River Country: Disney's Abandoned Water Park
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
- Out of Disney's many theme parks around the world, only one has ever permanently closed. River Country was Disney's first water park, built on the shore of Bay Lake at Walt Disney World. While the park achieved moderate success during its lifespan, the real story only began after the park closed its doors. Let's take a look at River Country's life, closure, and 2 decades it sat abandoned, an icon of Disney's abandoned attractions, and a symbol of Disney's urban exploring history.
Thumbnail photo from Yesterland: yesterland.com/
You can follow me on Twitter idk: / gappingthemind
Ok, I know some people regard Discovery Island as being a closed Disney park, but I don't really count it. It wasn't really a park, more of an attraction. The lines of what is and isn't a theme park start to get kinda blurry.
But the story of Disney's River Country is so interesting to me, I thought I'd take a crack at it. From the abandoned Discovery Island, to Wonders of Life, DisneyQuest and beyond, River Country is by far Disney's most iconic abandoned location. Such an interesting story of being forgotten and slowly rediscovered. And with recent developments such as Reflections: A Disney Lakeside Lodge, it seems the history of Disney's River Country hasn't yet reached its final chapter.
The background music for this video comes from Epidemic Sound (referral link): share.epidemicsound.com/imrsqv
CHAPTERS
0:00 Intro
0:42 Walt Disney World's Early Years
2:27 The Life of River Country
8:34 The Closure of River Country
10:00 The Abandonment of River Country
11:11 The Urban Explorers of River Country
14:30 The Replacement of River Country
17:24 Why Did River Country Close? - Розваги
why are the pictures of goofy lurking in the background so haunting
he's always watching 👀
for real, right?!
Great video, George. I was a lifeguard at River Country in the mid-to-late 1980’s. It was a great job for a guy like me, who loved the Florida sun and the water. We rotated 3 lifeguard stands, 30 minute shifts at each different post, then took a half-hour break. We had an “unwritten rule” that any “found money” of small proportions in the water was ours for the keeping, as almost no one ever seriously reported lost money in the Bay Cove lake water.
At the bottom of each of the 2 “Whoop & Holler” slides, people would lose small amounts of pocket money, mostly small bills and pocket change out of their swimsuit pockets, and it was all ours for the diving pleasure. I went home with $40 in quarters on a good day. One time, while guarding the bottom of the tube slide, a $100 bill floated right past me. There was no way I was not jumping in to grab it. I turned it in, certain that someone would be missing that amount of money, but after 3 weeks, I got called to the Supervisor’s office and they handed me the $100 bill! They said no one reported any missing cash, and it was now mine.
The job itself was probably the most memorable for the camaraderie we had as lifeguards. Management was excellent, and we had a great time cleaning the park up, both pre-opening and after closing time. The place is still very memorable to me, and I hold those memories very tightly as my favorite job of my youth…
This story made my night. We only went to Disney World once, in 1982. River Country was absolutely my favorite day of our vacation. '82 was probably too early for you to be the lifeguard that told me off for doing a flyaway flip off the zipline into the pool. I was a Gen-X middle child, and no one in my family was nearby to film it. 😅
Why would people just casually have $100 bills in their swimsuit pockets while going to swim there?
@@Spencyclerich people.
@@Spencycle i'm going to guess that disneyworld was expensive in that time aswel 🤣
did you ever swim with goofy though??? DID YOU EVER HAVE TO SAVE GOOFY?
Honestly the world needs more places like River Country. Not in the abandoned state, but a small cozy swimming hole with some activities and slides amidst nice landscaping would be really nice to have in more places.
In today's day and age of higher faster bigger as far as water parks, those days of river country are gone. We went there the very first year it opened. I was seven. As a seven year old who had never been to a water park, it was absolutely magical.
I mean, Goofy being the mascot for River Country makes sense. It's classic America to have a dog swimmin around with you at the local swimmin hole. The inclusion of Pluto makes that point obvious.
We love to hate on Michael, but he gave us all the Disney memories we had as kids. He wasn't the best guy for the job, he was the perfect guy for the job.
