilderness! I truly wish it was still there. However, that incident occurred in 1980, 21 years before the park closed. We own two DVC properties. According to the D23 Expo announcement, the new restaurant would be one inspired by Disneys The Princess and the Frog. For official Disney information, visit http://www.disneyworld.com. They included Upstream Plunge, Slippery Slide Falls, Kiddie Cove, Barrel Bridge, White Water Rapidsa 330-foot long lazy river, Bay Cove (which featured a tire swing, a boom swing, and a cable ride), Whoop n Holler Hollow, Bay Bridge, Indian Springs, and the Cypress Point Nature Trail. I had a Very Special connection to the water park; it opened on my 4th Birthday (June 20, 1976). Disney Is Offering a Once in a Lifetime, One Time Only Parade! I know some readers might only follow the projects at Walt Disney World, but every single property (except Shanghai Disneyland) around the world has huge projectsmany larger in scope and scale than Star Wars: Galaxys Edgein various stages of development or construction. Contemporary projects are often interchangeable with real world Holiday Inns or other mid-tier chained brand hotels. I was shocked to see that it had been abandoned. Do not place a hotel in top of the campground! To this day, no one knows what exactly happened at what was once "The Happiest Place on Earth." 29 Haunting Pictures Of River Country And Discovery Island, Disney's Mysteriously Abandoned Theme Parks View Gallery They gave no explanation as to its closure and they left the rides and attractions to decay. The story starts in 1976, when Disney's River Country attraction opened its doors to the public. I was there in 1976. We respect your right to privacy. The park opened in 1976, ceased operations in 2001 and has been left to deteriorate ever since. According to The Street, Disney has been completely mum about plans for its new lakeside lodge since the pandemic first became a reality in the U. S. The Reflections hotel site has been cleared, but it does not appear that the project is currently moving forward, reads a post at TheStreet.com. Regardless of his intent, Disney officials didn't take too kindly to Lawless' entrance into the park, and banned him from returning to Disney World when they discovered him on the premises. We even drove over to Cape Canaveral to watch the launch of a Space Shuttle which was absolutely thrilling. 1976. They also issued an explicit statement telling visitors that the beaches were only for sunbathing. Loved River Country!! It was one of the first water parks in Florida. Disney's River Country was a fun way to get wet. But it's . My Mom was scared half to death and came running because she didnt know I could swim. We/they are culpable and are one of the reasons for the bland towers. [3][4][5] Three other children had died similarly in Florida in the same month. Went there many times as a kid, it was a blast. You can follow him on Instagram at @standardstealth. Plans called for the opening of the new DVC Resort to take place sometime in 2022. Putting a resort that size on the old RC site will absolutely ruin the atmosphere of Fort Wilderness that has been there since the 70s. There was a very strange problem happening in Disney World yesterday. I would definitely go back for new memories and reliving old. Striking images of its abandoned state have spread like wildfire across the web and social media in recent years, and you may even have visited the park during its 25 years in operations. There were no immediate plans to tear down any other part of the park.[7]. That said, Id love to be a DVC owner at FW!! The new resort is slated to have 900 hotel rooms and was set to open in 2022. So sorry to hear its closing, it holds very dear memories for me.. The front desk is of Port Orleans, Old Key West, Caribbean Beach, etc. That is, until 2001, when the water park welcomed its last Guest. Disney needs another THEME PARK not another hotel. The message is they built something, they benefited from it and then they just left it there to rot. I was lucky enough to go to River Country on a trip back in 1977 it was one of my fondest early memories of The World. They need to build Disney Extreme, a theme park to compete with the Tampa and Orlando intense rollercoaster parks, if they dont Disney will start to loose monster market share, problem with most corporate thinking nowadays is it is just short sighted. We still camp at Ft Wilderness two to three times a year. Worked in Pops Place and had a great, great summer there. They loved it! I have always hoped that they would revive River Country so my children could experience it and am quite sad that they never will. I miss the memories which I hold deep in my heart. The interaction with the characters and the food was excellent. Disney World spokesman Bill Warren stated that River Country could be reopened if "there's enough guest demand".[6]. Along those same lines, with so many projects in development, its entirely possibleif not probablethat leadership in the Parks & Resorts division is trying to trim the budget from each one, cutting aspects or details viewed as superfluous. trademarks, service marks, and trade names are proprietary to Disney Enterprises, Inc. or, its This original WDW resort is timeless and as you eloquently put, is unlike any other resort on property. Disneys press release goes on to discuss the value and flexibility of a Disney Vacation Club membership, along with other fluff youd expect in a press release of this nature. In the first year the park was open, it saw enormous successaveraging more than 4,700 Guests a day. Copyright 1996-2023 AllEarsNet, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Beyond 2005, the once-busy family water park was rendered permanently silent. The River Country Closing Theme still plays even in the abandoned park. As a child I went to the water park anytime my family stayed in Fort Wilderness. Hes 26 now. Disney is wonderful with all the new attractions over the years and hotels etc it rudely is magical. Sign up for news, Disney deals & freeplanning