Disney's Forgotten Waterpark - Abandoned River Country 

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I lifeguarded at River Country from Spring 1984 until Fall of 1986. It was a very cool water park with very good management who let us have a 30 minute break after 3, 30 minute guard rotations. (Watch guests for an hour and a half, take a 30 min. lunch or swim break!) They also let us keep the pocket change that would fall out of kids' swimsuit pockets, and congregate at the bottom of the slides...some days I'd walk outta there with $20 in quarters... Anyway, the slides were clean and fast, the Brazilian women's bathing suits were tiny, and the job was just good mindless fun. We got paid to sit in the sun and watch people have a great time. I have so many good memories of that place, and so many funny stories to tell of my short time working there, but mainly, I just miss River Country...

Just think that 15 years after humans vanish from the earth, this is what our ruins would look like.

Quem mais veio pela Jaque ? 🇧🇷🇧🇷 . . Kkkk primeira vez que ganho esse tanto de curtida em um comentário.

its crazy how even through all the decay and overgrowth, you can still catch glimpses of disney magic. incredible!

i got to go to river country back in 96/97 when i was about 10 or 11 as i grew up about 45 minutes away. it was my favourite disney waterpark because it was so natural. sad to see it abandaned

Quem veio pela Jacque ?

I like how you put in little clips of how it was before. often in these kinds of videos I don't know what I'm looking at, so seeing the "before" adds that touch of connection to history :) Also what was that flute like sound that kept going off?

Hiya! Long comment incoming! :) The waterpark didn't close for a brain eating virus, or cause of gators or anything like that. Disney's Typhoon Lagoon opened in 1989 (muuch larger than River Country) and Blizzard Beach in 1995. Most visitors would go to those waterparks instead of River Country, which was a fraction of the size those other two parks are. River Country closed for the season in November 2001. The same year as 9/11. Because of the this, people were traveling a whole lot less so River Country was getting very little foot traffic. Since there was so little traffic, Disney didn't open the park back up for its following season in April 2002. Disney said that if there is enough demand, the park would reopen. As we now see, there wasn't enough demand for it. Few more things to note! In River Country, you didn't swim directly in the lake water, rather, the park pulled water from the lake, but ran the water through many big blue silo looking containers that filtered the water that would then push into the main parks pool. The water was also walled away from the actual lake, so the filtered water never touched the lake water. Hence why i personally think the whole brain eating virus was more of a rumor than a fact. Unless there is an actual news report that it did indeed happen. Hey, I swam in that filtered lake water when i was around 4 and I'm okie dokie :o! And another note.. I've gone to Fort Wilderness many times in the past and have never seen anything that looked like a gator. Just recently, Disney fenced off the entire lake and canal areas because of that child who got eaten by a gator in a completely different location. Hope my comment was helpful! If i'm wrong about a piece of info let me know! I hold Fort Wilderness and River Country dear to my heart, so I'm always eager to learn about it! P.S People. If your going to swim, or let your kid swim in a lake. Please read any and all signs to make sure there are no gator warnings. You know what? Just don't swim in one to begin with! Be safe!

Vim pela Jaqueline Guerreiro ❤️ Cadê os br ???

Let us know when the Disney ban notice comes in.

The pool area was filled with sand to reduce the mosquitoes.

Am I the only one thinking this place would make a great natural setting for a horror movie, course the whole time he was walking through I'm looking at that black water and waiting for Jason to pop out and slice a mofo. Then walking on the old wooden plankways I'm like I hope they don't fall through and gators come rushing in. But honestly I never knew this place existed. So it was cool to see. I see alot of mixed thoughts on why the parked closed ranging from myth to what seems like fact but it just adds to my horror movie idea.

Vim pela Jaque❤

Vim pela Jaqueline kkkkk

Dude, that was so cool. and so authentic. I was 6 when that place opened and it provided a naturalistic counter balance to the fake unrealistic world of Disney. The place was like a 70's Mountain Dew commercial which basically showed kids in the country going off a rope swing into a river or creek. Good cheap organic fun for people of the South. They did good to only have 3 deaths. Every good swimming hole, Rope swing, and rock quarry that I have ever known, amassed at least a death every 2 years. No kills no thrills. Sounds morbid but safety has come a long way in the last century. And for that, we must thank the powers that be. Now lets go climb a fence and sneak into a rock quarry!

Vim pela Jaqueline! Esses vídeos antigos com essas músicas temas do parque, são bizarros kk

Vim pela semana misteriosa 👀

When he walks on the ground it sounds like *asmr*

Vim pela Jaque Guerreiro 🇧🇷

Am I the only one who thinks the branches on the ground break sounds cool? 🤔

The sound of the feet crunching on the grass and dirt is so satisfying

Gotta give you credit to the fact that you have the best vlog about this park. Everybody else is either a shitty camera man, or they have a pos camera. Thanks.

Quinta misteriosa trouxe mais alguém aq ?