You don’t know what you got until Disney fucks up Star Wars
makes you miss all the past guys in charge
@@GlennJimenezI think Michael Eisner would have just put good people in charge of Lucas film and not focused on “the message”. First film would have probably been directed by Brad Bird or something.
Eisner is way better than Iger
Michael Eisner did an amazing job. The one who ran the company into the ground was Ron Miller, Walt’s son in law (who took an executive producer credit on EVERYTHING the studio produced). Eisner saved the company.
Michael wrote this for sure
I remember visiting River Country with my wife and daughter. Arriving to find no seats/loungers available, they were all in use. A lovely American family gave us a couple of their loungers and it really made our day.
I was fortunate to visit River Country a few times with my family in the mid 80's. It was before waterparks popped up everywhere and a real treat to spend a day there. I remember a long tram ride into and out of the park and getting my white Wisconsin skin scorched beyond belief, but it was all worth it. My sister and I rode the tube rapids, over and over and over... mainly due to super long slide lines and the ziplines, rafts and other lake fun was over crowded and controlled by bullies. The main huge, very deep pool was also a good time. No one really played in the sand, it always kind of smelled funny, like swamp and mold. My last visit there with my own children in late fall 99, the park was completely empty, the day was cold and we only stayed for a few hours. There were no services and I saw no employees or lifeguards (May have been there, I just didn't see any) It felt as if they were planning on a shutdown. Even the bridge walk area was closed. I'm just glad I got to experience RC! Enjoyed your video.
It's a shame that they didn't make an nature reserve out of it, as such overgrown culture wastelands provide a great habitat for many endangered species, that may not survive in the modern cultivated landscape around it.
I hope i didnt use the wrong terms, as translating ecological technical terms into another language is not the easiest thing.
@@Quert_ZuiopueNo, you did great!
Also, yes, it would have been nice if they’d handed the area management over to a nature reserve organisation. Plenty of fish, birds (especially wading birds), reptiles and crustaceans might well have been attracted to the area.
@@farfetchdthegamer3810
Disney likes the no take backsies rule when they buy stuff, they REALLY don't like reselling land, I want them to do something with it because it's just sitting there
@@Quert_Zuiopuesounded reasonable to me.
Always stings seeing River Country in such a horrendous state of neglect and disrepair because it's not how I experienced it nor remember it.
My family and I went to WDW for the 2000 celebrations Aug 2000. River Country was one of the first parks we visited. As you approached the park, near to the water tower, there were stable and farm animal, a petting zoo of sorts and I'm almost certain you could rent ponies there to go pony trekking around camp wilderness.
River Country itself had an atmosphere all of its own, completely different feel to Blizzard Beach and Typhoon lagoon. The overall feel was relaxed fun, carefreeness and being silly, Goofy being the mascot absolutely fit this. We saw goofy taking the slide down into the plunge pool and there's family photos with us with Pluto, there were covered picnic tables, a large hall of them really, and the characters would walk round and play jokes on people eating their lunch.
The rubber ring slide was by far the most popular with guests and the advantage of it being a smaller capacity water park to the other two? barely any queues. I managed to get on the slide plenty of times. The rubber ring ride had a splash pool of sorts halfway along the slide and with the current of the jets you could find yourself getting stuck spinning in circles in there!
We went twice to River country, each for a half day and loved our time there. Really is a shame what happened to the park, I do miss it. The closest the other parks come to the feel of River Country is the lazy rivers, they're relaxing and fun but interspersed with silliness, like the sneezing chalet in blizzard beach that sprays ice cold water over you, it's that daft, goofy, carefree approach that I River Country for
More on the Fort Wilderness Railroad: It only lasted from January 1974 to February 1980. The 2 ft 6 in (762 mm) narrow-gauge Fort Wilderness Railroad (FWRR) began operating on a trial basis in late 1973 and officially opened on January 1, 1974. It had a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) loop around Fort Wilderness, utilizing four 2-4-2T steam locomotives and twenty passenger cars built in 1972 by WED Enterprises in Glendale, CA. 2-4-2 means the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, four powered and coupled driving wheels on two axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. It debuted in the UK in 1863 and was showcased at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.
