Throwback Thursday 4/16/15 - River Country

River Country was Walt Disney World's first water park. Positioned on the shore of Bay Lake at Fort Wilderness, it opened on June 20, 1976. It ceased operation on November 2, 2001. On January 20, 2005, it was announced that it would remain closed permanently.

River Country was featured in a musical number from the 1977 The Wonderful World of Disney episode "The Mouseketeers at Walt Disney World", which included a song titled "River Country" and featured the then-current Mouseketeer lineup from the late 70s incarnation of The Mickey Mouse Club enjoying the attractions at the park.

 River Country featured a rustic wilderness theme, complete with rocks and man-made boulders. It was described as an "old-fashioned swimming hole" with "a twist of Huckleberry Finn"

River Country survived despite the competition of the opening of two newer and much larger water parks, Typhoon Lagoon in 1989 and Blizzard Beach in 1995.






The park featured a sandy bottom and unique water filtering system using confluent water from adjacent Bay Lake, which was dammed off creating a natural-looking man-made lagoon. But even with the filtration system, the water from the lake was not completely purified.

Attractions included:

• Upstream Plunge, a kidney shaped clean-water pool.
• Slippery Slide Falls, two water slides that emptied into Upstream Plunge.
• Kiddie Cove, a kids zone with two large water slides and a cove. This area was targeted toward preteens.
• Barrel Bridge, a bumpy bridge with barrels under it, similar to the one at Tom Sawyer Island.
• White Water Rapids, a 330 foot (100 m) long inner tube river.
• Bay Cove, a half-acre (2,000 m²) sand-bottom lake which featured a tire swing, boom swing, rope climb, and T-bar drop.
  • Boom Swing
  • Cable Ride
  • Tire Swing
• Whoop 'n' Holler Hollow, two water slides, 260 ft (79 m) and 160 ft (49 m) long, that emptied into Bay Cove.
• Bay Bridge
• Indian Springs, a very small splash zone with fountains spraying kids. This area was mainly designed for guests under age 8.
• Cypress Point Nature Trail, a trail among trees beside Bay Lake.
• Pony Rides
• Mercury WaterMouse Rental

As it did every year, River Country closed at the end of the warm-weather season (the park closed on November 2, 2001), with the expectation that the water park would reopen in the spring of 2002. But after the 9/11 attacks, the decline in business for all Disney parks and hotels prompted Disney to halt the reopening of River Country. The attraction may also have been affected by a change in Florida laws, which prohibited unchlorinated natural water bodies from being used for water park attractions.River Country never reopened and remains abandoned as a forgotten Disney relic as of today. The park was abandoned rather than demolished. The following photos show how it stands today:

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