I love how u put the old footage of the waterpark in this vid

Quem chegou aqui pele Jac guerreiro deixa o LIKEEEEEE

who came for jaque?? 🇧🇷

There's no real drama in the story of why River Country shut down. After 9/11, the tourist numbers dropped, so the park was closed temporarily to save money on staff, maintenance and electricity. Then Florida changed its laws about recreational facilities using natural water sources. Disney would have had to completely re-pipe the entire park, and it wasn't cost effective given the other two functional parks. It was never reopened. Also, the company tends to issue lifetime bans to anyone who posts these kinds of videos. They have people who scan RU-vid specifically for them. (It's trespassing, as the park is shuttered and closed to the public.)

Alguém que veio pela Jaqueline Guerreiro??? ❤️❤️❤️

You covered this amazingly. One of your best! Thank you for all the work that you put into making your videos.

This video is done really well. The cuts, the fading, the everything. Well done, I love it!

My parents took my brother and I there just a couple years before it closed. I was only 9, so memories are a little vague, but I do remember getting a huge splinter in my foot while walking along the wooden platforms. It took about an hour for the lady in the medical area to pluck it all out, it was that firmly wedged in. 😅 It's crazy to see it now, overgrown and abandoned.

vim pela Jaqueline Guerreiro 🇧🇷

Alguém pelo vídeo da Jaque?? 😂😂🇧🇷🇧🇷

Disney: ‘Makes a fresh-water water park.’ Some single celled creature: I’m about to end this man’s whole career

Vim pelo canal da Jaqueline Guerreiro. This is amazing

Tô aqui por causa do vídeo da jaqueline guerreiro 🇧🇷🇧🇷❤️

I went there back in 1994 I think it was, i was 8, and i remember those slides that dropped off into the pool like perfectly! I went on those slides over and over. Its crazy to see it all abandoned. Too bad now this place is completely demolished ☹

Vim pela Jaqueline Guerreiro,mesmo não entendendo nada de inglês 😗✌🇧🇷🇧🇷

Allthough those deaths did happen that is not why river country closed. In fact. The park stayed open for 13 years after the brain eating ameoba killed that young boy. The reason the attraction closed is because of the growing popularity of the two newer waterpark installations. The sheer distance caused the two other water parks to be much more popular. Disney saw record low visitation of river country and closed it down. It is set up for demolition now! They will replace it with a nature resort ^^

Vim pela Jaque ❤️

Wow how did you get on disney property without getting in trouble 🤔

Just amazing to me that 19 years has gone by and how nature has taken it over.. great upload 👍🏻

wow... I was a lifeguard here back in 99 to 2001!! This is great to see, had a blast there!!

I love the way you let your girl be the tester for that bridge and just waited lmao. Props up to ole girl. 😂🤣🤣🤣😂

Nah I wouldn't do that Proceeds to walk across the bridge

The whistle noises you hear every so often, I thought were sound effects, those are actually the boats that go from Fort Wilderness, the Wilderness Lodge, the Grand Floridian, the Polynesian, and Magic Kingdom, whenever they are docking or leaving the dock, they blow the horn. So that’s kinda cool, knowing how close River Country is to the public and the parks. If you go to maps, while being on the boat you can look directlyat river country and be a distance of like 200 feet from the main “pool”. It’s also maybe 200-250 feet away from The Wilderness Lodge.

I love how you do shots of what it used to look like it really makes the video

The @BrighSunFilms video brought me here. Incredible Footage!

Alguém da semana misteriosa?

Vim pela Jaqueline Guerreiro 💖 Brasil!

this video creeps me out so much like the flattened floaty just sitting in that dark ass water made my skin crawl

Can you do a video for Jazzland in New Orleans, Louisiana? It's an abandoned Six Flags owned amusement park.

I remember going there in the late 70's. Great times.

Back in the 1970 s my two kids and their Mom and I visited River Country many many times. And wow what a fun place it was.

Vim pela Jaque! 💓🇧🇷🇧🇷

Wow look at this. It's all still there, lost between natures green vines, snatching it from view. That is lovely to watch, Thank You and plus some really interesting comments below from fellow park workers!!

My father lifeguarded in the late 80s to early 90s. He saved a woman’s life. She almost drowned trying to find her wedding ring. He used to take me when I was really young. Before you arrive at River Country’s entrance, there was an area where you can pet and ride horses. I felt so much nostalgia seeing your footage of what it looks like now. Because for every place you filmed yourself walking...I walked there too -almost 20 years ago. That bridge rushed me back to 1996. Even as a kid, I always questioned the safety and cleanliness of the waters at River Country since it’s essentially a lake that you’re swimming in. It’s not contained and cleaned water like in Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. The memories made at River Country were really beautiful.

This was still open when I went as a teenager in the late nineties... man I'm old.

Abandoned places are interesting

As a visitor from England this was our favourite water park, we visited many times, always looked forward to chip and Dale arriving with Goofy on horseback, Sometimes we would go across the River to Discovery Island, seeing the amazing exotic birds happy memory's thanks for taking us back😊

It’s kind of weird watching this and seeing what it used to be

They also now have the beach area at Fort Wilderness fenced off.

That was great I used to work there for 6 years as a lifeguard what a trip down memory lane. I would love to know how you got in? Any chance you could say?