tips. Both guests and cast members have remarked on this over the decades that I visited. My wife and I went to River Country and Discovery Island on our Honeymoon in 1984. (No one saw it. Sincerely, Any other questions or comments? D23 Gold perks have just been released for Jollywood Nights in Disney World this year! On the plus side, Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo (WATG) is the lead designer for Reflections A Disney Lakeside Lodge, and they have a very good track record with Disney. Its a shame but Im sure alligators prob paid a role in the closing. Okay, This Might Be the Most Practical Disney Souvenir Weve Ever Seen, Disney Shared New Details on SECRET Perk at Exclusive Event in Hollywood Studios, Everyones Asking About This Disney World Hotel Perk Thats Mysteriously Missing, The Most Important Tip You Need To Know To Get Into The Disney College Program, The Rides You Can and Cant Ride When Pregnant in Disney World, Why Everyone Wants To Eat HERE at Disneys Hollywood Studios. Its almost remarkable how different Fort Wilderness feels from the rest of Walt Disney Worldeven its neighbor, Wilderness Lodge. Went to river country while staying at Fort Wilderness. Wed forgive you for being skeptical, as the story sounds completely antithetical to Disneys usual M.O.. We loved the water volleyball,and everything else about it. My family always included River Country in our plans just like the Magic Kingdom. Part 2 is about why River Country never reopened after the end of its 2001 season. Another explanation is that Imagineerings talents are spread too thin. She was so proud of herself wore that slide out up-down-up-down-up down until she was waterlogged. My aunt is DVC at Saratoga and Copper Creek. PS The last stay in FW was the wife and me by ourselves, no kids! Having already experienced Typhoon Lagoon by then and even the pool at the Yacht Club I can see how River Country got sort of outpaced. Weve been to WDW more than 10 times staying from 10-18 days staying at Ft. Wilderness 8 times. The park was one of the first major additions to Walt Disney World after its 1971 opening, and was one of the earliest fully-themed water parks ever built. They could have done something with that land that would have benefitted the environment and the existing wildlife.". Here Are 2 Tips We Learned Along the Way! We camped at FW last week and the construction site is so intrusive to the wilderness experience. In theory, Reflections A Disney Lakeside Lodge seems perfectly tailored to some of my favorite things about Walt Disney World. I think it could have been enjoyed by families today and could have been a major attraction with its storybook, country roots. River Country was Walt Disney World's first water park and that can be applied to all of Orlando. Finding out they took the path away almost killed me! @KenR -That is true. Yep! I wished they would have left it for Fort Wilderness guests as well. Fun place but I agree it probably needed to go. River Country was located along the shores of Bay Lake and near Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, the park was themed as a rustic, old-fashioned swimming hole. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know! One bus stop, no paths to maintain, fewer gardens and less land to maintain and mow. On March 5, 2018, Disney filed permits for a new mystery development labeled "Project 89" to be built along Bay Lake and over the former River Country site. Ohio-based photographer Seph Lawless recently visited the abandoned park to learn about its history and see if it held any clues as to why a franchise as image-conscious as Disney would leave the park to decay over the years. Campground employees were the very first to use the park before it opened and I remember it well. (Part 1 of 2)", "The unsettling story behind why a Disney theme park was abandoned", "4th Death Linked to Rare Amoeba in Florida Lakes", "As Crowds Dry Up, Disney Closes River Country Park", "Disney World draining, filling in long-abandoned River Country pool", "Walt Disney World Planning New Mystery Project On Site Of Old River Country Water Park", "Disney's forgotten water park River Country may soon become high-end timeshares", "Disney's former River Country water park will become hotel, timeshares", "Former River Country Location Demolished Ahead of Reflections A Disney Lakeside Resort Construction", "Disney Announces New Nature-Themed Walt Disney World Resort Hotel for River Country Site", "Concept art: First Look at Reflections A Disney Lakeside Lodge Hotel Rooms Featuring Bambi, Brother Bear, Fox and the Hound, Pocahontas, and More; Room Types Revealed", "BREAKING: Reflections A Disney Lakeside Lodge to Feature "Princess and the Frog" Lakeside Restaurant", "Eerie remains of Disney water park left abandoned for almost 20 years", Disney's River Country on Modern Day Ruins, A four-part series on the abandoned resort, "These Abandoned Disney Park Photos Look Like Scenes From a Postapocalyptic World", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Disney%27s_River_Country&oldid=1164229909, This page was last edited on 8 July 2023, at 11:50. We do not do the other water parks. One of the primary theories revolves around the idea that the closure was due to a brain-eating amoeba that was present in the parks water. We still like to walk in the campground but was so sadden to see that River Country area was just going to be another hotel. They have several security people on boats that watch you. No one in their right mind would condone what theyve done if they remember how it was before it was destroyed. Weve been hooked since 1975 but have been seriously shocked by the new Disney mindset (if you build it they will come) The Reflections development was devastating to the area & the image. Bob Iger admits that Disney may be open to selling ABC. Additionally, in a recent aerial photo of the Reflections A Disney Lakeside Lodge site on Twitter from @bioreconstruct, shows a noticeable absence of construction equipment, which is despite other projects around Walt Disney World starting