Disney’s Abandoned Waterpark
This story begins in 1973, with a worldwide oil crisis. Walt Disney world was experiencing a decrease in numbers due to this recession. It was proposed that new, smaller resorts should be built, the ticket prices would be lower for these resorts, thus encouraging people to attend them. Planning began for a water based theme park in Florida, after the success of Treasure Island in 1974. It was to be called River Country, and would be placed in the northern quarter of the already existent Fort Wilderness on what was previously horse pastures. It was uniquely different from other water parks in that it was themed- the first of its kind at the time. It was loosely themed around Tom Sawyer. On the 20th of June 1976, River country was opened, with President Fords daughter taking the first slide.
The Park was a hit. It was the perfect family water park, with huge slides, a chlorinated pool, a kids area, a volleyball court and a nature walk. Perhaps the most notable feature of River Country is that one of its pools had water from the bay lake running into it. It was named the old swimming hole and used a water filtration system, with the water running into the pool via a water slide, to ensure the pool was always filled with the lakes water. Millions visited the park over the next few years.
But as time went on, it became apparent that there were issues within the park. The biggest of which was its size. The park was 5 acres, which meant its capacity was 4700 people per day. As the park became more and more popular, the park could not deal with such a large influx of people. This 1970s waterpark simply did not have the facilities to allow for large numbers of people. Disney decided to alleviate this problem by building a new waterpark in Florida. The new 56 acre park, named Typhoon Lagoon, opened in 1986 and dwarfed River Country. It now became the main waterpark attraction in Florida. It didn’t seem worth people’s while to go to River Country when there were bigger and better things just around the corner. The number of guests attending River Country rapidly declined in the 1980s. But there was also a more sinister reason why these numbers declined. In August 1980, an 11-year old boy died after swimming in the old swimming hole. He died after contracting a rare infection caused by amoeba which attacked his brain and nervous system. This amoeba was present in Florida freshwater at the time and somehow passed though the waters filtration and went up the boys nose while he was swimming. The Park did not shut that summer, and two years later, another tragedy struck. A 14 year old boy died in 1982 after sliding down the “whoop n Holler” slide into the lake and drowning. The boys family took action, suing Disney for not putting up signs to show how deep the water was. The family were awarded $375000. But still the park remained open. In 1989, a 13 year old boy drowned in the pool at River Country on a school trip, without any of the lifeguards noticing that he went under the water.
Yet River Country remained open for two more decades, but the number of guests dwindled. The numbers decreased even more as Blizzard Beach waterpark was opened in 1995. Water Country had not been updated since the 70s and the outdated park just didn’t cut it anymore. It was just not appealing to guests. The price of tickets increased for River Country to try and make up the losses. The Park shut down in 2001 for the winter season, as usual. But it was announced that it would not reopen for 2002. As 2002 ended, there was still no update on River Country. It was not announced until 2005 that the park was closed for good.
River Country was left to nature for nearly twenty years after its closing. The abandoned park is haunting, with music still playing everyday and lights illuminating it at night time.
The Park is now set to become a 900 room hotel. The hotel, called reflections will be opened in 2022.
