The River Country Film
It had been three years since my family had last gone on a vacation to Florida, something we did annually before the recession hit. Since we now had enough money, my parents decided (under the popular demand of my sister and I) that we go to Walt Disney World again. We were both teenagers, and our parents kind of saw this as a bit juvenile, but decided it would be fun anyway. I couldn't wait to finally go back, and neither could my sister. Being avid theme park goers as well, we were especially attracted to the creativity and the, well, “magic” as one would say about the rides there. They never got old, and had their share of nostalgia and excitement. However, there was one other reason I wanted to go.
You normally associate Disney World with words such as excitement, fun, and happiness; but with these characterizations, come counterbalances. After scrolling through OMG Facts one night, I came across a rather interesting story. It was about an abandoned water park in WDW, apparently named “River Country”.
I was absolutely appalled by this, since I had previously thought of Disney in a more idealistic and perfect way. The water park was directly on the shores of Bay Lake, being that huge, stagnant body of water adjacent to the Magic Kingdom. River Country was, and still is, on the same side as the theme park just mentioned, but right next to a resort called Walt Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Surrounding the water park on the resort side is a large, green wall, with signs dotting it. These read, "Sorry, River Country is closed”.
The place opened in 1976, and used water from Bay Lake in most of the attractions. It was very rustic and wilderness based in design, and contained artificial rocks that resembled those used on another well known ride, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. There was a dam present to keep chunks of dirt and mud from getting into the water too, so guests didn't have to worry about swimming in an artificial bog created by water from the lake. It was open for twenty-five years, closing its doors in 2001, and in 2005, a statement released by Disney said that the park would be closed for good.
So, for about eleven years, River Country has been sitting abandoned. Nature is in its advanced stages of reclaiming the area, but the slides remain, and so do the artificial rocks, and the small pond (now a swamp) that was used for swimming. Many urban explorers have infiltrated the area, jumping over the walls to get footage of the abandoned water park. One of the most controversial things about the park nowadays, is why it closed, which is what I was destined to find out.
I wanted to see some real footage of the area before it closed as well, since from what I heard, it was very joyous and bustling with tourists, compared to its ghost town status today. I was without internet at the time, so, about two days before we were planning to leave, I went to the local library, which archived many old videos that people in my community had dug up in their attics and donated to the library to be part of a small historical society. Hoping that I might find some good footage, I asked the librarian if they happened to carry any videos dating back to 2001. She nodded, and brought me to a small section, containing many old VCR cassettes, and a few DVDs here and there. After about half an hour of searching, I finally came across a cassette with the words, “The Old Fashioned Swimming Hole” inscribed on the top of it.
This was a term used to describe River Country during its glory days, so I took it, almost certain that it was the footage I was looking for. I asked the librarian if I could sign it out, but she told me that the historical videos had to stay in the library. I could, however, watch the video in a small conference room behind the front desk.
The librarian led me into the windowless room, and I took a seat in front of the television. She left the room and closed the door so that the audio would not disturb any of the other library patrons. I popped the cassette into the VCR under the TV, and turned the lights off so I could see the video better. I was expecting the quality to be low anyway.