The crunchy grass and leaves is extremely satisfying, but you have guts to walk in a barren place like that

You do some great exploring video's. This is by far the best one of River Country. Really surprised that Disney doesn't have it better blocked off.

Thanks so much for sharing this!! I was a kid who actually went to river country...I am now 42 yrs old. I still have my ticket stubs and my mother has pictures of us playing in the river. I am fascinated with the abandoned river country yet sad but I think they r restoring it. Awesome.video!

Does anyone else other than me ever feel anemoia while watching videos like this? (for those who don't know what that means; Anemoia is nostalgia for a time you never lived in) Like I just feel a pang of sadness and something indescribable when I see things like this. Like I wish I could have experienced as it was back then. Like the weird longing to be there at the times in the old videos. What was it like? I want to be able to explore it when it was up and running back in the past.

OMG. Sad and creepy. Gives me the chills becuz the people remind me of seeing ghosts.

OMFG I remembered visiting here back in the early 90s! Why did they abandon it? I visited typhoon lagoon n this place back then. They were pretty different with this one having salt water pools I recalled! More of a jungle rustic vibe.

I loved this place, my last time there was 1997 when I was 12. Even though I miss it, I love that it was never demolished because this exploration journey is just as cool. Thanks for sharing!

I'm glad you got in to film it now that they are building a new hotel there.

Man... seeing those slides around 5:12 brought back some memories. I remember being here when I was around 10 years old or so. Thanks for the video, mate.

Really spooky situation you especially when you walked out on the plank over The Water full of alligator.

Wow! Awesome video! I am from Long Island originally and went to River Country in 1979 when I was 15 years old! I absolutely loved it and remember so much about it! It amazes me that they could shut it down and just leave all that junk there. Thanks for sharing!

Best footage I've seen of this place in a long time, Thanks for the upload.

They should get that place up and running again. I have annual water park passes so I would definitely go there for sure.

You do a great job with incorporating what it use to look like, and what it looks like today. I have viewed many 'abandoned sites' offered by explorers such as yourself --- but by adding the past shots along with shots of today, puts you at a higher level for true representation of the 'then and now' look. Keep it up ! You do a great job!

That place was dope when it was open I went as a kid in the 90s

I was holding my breath I though the bridge was going break with you on it

That was incredible footage!!!! The last time I went to this water park was 1978!!! Two years after it’s opening & the place was absolutely beautiful!! Can’t believe how nature has taken back that area!! Even if there was no alligators in that water now, there’s no way I would swim in it now. Water looks too far gone and this comes from a guy who has spent his whole life swimming in rivers, ponds, oceans, swimming holes, fallen out of a raft water water rafting (lol that was fun!!), etc. They really did a job filling in that pool with concrete!!!! Loved ❤️ the pool, but feared those two high slides on top of the giant man made rock going into it!! When I was little I had a serious fear of heights & I remember going up to the top of those slides and once you’re up there if you look closely you can’t see from up there how the outcome of you coming down them was going to be because you couldn’t see what was under you as you came off of them once you started down!!! You could’ve landed on top of someone below already in the pool & the lifeguards did nothing to prevent anyone from swimming underneath the sides (at least when I visited) or if the person that had gone before you had already swam out of the way!!! Changed my mind quick about attempting that. I always thought those things were a hazard.

This is probably the 7th video I've seen of someone doing this and posting on RU-vid. How in the world is there still not security guarding?

The river water was pumped thru a chlorinated filter system. It did not use unchlorinated water

Vim pela Jaque!

This place looks like it was so fun in its hay day. Florida gets way too hot in the summer and the only way to keep the water safe is treating it or keeping the temp controlled.

Why would they use fresh water? I mean, sure at first it seems like a good idea but they should have researched it before they made the decision.

Word on the streets are that Walt him self is haunting this place & that people go missing from this place are never found again :(

Thanks so much for putting the clips of what it looked like in the past!!

The park’s closing was not due to the child’s death from amoebic meningoencephalitis, or due to new Florida laws relevant to water quality. There were several factors, including the drop in business after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the opening of better water parks at the Disney Resort. River Country was actually scheduled to reopen in 2002 during the summer, but it never did. It was a business decision.

Vim pela jaque

Wow, I went there when I was a child and the lazy river was the coolest!! So amazing to see what has happened to it over the decades.

Man it still looks so ruined and abandoned.

I appreciate your documentation of this piece of Disney history. More, I'm surprised Disney has allowed the place to be fallow this long.

🇧🇷brasileiros?

I use to go there in the Mid. 70"s. It was a blast! thanks for sharing.

Vim pela jaqueline Guerreiro 😉

By the way, you can see this place if you look through a hole in the fence at that Mickey’s BBQ place in fort wilderness. Pretty sure the area I saw was that area with the two slides at the beginning.

Feels like the start to a horror movie 😂 great video though so clear not really shaky !!

DISNEY, and UNIVERSAL, it gives me the abandoned JURASSIC PARK vibe from JURASSIC WORLD when Grey and his brother escaped from the Indominus Rex

kinda sad for some weird reason theyre finally getting rid of this.