Due to issues with track maintenance, pedestrian safety, noise concerns, and its locomotives' low fuel capacity, the railroad only operated occasionally after 1977 and closed permanently in February 1980. After the railroad closed, railroad ties remain in place along certain sections of the railroad's former right-of-way, the FWRR's roundhouse was also converted into a laundry facility, and two of its passenger cars were used as ticket booths for Pleasure Island before said cars were sold to a local railway museum.
He should also talk about the former underwear store on main Street
Never thought I'd get a history of the Fort Wilderness Railroad from the dictator of North Korea.
@@danielbaer5804I guess he has a good amount of free time to learn and then teach minuteae
If I had a nickel, for every time something around Bay Lake closed because a bigger thing opened elsewhere on property, I'd have two nickels...which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice. Nearby Discovery Island closed because the much bigger Animal Kingdom was built! But seriously, it's wild that nearby Discovery Island has been abandoned too! It would've been interesting if Disney revived Discovery Island by teaming up with Cyan Worlds to turn the island into a replica of the titular island from the video game Myst. Discovery Island's history is just as fascinating. From 1900 to 1937, the island was known as Raz Island, named after the family that lived there.
In the late 1930s, it was purchased for $800 by a man named Delmar Nicholson, who renamed it Idle Bay Isle and lived there for 20 years with his wife and pet crane. It was later sold, renamed Riles Island and used as a hunting retreat. Disney bought it in 1965. Delmar lived on the island and grew exotic plants prior to the island's acquisition by Disney. The island's facilities was home to the very last Dusky seaside sparrow, a bird once endemic to Merritt Island where the Kennedy Space Center is, they went extinct because of pesticides and flooding the island to control the mosquito population around the space center on top of highway construction.
The closest Ive ever experienced was belle and beast going on the the carousel together at Disneyland, with Gaston in the foreground flexing to get her attention. It felt really weirdly organic and not scirpted. I kinda miss seeing that sort of thing
Imagine going to an abandoned place and hearing music in the background. I’d be noping right out of there and never looking back
The absolute worst thing to happen to Fort Wilderness is to build a DVC hotel there. No more laid back peacefulness for those who enjoy camping there.
I went a few times in the early 90's as a child.
I was always a little freaked out that the pools were more natural and sandy bottoms, especially when a lifeguard fished a snake out of the water during one visit. That said Ive seen snakes at Typhoon lagoon too, but the water is clear there and visability is better.
I also remember drama around one of the super twisty slides when a woman was taken away on a stretcher with a neck brace after a bad accident.
Wake up, the goat uploaded
I went to Orlando in 2000 and went to river country.... It was one of my favourite memories.
They really missed out here because that old school American country theme is very desirable to us Brits.
If they only closed and just revamped and expanded I reckon it would definitely outdo typhoon lagoon!
God, I miss old Disney so much. This video reminded me how much I used to love them, something I haven't felt in over a decade.
I was there in 1980. My memory is how dangerous the rapids slide was (I was 8 at the time). The downward pressure of the water was intense on my body, when you got knocked off the tube, chances are you were going down the rest of the way without it. Those rapids were strong enough to fling you off the tube (the video showing the guy trying to fetch his tube was a common experience ). Not shown was hitting the rocky structures at speed or colliding with other riders. I think there was a height restriction for the slide but in retrospect a child my size should have never been allowed on that. I remember swallowing a lot of water after a few attempts and just gave up. No way they could make a ride like that these days, the thing must have been a giant legal liability for Disney.
River Country was such a nice place! I do like Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, but River Country had this laid back, fun and genuine feeling to it.
I was there in 1979 with my family & we had a fabulous time. There was no other place like it then. It's amazing now to think how uncrowded everything was. We went back in the evening & practically had the place to ourselves. We just went round & round on the slides. We also stayed at the Treehouse Villas on that trip - 3 kids to a bed. A great memory for our family!
This is by far the most in-depth video I've seen regarding information on what happened to River Country and great footage too. Strong work!
