Musings on River Country

Recently, the Walt Disney World Resort "celebrated" a rather sad anniversary- it was 10 years ago that River Country, the resort's first water park closed permanently. The reality, however, was that the writing had been on the wall for River Country for years. Many (including myself) would argue that River Country was doomed the day Blizzard Beach, Disney's second water park, opened. There was not room for three water parks at the resort, particularly when two of them featured state of the art slides and thrills, while the third was best described as "quaint."


Perhaps the saddest part of the River Country saga is that when the place closed, Disney just left it alone. The pools were drained, they built a cyclone fence around it, and left it to sit. And sit it did. For 10 years. 10 years later, it still sits. The place sat unused for so long, that the property became a sort of urban legend among Disney fans. The internet community would become simultaneously excited and outraged whenever new photos would surface, taken by brave souls who dared to enter the old park. Recently, a new video surfaced, taken at dusk, by two fans who (illegally) entered the park and reminisced:



A few things stand out in that rather creepy video. First, why in the hell is the music still playing? Second, why is that knucklehead drinking the water? And finally, why is he sitting on that toilet? Does he not know that snakes (and there are plenty of them at Fort Wilderness, make no mistake about it) love cool, damp places?

Take a look at the photos below, which were taken during the daytime, which also give an idea of how River Country looks today. Notice how the whole place has a sort of post-apocalyptic, "After People" vibe to it:

But, enough about River Country's sad end. Endulge me for a few minutes, while reminisce about the park's heyday, back when I was a kid, when River Country was the resort's one and only water park.

One of the things I most remember about River Country is that despite its small size, it was always a place my family and I could spend the entire day at, picnic lunch and all. Yes, you did a lot of things at the park more than once, but it didn't matter, because it was just so much fun. The first time I visited I had not read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which the park is very, very loosely based on. It didn't matter. You instantly fell in love with the place because of all the exciting adventures it offered, many of which were not immediately visible.





Upon entering the park, you walked through the picnic area (which also included a snack bar), and came to the park's main beach, which had lounge chairs around the main pool. The pool served as the depository for most of the park's water slides, and also included a rope swing, tire swing, and barrel bridge. Incidentally, all three of those diversions were included (with a different theme, of course) in Blizzard Beach's design. The unique thing about this pool (and one of the things that ultimately led to its demise) was that this pool was not filled with chlorinated water- it was natural water piped in from nearby Bay Lake. This meant that in addition to containing all of the natural sorts of things you'd find in a lake, you also couldn't see the bottom of the pool from the decks, which made the jobs of lifeguards much more challenging. Guests also (wrongly) assumed that the entire pool was the same depth, and often wandered into areas of the pool that were much deeper than they anticipated, which, again, kept the lifeguards quite busy.

The slides themselves were also rather confusing to guests, in that a number of them unknowingly dumped you into rather deep water, and dropped you off a few feet above the pool. One slide in particular, which was called Whoop 'n Holler Hollow started off at the highest peak in River Country, and dumped into that main pool. The top of Whoop 'n Holler Hollow provided guests with modest views of both the Contemporary Resort (across Bay Lake) and a rather poor view of the Magic Kingdom in the distance.

The past and current view of Whoop N' Holler

The park also featured a small, rather unexciting inner tube ride. The ride was short and not that exciting, but it was fun nevertheless. The most exciting part about it, as I remember, was one very quick, really sharp turn, when, as a kid, you worried that your tube might fly right off the slide (with you in it).

My favorite set of slides! Seemed a lot larger of a drop when I was smaller. (Mike)

As fun as River Country, it was definitely a product of its era, both in size and scope. The park always had a retro sort of feel to it, and once Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach opened, most families figured they'd visit the bigger and better parks. Additionally, the park had a myriad of safety problems, most prominent of which was the bacteria/ algae that was discovered in Bay Lake. All of these factors eventually prompted Disney to close the place, and the park took its place in Disney lore, as one of those much talked about extinct attractions.

So...what memories do you have of River Country?

Poor barrel, never had a chance.