River Country

[cy1229]

It is actually exactly Disney-like to leave stuff to rot, if nothing is planned and there is no building code demand they take it down, it stays up until they have a use for the space.

With the river country thing, if I recall most of the park was on an isolated/chlorinated system, but the big lake part of it, while divided from the main lake so that they could keep plants and animals from coming in, used water from it which would allow pathogens to flourish.

I actually don't think the water is that dead, in terms of motion/activity. If it were the bodies of water would smell horrible. There is a body of water in Newport Beach called "Back Bay", surrounded by multi-million dollar homes, and for many years it smelled like a sewer because the water was stagnant. They finally got so fed up with it they demanded the county pay to have machines come through regularly and move the water/mud to make the smell go away.

Rotting vegetation in stagnant water smells just like a sewer. Probably similar byproducts of degradation. Len90 and I could do a biochemistry analysis of the processes that make mercaptan, but yuck.

[Wizzard419]

Wouldn't rotting plankton also be an issue? Algee blooms also smell horrible, and with the amount of fertilizers that they probably use to keep things green, it all runs off into the lakes as well.

[cy1229]

Wouldn't rotting plankton also be an issue? Algee blooms also smell horrible, and with the amount of fertilizers that they probably use to keep things green, it all runs off into the lakes as well.

Algae would be a greater issue than the plankton, assuming the lake became eutrophic. Given its size, it would seem unlikely, but you're right, the amount of fertilizer runoff could contribute.

[DaRkNeSs]

Wow so disney just left river country there to rot that is terrible I actually went there when I was a kid it was very fun and had a very different feel to it then the current water parks that is a real shame, it is probably a snake breeding ground now.

[jderoche5]

I'm sure the spider population there is quite impressive as well. It's a sad sight. I can still remember finally getting up the courage to slide down the slides that dropped into the pool. I was so proud of myself. Love the tube rapids too.

[Wizzard419]

There was a city here that had in one of the water reclamation pools (public parks, medians, etc. recycle their water to conserve) had a perfect combo of high fertilizer content, air temp, and I think a temperature inversion in the pool itself and caused a massive gas release that people ended up reporting to the police as a meth lab.

Considering the RC was built as a water park for high volumes of people, they may have selected durable materials and treated them to the point that other than vegetation covering them up, they simply just sit there. The world's largest wooden structures (the Tustin Blimp Hangars, you've probably seen them without realizing you are looking at them) were built in the early 20th century and they still have their original timber and are supposedly as sturdy as the day they were built.

[DaRkNeSs]

There was a city here that had in one of the water reclamation pools (public parks, medians, etc. recycle their water to conserve) had a perfect combo of high fertilizer content, air temp, and I think a temperature inversion in the pool itself and caused a massive gas release that people ended up reporting to the police as a meth lab.

Considering the RC was built as a water park for high volumes of people, they may have selected durable materials and treated them to the point that other than vegetation covering them up, they simply just sit there. The world's largest wooden structures (the Tustin Blimp Hangars, you've probably seen them without realizing you are looking at them) were built in the early 20th century and they still have their original timber and are supposedly as sturdy as the day they were built.

Wow so not very environmentally friendly I am guessing that is really sad and all the crap dumps into seven seas lagoon! Yuck

[Wizzard419]

It's ok, the lake was man-made (or at least most of them are) and it's Florida: "The New Jersey of the South".

[Sharonofwindham]

If River Country wasn't visible to guests, I could understand them leaving all the slides, signs & equipment where it is, but when you pass by on a boat it is there for all to see. The stagnant water just sitting in what's left of the pools is great for breeding mosquitos...which happen to be spreading some pretty serious diseases these days. AND THE TRASH...I cannot believe Disney just up & left it full of trash!! This is one occasion that I believe I can say with conviction that Walt would be thoroughly disgusted & would certainly be firing some people directly involved with this.

[Wizzard419]

If their OC is anything like the OC where DLR is, you have to treat stagnant water with either fish (that eat the larvae) or chemicals. And considering that people aren't being eaten alive by mosquitos at WDW, I am guessing they have been treating the whole property for a while. Vector crisis averted!

[Amy]

If their OC is anything like the OC where DLR is, you have to treat stagnant water with either fish (that eat the larvae) or chemicals. And considering that people aren't being eaten alive by mosquitos at WDW, I am guessing they have been treating the whole property for a while. Vector crisis averted!

I'm pretty sure they spray for mossies at WDW...not sure what all other methods they might employ too

[Wizzard419]

The most effective tool is to simply eliminate stagnant water, but in instances where that isn't possible, they can add chems (sometimes containing copper) to the water, introduce predators to the water, or make major changes to water flow.

[jderoche5]

Hiring a cleanup crew at this point wouldn't hurt either!

[dstrawn9889]

they will level it when they get money to build something in its place, that way the demo can be written to a new project (WDI) instead of ops (TDO). that way park maintenance

and other projects are not impacted, hence wizards affirmation that this is exactly what disney would do [leave it to rot, i mean]

[Sharonofwindham]

If their OC is anything like the OC where DLR is, you have to treat stagnant water with either fish (that eat the larvae) or chemicals. And considering that people aren't being eaten alive by mosquitos at WDW, I am guessing they have been treating the whole property for a while. Vector crisis averted!

Apparently you have never been to Ft. Wilderness, and walked the trails over there...don't advise it if you aren't equipped with insect repellent, lol