Sculpted characters going completely underwater is WILD
Surely there must have been a risk with that
@@Megalania1 There must have been! I can only imagine...
@@Megalania1
The risk of my peaceful swimming dreams that's for sure
As someone who has tried to swim inside a mask, I can confirm it’s very dangerous and I have no idea how they did that safely
Great video! RC was my first water park in 1982 and I was 9. I loved it and when Typhoon opened in 89 I was excited but preferred RC. Heart breaking what happened to RC. Glad they put it to rest. Hands down the best tube ride ever! RIP RC!!!
Was there in 1980. The pools and the RC experience was awesome. I always miss it.
Good job covering this park! You included a lot of information I haven't seen covered in other videos and more up-to-date. I happened to "visit" (stand outside the fence) in 2018 and didn't realize it'd been torn down later that same year!
Can confirm goofy in the park - I have a memory of my father splashing him as he pushed our raft down one of the slides.
Just came back from Fort Wilderness. It's sad to go to the beach area where the dock is to take the boats and just seeing off to the side a "go away green" fence and beyond that all just nothing. It's all grass now and what little trees are left that were not knocked down. It's just off putting since it wasn't just River Country, but a set of bathrooms, Mickey's BBQ, and the Circle D Ranch (which they moved). So it was a lot they took out for this new project that never came. So it's sad to see not just the water park, those other attractions, but all the nature that was all around it. I'd be less off putting if they just planted a bunch of big trees instead of the "go away green" fence.
I’m so damn glad I found your channel, George! Your videos are incredible! Please, keep them coming! 🙏🏻🖤
I have seen videos in the past on river country, but I appreciated the update about the potential hotel on the site.
My Dad told me about this place but he didn't remember many details. Thanks for the education, I've been curious for awhile!
Great video as usual! So refreshing to see a video on the park that’s not just controversy and abandonment. Also, glad someone finally acknowledged how odd and interesting goofy being the mascot was!
Much more thorough video on the history! I obsessed back when i first heard about it, yet i didnt know about the nature trail or goofy being a permanent guest.
Hey, thanks for making this video! I haven't seen your channel before, but did because of this video. I like your content so have subscribed - keep up the awesome work!!
As someone who went there many times as a child, it blew away any water park I've been to since...the atmosphere was incredibly authentic to an old timey huck finn watering hole... so much fun other than the cold the lake water jn February (yes it was open in the winter months!)
Thank you so much for this! I always remembered going over the lake on the cable ride but I had no idea it was not typhoon lagoon. I went to typhoon lagoon and just thought they had changed it all🤣. I’m glad to know that I’m not crazy and I really do have those memories! It was such a cool place
ive always been really interested in how national tragedy tends effects media, so i think its really interesting how disneys reluctance to do anything with river country meant it experienced two deaths as a result of 9/11 and covid, both being literal decades apart from each other.
Also didn't a young boy die at River country because of a brain eating amoeba.
Never been to Disney (hope to at some day… maybe next year) but I love videos about Disney pass Disney attractions and history. Love it
I remember River country very well. It was a BLAST
I just subscribed to your channel. I never knew about river country. I honestly wish that Disney would do something with it besides just sitting there. Your video caught my eye and I was very intrigued.
someone on youtube has footage of river country from when they went in the 1980s they rented a vhs camera and uploaded it.
This place was wicked. Went there as a kid and loved it!
Honestly, I think it’s so fascinating that Disney is so huge as a business and ahas so much land that they can abandon whole ass water parks
River country was our favorite water park growing up. Super chill, no one went, it was a trek to get to and I love fort wilderness.
Was very early WDW
My algorithm doing the lords work 💜 cracking channel 😊
Great vid!
I've been to River Country quite a few times thru the 70s & 80s. We always had a great time there! Was sorry to see it close, just another black eye from the Eisner era..
Babe wake up George Browning just uploaded!
I love fort wilderness!! Love the most of the resorts and all of the parks as well!!
In 1994 back when Walt Disney World in Orlando, had grad night. I rode the mine train with Goofy. He was the best ride partner I ever had.
so sad. I went with my family in the 90s several times. this is so nostalgic.
