Closed river country pictures.

http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=28414364&x=-81566921&zo=1&l=0&m=a&spnx=0.008592&spny=0.005932

A pretty cool aerial view of the island and river country just below here.

Rob Ascough is right. RC was built when magic kingdom first opened way back in the early 1970's. I think the park colsed due to lack of attendance. Once Disney opened Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, the crowds at RC started to very slowly dwindle. Even to the point where it was only open on certain days and things like that. To be quite frank, the attractions at RC were old time water attractions. Swinging on the rip cord out into the lagoon and no real major slides like the other two parks. It was supposed to be themed to an old time swimming hole from the deep south.

I would expect Disney to either let it sit there and rot away, or demolish it and build something new in that spot. It may be the spot for the next major resort at WDW.

RC always looked like an old waterpark and I even think the resort tried to position it as something akin to an old swimming hole, perhaps something that Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn would enjoy. When we first went to Disney in the early 90's, RC seemed like it was pretty lame so we went to Typhoon Lagoon instead. We never did make it to RC, even though I regret that now.

I've seen snakes all over the complex, so it's really not too suprising. Could you imagine if some little kid was bitten by a venomous snake at a Disney park? God that'd be a freakin' disaster.

I'm absolutely terrified of snakes, but for some reason I always end up seeing them... Which usually gets followed by high pitched screaming, running, and possibily a little urination.

Water SNAKES are not Poisonous

Water MOCCASONS (A.K.A. "Cottonmouths") ARE POISONOUS!

Both will bite you if they feel threatoned.

In September of 2001 I was swimming in a Spring in West Florida when someone shouted "There's a Snake in the water!" I turned to see this serpent Swim past one man, then another, then turn twords ME! It stuck its head above water and I realised that it was a Water Moccasin. I did a VERY GOOD Impersonation of a "Polaris" and left the spring for another one. (I was "Spring Hopping" just for the fun of it!) Fortunately for all of us the Cottonmouth was just passing through.

:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):) *** Edited 3/6/2007 12:39:34 PM UTC by Borntocoast***

^^ Kids getting bit by snakes at Disney? That'd be as bad as people getting into fights with costumed characters!

The Water park closed mainly because no one was going. They did have all 3 water parks open at one point and time.

The reason why Disney has left the park to sit closed is because they have so much land that they do not need that spot. Why spend money to demolish the park when nothing is being put in its place. They will get rid of it when they need to put something in its place.

I heard from one of my college professors that WDW has had several alligator attacks that have been kept out of the media spotlight.

Thats true.

Why do you think they will not let you swim in the water at the resorts. I found this out when I was booking a stay at the carribean beach resort.

I thought it was kind of weird that the name of the resort is "carribean beach", and you cant even swim at the beach.

Disney does alot to keep things out of the media. I had a freind who slipped and fell at one of the parks and sprained his ankle on a slippery surface. Disney not only picked up the medical bills, including bandages with Mickey Mouse on them, but they also gave him a free three night four day trip to the resort including park tickets and hotel stay. He also had to sign a consent form that said that he would not go to the media with the information and things like that. Bottom line is that they are very good at covering things like that up.

Did all three waterparks operate at the same time? I thought that RC closed as soon as Blizzard Beach opened.

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Rob Ascough said:
Did all three waterparks operate at the same time? I thought that RC closed as soon as Blizzard Beach opened.

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All three were open at the same time in the late 90s.

I visited Discovery Island back in the day, it was nothing special. I remember it was very wooded ( and quiet) and that it mainly had birds.

As for the alligators... they have them all over the resort (I don't know if it is a lot, but they do have them), and they used to capture them and set them free where the "city" of Celebration now stands.

Knowing there are alligators wondering all over the WDW property makes me feel a little weird. I seem to recall being able to swim, at least along the beach at the Poly when my family used to stay there in the early-mid '90s. But I could be wrong. What about all the watercraft you can rent to take out on the Seven Seas Lagoon and Bay Lake? Wow, I always wondered about this, but now the Disney alligator thing has me intrigued. :)

Kind of explains why Captain Hook put in for early retirement at WDW. :)

Re: Alligators.

Notice to all humans: Alligators are indigenous to Florida. THEY own all freshwater in the State. You may, at THEIR discretion, swim in any freshwater stream, lake, river, etc. Humans MAY try to evict alligators from any body of water deemed *inappropriate*, but gators are highly mobile, and any sizeable body of water that isn't already inhabited is PRIME territory for one to move into.

SWIM AT YOUR OWN RISK! :)

I think the poly used to have a wave machine, but they stopped running it because it was harming the beach. But I think that was before the early 90's

The wave machine is actually still out in the water somewhere.

I was wondering when Bill was going to jump in supporting the gators. :)

As far as I know the Polynesian still has that beach along the seven seas lagoon, as does the Grand Floridian. I also think that swimming is prohibited though. As stated before, the aligators in Florida are native and are very mobile creatures. Even if they are removed from an area, others can come in to that area via the extensive canal system that is used in Florida to drain swampland and turn it into real estate. Those canals all lead somewhere, and those gators can travel through them and get into most of the major bodies of water.

To be perfectly honest, of the major theme parks with lakes in them in Orlando, I would think that Epcot, Sea World, and both Universal parks are probably the only ones possibly without gators in them. Even though that one at Universal does definatley have a shark floating around in it.....

Bottom line, if you are vacationing in Orlando, swim in the pools and stay away from the other bodies of water and be careful if you are around that water!

What the heck does a guy named "rollergator" know about gators, anyhow?

It’s very common to see gators. My sister used to live in the Orlando area and would see then one walking around in the back yard every once in a while. If you every ask a cast member at Disney they will tell you that there are Gators around. What Disney does to prevent them from trying to attack humans is they feed the gators regularly so they are always full and do not bother humans.