In the mid-1970s, Walt Disney World had yet to evolve into the sprawling multi-day destination that it is today. It still only had one theme park, the Magic Kingdom, surrounded by a selection of resort hotels. EPCOT Center wouldn’t open until the start of the next decade, so Disney decided to install another attraction to keep guests on site for longer – its first water park.
Disney’s River Country was located on the shore of Bay Lake, and boasted a rustic “wilderness” theme. Packed with rocks and boulders, it was designed to resemble an old-fashioned swimming hole. The water for its pools and slides came from Bay Lake via a filtering system, and abundant sand was used to enhance the natural feel of the park.
When Michael Eisner took over as Disney CEO in 1984, he took a more competitive approach than his predecessors. He decided to build a full water park, Typhoon Lagoon, to take on nearby Wet ‘n’ Wild. River Country’s capacity was limited, and its days were numbered. It shut on November 2, 2001, but remains in place today – it was abandoned rather than demolished.
We don’t advocate trespass, and making your way into the abandoned River Country these days could be quite dangerous. Instead, we thought it would be fun to take a look at the park and its former attractions from skies, using the magic of Bing Maps.
First, let’s take a look at a map of River Country:
There were relatively few attractions on offer at the park, which was much smaller than the current Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach water parks. They included:
- Upsteam Plunge – a small, kidney-shaped pool.
- Slippery Slide Falls – two water slides that emptied out into Upstream Plunge.
- White Water Rapids – a 330-foot-long water slide.
- Bay Cove – a sandy-bottomed lake featuring a tire swing, rope climb and other apparatus.
- Whoop ‘n’ Holler Hollow – two water slides that dropped into Bay Cove.
- Indian Springs – a play area for younger children.
- Cypress Point Nature Trail – a trail through the trees alongside Bay Lake.
Here’s an overhead view of the park in its heyday:
Now, let’s take a look at where those attractions are today:
For those of you viewing this on smaller screens, let’s take a closer-up look at two of the main areas.
Here’s a partial shot of that area when the park was still operating:
The Whoop N Holler Hollow and White Water Rapids slides are now very overgrown. But the main lake with its bridges and swings is surprisingly intact.
Slippery Slide Falls has largely disappeared into the undergrowth. But the Upstream Plunge pool is still very recognisable.
Share your Disney’s River Country memories!
Do you remember Disney’s River Country? Share your memories in the comments section below!