Really interested video thanks
The old fashioned waterhole is a perfect space for a 20 foot gator...
Hey forcer, the story I could tell you would make your toes curl.
I was a RC lifeguard from 1985 to 1988. We were instructed to suspend park opening one rainy morning until “Critter Control” could get to us and remove a 14 foot alligator from Bay Cove that was spotted floating on the surface by me, the opening shift pool chemist, and the opening ticketing cashier.
The gator kept going into deeper water, towards the bottom of one of the “Whoop & Holler” slide exits. The Gator Wranglers used an aluminum boat to haul it in, and just like in the nature videos, it did the “death roll” to become ensnared in their netting. The biggest guy in the group actually duct-taped his jaw shut, but it took all four of these guys to carry it to the back of their “paddy wagon,” where it was driven away, presumably relocated elsewhere in the Gator-infested Bay Lake.
It was a scene I’ll NEVER, ever forget…and always made me more suspiciously paranoid of that dark water…
@@twoblacklabs904Wow, that's quite a story! Scary.
@@twoblacklabs904
If you're in florida, it's a decent sized water area, and you can't see it? There's a 99% chance there's a gator in ther, if its not a gator it's a snake
My only childhood trip to WDW was in late November 1976. River Country was brand new and I wanted to go there so badly. I was very disappointed that it wasn’t open…even though it was really cold the days we were there. I didn’t make it back to WDW until January 2001, when River Country was closed again. I became an annual passholder in December 2002, but River Country was closed for good then… 😔
I remember going to River Country in the very early 90s with my parents. I was probably 6 or 7 at the oldest I also remember going to 6 Flags Atlantis in Ft Lauderdale too.
When I was a kid, River Country and Wet N Wild were the only two water parks available I think. Got to visit both happily.
I rarely comment on UA-cam videos, but I absolutely love your topics and editing style, and I can't believe you aren't better known! Can't wait for your next upload!
We stayed in Fort Wilderness in 1980, and it was a fantastic era, the 80s was WDW's peak, imo. We went to the water park on a single occassion, and I mostly enjoyed it. I was 12 years old at the time and I was a puny swimmer, so the deep stuff didn't turn my crank. It was fun, but tbh it wasn't "Disney special". It was like loads of other water parks that are a lot cheaper, and not hogging up premium Disney vacation time. The most outstanding memory I had was going down the wider rapids thing seated in the inner tube, and it would not be too strong to say I hated that part, because the irregular surface intended to stir up water turbulance struck my ass over and over going down, and I'm telling you, it hurt like hell, and my tailbone ached the remainder of the vacation (something I wouldn't let on to my "you sound like you're not appreciating this" type parents). Anyway, I can imagine it's "quite nice but not being particularly special" aspects is what shut it down, especially while it was surely far more expensive than average to upkeep. Despite the nostalgia, if it still existed, I would have zero interest in returning to it.
I’m curious about how they kept the gators out of the park. It’s Florida and they’re affectively on the beach.
4:50 I think the "barrier" was actually a weir dam. Bay Lake water was pumped in, filtered, then put in Bay Cove, which would then continuously overflow into Bay Lake. Guests would not notice the barrier, unless they were on the Cypress Cove walkway.
I remember going as a child in the late 70's
I played Goofy @ WDW on 2004/2005 and as the character I once opened up the barnstormer, hopping into the first cart with a random kid that was handed over.
I had to hold my head, similar to the scene in this vid where goofy jumps into the water.
Let me know if you have any questions 😆
How does Goofy go down a water slide without loosing his costume
@@samuelrod8784 i dunno, that's crazy for sure
I think you should do a video about montazumas revenge at knotts berry farm and what happened to it I think it would be a cool video or even on the ride boomerang
I thought I freaking made this place up in a dream as a kid
Yoooo same 😂
This was good 😊
I dont particularly like disney, have never been to a disney park, not even sure why i watch these videos but shits fire keep it up
was looking for the urban exploring video of river country
Fort wilderness is the best and needs river country back.
