24 photos of Walt Disney World's abandoned River Country water park

By Orlando Weekly Staff on Sat, Jul 6, 2013 at 1:52 pm

River Country, opened in 1976, was the first water park at Walt Disney World, with two large pools, five water slides, and an "old-fashioned swimming hole" vibe. But it was no match for the modern water parks, folding in 2001 after giving generations of local kids and tourists fond memories to last a lifetime. Here are some of our favorite historical photos of the park in its heyday.

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24 photos of Walt Disney World's abandoned River Country water park

Once upon a time, River Country was a popular water park at Walt Disney World. Via gorillasdontblog.blogspot.com

The "theme" of River Country was old-fashioned swimming hole, with pools and crazy waterslides that used water pumped in from Bay Lake. Via disneyparks.disney.go.com

There was a boom swing, made out of a heavy, swinging ship's boom. You could swing on it and jump off into the water. This would never fly today. Via lostepcot.com>/a>

There was also this crazy tire swing, which looks like it was awesome to ride. Via yesterland.com

One of the water slides was a whitewater rapids type thing, and guests road innertubes to the bottom, where they were dumped off in a giant pool. Via lostepcot.com>