Right Before Our Eyes

Greetings, friends!

I think we can establish that I love me some Disney. I'd venture to say that I'm somewhere between "fan" and "completely obsessed". I do my best to stand by the Parks as they make some unpopular decisions (though I don't know if I'll ever get over the loss of Toad...) but one thing I've never understood is having retired attractions essentially rot in plain view of guests.

Walt himself said "The fun is in always building something. After it's built, you play with it awhile and then you're through. You see, we never do the same thing twice around here. We're always opening up new doors." Change is a necessary evil sometimes. What ISN'T necessary though is the allowance of a bygone attraction to stand, without maintenance for millions of guests every year to see.

There are a few great examples on this. Today, I'll touch on River Country.

Located right in the middle of Bay Lake lies the forgotten Discovery Island. Though it is now off-limits for guests, many float by it on their way to the Magic Kingdom or their resorts without giving it a second thought. While it doesn't look like much now, it was once home to wildlife, slides, and families.

River Country was part of Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground and matched this area in its rustic wilderness theme, replete with rocks and man-made boulders. Opened in 1971, it was the first water park at the Walt Disney World Resort.

It was described as an "old-fashioned swimming hole". The original working title before being changed was: "Pop's Willow Grove" and featured a sandy bottom and unique water filtering system using confluent water from adjacent Bay Lake, which was dammed off creating a natural-looking man-made lagoon. It was much smaller than the resort's other two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, with the latter nearly four times the size of River Country. Fort Wilderness Resort guests were given a discount. It was also far less busy than the other two water parks.

It closed in 2001, but unlike so many of the other attractions that have come and gone, it's still standing. Slides have not been disassembled. Rafts haven't been re-located to the other water parks. It sits. It falls into shambles. All right before our eyes.

Here are some photos of what it looks like today:

So why is it there? Why haven't they removed it? Is it due to money? Is it not considered a problem? Either way, it's something I really, really dislike about Walt Disney World.

What do you think? Do you think Walt would approve? Share your thoughts below!