Best days spent in Disney were spent in River County. I still can't believe they left it to rot!
Your voice reminds me of Matthew Holness so much! Do you hail from the Kent area?
I can't imagine going to something like that it looks like torture.
I have exactly 2 memories of River Country (I was probably 6 years old): all of the dock poles in the “river” pool were slimy as hell and goofy tapping me on the shoulder at the top of the drop off slide and motioning to ask if he could cut in front of me (of course I said yes) 😂 absolutely wild
GEORGE IS BACK! TIME TO GET MY MOM!
I remember going to this park just once. I took part in a hula hoop competition and got pretty far in it, but didn't end up winning. Personally, I much preferred Typhoon Lagoon!
When I was four at Disneyland in California, I went on the Autopia ride with Goof! My mom took so many pictures lol. This was roughly around 2004 though so i'm not sure if they still let them do that.
They probably don't do this anymore cuz people don't control their kids anymore. Just wild.
So many parts of this video cracked me up, but “get out of the way Bob” and “THEN DISNEY CEO” take the top spots
I rode Gadgets Go Coaster with Goofy at Disneyland. He sat next to me in the front row, somewhere around 2006? Only time ive ever seen it.
That's crazy cuz this is the first time I ever heard of it course I live on the other side of the United States
Disney: bigger, more extravagant and more expensive. As kids we lived in a blue collar town in nj amd but most families could afford to load up the station wagon and camp in fort wilderness and go to disney. Disney has literally priced itself totally out of reach to most families except the very wealthy or singles. What are we at like $150 a ticket for one day ? During covid, they were closing the park at 6 pm and still charging full price. River country was part of old Disney. Disney has gone a totally different direction, catering to a totally different clientele. After going many times as a kid in the 70s , since we had grandparents in Florida , my husband and I honeymooned there in 1994. We paid just under $1200 for nine days in Disney's Caribbean beach resort and park hopper passes for nine days to all the parks and that included air fare both ways!
18:22 damn i never knew that Slippery Slide Falls was that big
That “vacation kingdom” idea really stuck around through the mid 90s; even at that point all of those recreation options were available and highly promoted. It was a great time to be a kid. 😊
I did indeed go down a water slide with Goofy, also had a water fight in the splash zone…. And then 3 years later ended up going on the Winnie the Pooh ride with Tigger. It was awesome!
He lives!!
i just went for the zip line
Because of "NDA" ...Goofy needed to be a certified lifeguard along with other swim requirements...I was a LG for many years at R.C. and helped open T.L. and Yacht & Beach pool...among many other positions. I finally retired as a CM in 2021
Did Goofy ever do any lifesaving?
the musical sting and "then C-" gave me anxiety
I loved River Country. Closing it was a huge mistake and ridiculous
I’ll never understand why they abandoned everything and let it fall into ruin instead of just dismantling it when it first closed, especially since you could easily trespass into it from Fort Wilderness Campground for the longest time. Heck, I almost did this accidentally while looking for the walking trail in 2014.
as funny as it is seeing goofy going down waterslides with guests i can only imagine how MISRABLE it mustve been in that suit. Theyre bad enough when theyre dry but making them heavy with water must have been hell for the actor
I rode on the barnstormer with Goofy in the front seat next to me about 10 years ago. My family got the chance to enter the park early from a trivia question.
i like the text that's a lil bit behind the rock
Love making fun of river country its like my personal disney meme along with the carousel of progress
I remember going to this park in January 1992
My moms been there when she was a kid
1:20 you forgot to mention The Villas, aka what DVC could have been...
Ya know what? The Villas and The Village need their own video.
How the hell did they keep the goofy mask from filling with water and drowning the performer?
i saw the thumbnail saying "Abandoned by Disney" and thought of the creepy pasta.
It's pretty funny how Goofy just feels like this waterparks own Slenderman-esque figure sometimes
I often swam there as a very young man and I'm still alive. I think it simply didn't make enough money to survive.
Idk if im just dumb but how did the person in the goofy suit swim in that. I'd definitely drown