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Disney's River Country. Disney's River Country was the first water park at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. River Country, located along the shores of Bay Lake and near Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, was themed as a rustic, old-fashioned swimming hole. Opening on June 20, 1976, the park closed indefinitely on November 2, 2001.
Jan 29, 2020 · The park was one of the first major additions to Walt Disney World after its 1971 opening, and was one of the earliest fully-themed water parks ever built. Themed as a “Tom Sawyer swimmin’ hole,” the park – which was originally known as Pop’s Willow Grove in development – continued numerous water-based attractions that would become industry standard at water parks in future decades.
- The Magic Kingdom
- River Country
- Epcot Development
After the opening of the majority of Tomorrowland the previous year, not much happened in the Magic Kingdom in 1976. In September, “America on Parade” ended on the 6th and the Character Cavalcade returned after that. That’s really the only major change at the park for 1976, but I do want to cover a few minor changes I may have missed in previous ar...
The most significant addition to Walt Disney World in 1976 is inarguably River Country on June 19. Walt Disney World’s first water park was situated in the northeast corner of Fort Wilderness. Susan Ford, the president’s daughter, presided over the park’s grand opening. Slides such as Slippery Slide Falls and Whoop ‘n’ Holler Hollow emptied into th...
While nothing was really being constructed on property at this point, we are going to start chronicling parts of EPCOT’s development as it was becoming the Resort’s and the company as a whole’s largest project. EPCOT had been proceeding for years with the industrial park and World Showcase as separate, but linked projects—however it was in 1976 tha...
Disney's River Country was the first water park to be built at Walt Disney World Resort. It was located at Bay Lake and behind Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. It opened to the public on June 20, 1976, known as the first water park in the world to have a theme. Its theme was an "Ol' Fashioned Swimmin' Hole" and was based on the character of Goofy and his adventures. Besides ...
- The park was open from 1976-2001 and had 12 attractions. River Country opened in 1976 as Walt Disney World’s first water park. In the 70s and 80s, Disney was focused on making Walt Disney World the “Vacation Kingdom of America”.
- The park closed in 2001, but it was never supposed to be abandoned. Walt Disney World changed significantly between 1974 and 2000. Epcot opened in 1982, MGM Studios in 1989, Typhoon Lagoon opened in 1989, Blizzard Beach in 1995, and Animal Kingdom in 1999.
- The park still played music and had the lights on – but not for the reasons you might think. After the park closed officially in 2005, Disney closed off the water park area with a green construction fence.
- Urban explorers documented the park in its state of decay. Although Disney closed the area with a fence, it was incredibly easy for urban explorers to bypass the fence by climbing over it, moving it, or through the open gates near cast member parking.
May 18, 2024 · The first water park built at Walt Disney World in Florida, River Country closed on November 2, 2001 and has sat abandoned ever since. Themed like an old-fashioned swimming hole, River Country was Walt Disney World Resort's first water park before it was abandoned in 2001.
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Disney's River Country was the first water park at Walt Disney World. It opened on June 20, 1976 and ceased operations on September 30th, 2001. On January 20, 2005, The Walt Disney Company announced that River Country would remain closed permanently.
