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Exploring the abandoned parts of Disney:
Apr. 21st, 2010 11:31 pmThis blog entry has been getting a bit of local attention lately: it details a recent and unauthorized night time trip to Discovery Island, now abandoned for about ten years. Local and as far as I know completely unproven rumor suggests that Disney will be turning it into a Lost attraction just as soon as they and everyone else find out what the hell the show is actually about. That would be, like, AWESOME, Disney, especially if you provided a little smoke monster to go round and round, but I digress. Meanwhile, the island is apparently retreating to its former function as a bird habitat.
River County, which they used as an access point, used to be my favorite of the Disney waterparks. I'd always wondered why it was completely abandoned, especially given that Disney's two remaining waterparks do fill to capacity in the summer (which is way but way too many people) sending people off to rival water parks not on Disney property, which is not exactly the way Disney would prefer to do things. The bacteria explanation is one of the more believable ones. I had heard other explanations: that it never attracted enough people (probable, given that River Country was smaller than the other waterparks and was only accessible via a bus and then a walk through Fort Wilderness) and thus could never meet Disney's profitability standards, and that Disney wanted to focus on waterparks that could remain open year round. I don't know.
I'll just add that, yes, I have seen the occasional alligator on that lake, one of many reasons swimming to Discovery Island is probably not the best idea (that and I am betting Disney security is not going to take kindly to people they catch on little outings like this one). Oh, and that I'm kinda sad I never went back when it was open. Even if I have a chance to see it later in the company of a little smoke monster.
River County, which they used as an access point, used to be my favorite of the Disney waterparks. I'd always wondered why it was completely abandoned, especially given that Disney's two remaining waterparks do fill to capacity in the summer (which is way but way too many people) sending people off to rival water parks not on Disney property, which is not exactly the way Disney would prefer to do things. The bacteria explanation is one of the more believable ones. I had heard other explanations: that it never attracted enough people (probable, given that River Country was smaller than the other waterparks and was only accessible via a bus and then a walk through Fort Wilderness) and thus could never meet Disney's profitability standards, and that Disney wanted to focus on waterparks that could remain open year round. I don't know.
I'll just add that, yes, I have seen the occasional alligator on that lake, one of many reasons swimming to Discovery Island is probably not the best idea (that and I am betting Disney security is not going to take kindly to people they catch on little outings like this one). Oh, and that I'm kinda sad I never went back when it was open. Even if I have a chance to see it later in the company of a little smoke monster.
