New Resort

A Long-forgotten Disney World Park Is Coming Back As a New Resort

 

The beloved River Country water park is headed for a new life!

MEGHAN OVERDEEP / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM 

It looks like the latest juicy morsel to come out of the Walt Disney World rumor mill might not be a rumor after all.


Speculation that the long-forgotten River Country water park was headed for a new life began in March after news got out that Disney had filed permits to have the site’s soil conditions evaluated. A second permit, filed in early May, seemed to confirm suspicions that “Project 89” involved replacing the dormant water park with new construction.

According to a recent GrowthSpotter story, as reported by the Orlando Sentinel, construction is set to begin next year on a large-scale themed hotel and timeshare resort near Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, on the land where River Country once stood.

River Country, which opened on June 19, 1976, less than a year before Wet 'n Wild, was the country’s first official water park. In September 2001, After 25 years in operation, River Country closed for maintenance and never reopened. Since then, the park has sat vacant and in disrepair for the better part of two decades.

As for the fate of the once bustling water park, Disney officials remain tight-lipped, even despite rampant speculation.

"At any given time we have numerous projects in varied stages of development across the (Walt Disney World) resort,” a spokeswoman told GrowthSpotter.

Fingers crossed that whatever they’re working on opens soon!

This Story Originally Appeared On Southern Living