Forgotten Disney

River Country

Originally published in August-3-2015

River Country

Abandoned Water park

Hello my followers and readers, if you want to explore Walt DisneyWorld's first ever water park AND get banned from company then River Country is just for you.

It was located at Bay Lake and behind Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. It opened to the public on June 20, 1976, known as the first water park in the world to have a theme. Its theme was an "Ol' Fashioned Swimmin' Hole" and was based on the character of Goofy and his adventures. Besides Discovery Island, it is only one of two Disney parks to have closed.

An event that might have led to the closure of River Country happened in 1980 when a family from New York City visited the park, and their 11-year-old son later died of a brain-eating amoeba. They linked the cause to the park because most of it was open to Bay Lake, a natural body of water that contained this type of bacteria. They soon sued The Walt Disney Company for this. Yesterland.com, though, has debunked the rumor that the amoeba was the cause of the closure, as well as another rumor that it was a state regulation dictating that water parks could not use natural bodies of water as their source. Also, because of the popularity of Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, the park was lacking many tourists in comparison. The final nail in the coffin, though, was the September 11 terrorist attacks, which caused a major downturn in tourism to the resort, forcing Disney to take drastic measures to cut down on spending to match attendance levels. It ceased operations in November 2001 and was scheduled for an annual refurbishment until the summer of 2002. The Walt Disney Company later extended the refurbishment without noting when it would reopen. The refurbishment lasted until January 20, 2005, when they announced that it would remain closed permanently. They never got the demolition permits for it, and still have not until today.

The abandoned River Country is still noticeable from the ferry ride from the Magic Kingdom to Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. This is where the remains of the part of it that was open to Bay Lake (and the dock to Discovery Island) can be found. The only way to get into it is through a fence. Since its closure, security cameras and guards monitor it, and trespassers may get banned from Walt Disney World.

In 2018, it was announced that River Country would be demolished for a new nature-inspired Disney Vacation Club resort named "Reflections - A Disney Lakeside Lodge", set to open in 2022.

When I went to Walt Disney World in February of 2018, our tour guide took us around River Country where I took this picture:

So awesome how we saw the last remnant of River Country.

1-31-19 update:

I was getting out of physical therapy (for my knee. Long story) and as we waited to get papers, this woman liked my mom's bag and then they talked and when I heard she was cast member, I was all ears. Her husband was there to help explain some stuff because she doesn't remember her time there sadly. One year (2008) when they where on vacation in Disney, she started to cry and a cast member asked what's wrong. When they explain, the CM said okay. Next day they got a call asking if they wanted a ride in a boat. They said okay and what happened was magical. THEY GOT INSIDE OF RIVER COUNTRY like a exclusive VIP! Hoping they can regain her memories because she had brain surgery and can't remember stuff. That was the year CM gave people random stuff and other things.

How cool is THAT!?

Source: DisneyWiki

September-26-2020 Update: Updated and changed chapter with added information.