I'm going to disney world this summer and would like to know what ever happend to river county water park?

Answer 1

I was working at Disney as a Cast Member when they closed River Country in 2001. I still kick myself for never trying out before they shut it down. My husband was a lifeguard at the All Star Pools and had buddies who lifegaurded at River Country. There were several reasons why the park closed and some of been mentioned already. But the two biggies were that new water park laws restricted the use of fresh river water. Also the water was murky and it was not safe. Lifegaurds had no way of telling if someone was at the bottom of the pool or not and they actually had to go in with a rope/chain if they had to search for someone who might have gone under. And then of course the fiscal reasons - Typhoon and Blizzard were simply doing better and bringing in more money. So they eventually shut it down. Hope this helps!

Answer 2

River Country closed it's door in Nov. 2001. The reason being, they had built 2 bigger and newer water parks (Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach). Because these other two water parks were bigger, guests were attracted to them more. This made River Country loose a lot of business. If you take a boat ride to Fort Wilderness, you can still see the remains of the old Water Park....it is ashame that it closed, I have many fond memories of when I used to go as a child.

Answer 3

Disney has never released an official reason for closing River Country. However, there are several reasons/rumors/possibilities:

- the water in Bay Lake was/is not suitable for human interaction
- it wasn't easy to get to, so possibly Disney decided to abandon the area and build a new water park somewhere else

Answer 4

River Country closed in 1991. Disney's version of "an ol' fashioned swimmin' hole" was available for private group functions for a couple of years after that, but has now been mothballed. The "land" side of River Country is now being used for "The Great American BBQ" which is available in the summer months to the public, and year-round to private groups.

The capacity of River Country wasn't what it needed to be in order to stay open and be a viable business unit, and with the advent of Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, it just wasn't feasible to keep River Country open.

I have fond memories of River Country. A youth group trip with my church when I was in 6th grade made it my first experience to a water park ever, as well as my first visit to the Disney property.