to resume work. Just like Pocahontas show at AK. I remember visiting River Country when I was in elementary school and it was magical remaining in my memory 40+ years later. Loved it, my daughter, now 39, still talks about how much fun she had there. It brings the resorts into a modern era. Disneys recent approach to developing hotels adjacent to existing resorts doesnt inspire much confidence, and if theres a ham-fisted approach when clearing land or an overzealous mentality when it comes to the size or proximity of the resort to the campground, it will be incredibly detrimental to Fort Wilderness. The. Theres a very legitimate concern, especially after seeing how the Copper Creek and Boulder Ridge projects at Wilderness Lodge unfolded, that any expansion at or around Fort Wilderness will destroy the primitive and secluded characteristics of the campground that give it so much appeal. But the new parks are for the majority whos swimming abilities are more limited and theyre far better for families. Its obviously less expensive to cut down on theme. His wife, Sarah, listing one of reasons she dislikes it as it being too spread out and large. This place was amazing in the eyes of an 8 year old! Your email address will not be published. Back then there were only two parks and not nearly as many guests. My 9 and 11 year old sons spent the entire second day of our 2 day Disney visit in River Country. make it free to campers and charge the outsiders. Zoom in at arrows to see where a refurbishment is underway of the waterside nature trail. My kids grew up going to River Country on non park days. Thank you so much for this bit of history. The parks Life After People-like state attracted many urban explorers who illegally broke-in to explore and document the crumbling slides and pools, sharing their images on the internet for all the world to see. Drone in tow, Lawless captured never-before-seen images of the remains of both Discovery Island and Disney's River Country. This would have been a great addition for the Campground experience. If you'd like to see more of Lawless' work, you can visit his Facebook page, Instagram page, or follow him on Twitter. This is another corporate money making decision that is destroying the original mission statement of Disney. Instead of demolishing the parks, Disney has allowed them to rot in plain sight. Strong Relationships With Major Corporations Have Allowed Disney To Flourish, NEW Holiday Offerings Are Coming to Disney Cruise Line. They have absolutely no insight into what details are actually superfluous, and what are necessary for reinforcing theme or creating a sense of immersion. I looked it up in 2017 before moving back down here. However, the parks closure isnt the end of its story. While Disney suffered a bout of bad press, business didn't suffer much. I really loved there and sadly didnt get back to WDW until 2005 when it was closed. As a resident of Central Fl., we loved being able to take our children to River Country. Plunge pools at the end of the slides were deep and swirling and overall the experience was far more thrilling (terrifying you might call it) than BB or TL provide. And while 9/11 and declining numbers have been blamed for the park's closure, three separate, tragic incidents in the 80s are believed to have played a role. As for the design, only one piece of concept art has been released, and its nothing special. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue! I barely saw either of them except for drink and food stops the whole time and I personally loved my leisure day in the very attractive surroundings of River Country. Whatever its reasons, there's no denying that the scene left behind at Disney's River Country is eerie. I went with my family when I was young. Wish it was still open. I am weirdly happy that the construction has stopped, as I hated the idea of such an unwilderness looking building on the site. A nearly straight down view of Discovery Island and site of Reflections A Disney Lakeside Lodge. But almost as quickly as plans for the new resort were announced, they were seemingly scrapped, albeit with little official word from Disney. My family went in 2001 and enjoyed the park immensely. But I must point out something that is not discussed as one of the reasons we are getting these tall plain buildings. After the company decided to finally close the park in 2001, many speculated as to whether it would ever reopen. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. My family enjoyed River Country from its inception. On top of that, theres a strong possibility that foreclosures will outpace new sales, meaning that DVCs point inventory will start increasing. Its a shame they closed it but happy they are doing something with it now. Your email address will not be published. Cannot tell you the date or time?but it is a shame that it is no more! I never went to River Country, but I loved Mickeys Backyard BBQ, which was in one of the old River Countrys buildings and has closed due to the Reflections construction. Required fields are marked *. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or in any other way associated with The Walt Disney Company. Disney's River Country 2022 Update Bright Sun Films 1.31M subscribers Subscribe 12K Share 359K views 9 months ago It's been well over 3 years since Disney World had announced Reflections a. I went to River Country many times. Its too bad they let it rot. Not thrilled that the land is going to be, yet another hotel (a timesharing one, at that). They are bland and and sterile like Tom suggests. There have been many theories bandied about online as to why River Country closed. In turn attendance began to suffer, and by 2001, Disneys first water park was living on borrowed time. She loves Bay Lake Tower, incidentally a tall bland tower with no theme, just a great location. Those were all subsequently put on hold for expansion at existing Walt Disney World resorts, and it seemed like the defunct water parks time had finally come with Reflections.
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