Disney’s River Country water park officially closed for good back in late 2001 and the land has sat unused for the last 17 years, but that is about to change. For many years, there have been rumors that a new resort hotel would be built on the property at Walt Disney World, but nothing ever came from the speculation. Now, Disney has revealed that a brand new nature-inspired resort is coming and it will be built right there on Bay Lake.
As reported by WESH , Disney announced the new resort hotel will be built on the shoreline of Bay Lake between Disney’s Wilderness Lodge and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. It will be a Disney Vacation Club (DVC) property that is set to open sometime in 2022.
It will join the “Deluxe Resort” category of hotels at Walt Disney World and will bring forth more than 900 hotel rooms and proposed Disney Vacation Club villas as well. There will be a variety of unique accommodation types to help fit all sizes of families and traveling parties.
For a long time, many have thought that a new resort would be built on the once popular water park, but it just continued to sit there. Now, Fort Wilderness and Wilderness Lodge are going to get a new neighbor.
George A. Kalogridis, president of Walt Disney World Resort, is excited about the new property as well as all of the others currently in progress on Disney property. Along with the new resort on Bay Lake, Disney is also building the Riviera (DVC) Resort, adding onto Disney’s Coronado Springs, and has the Star Wars -themed resort coming in the future.
“Walt Disney World is in the midst of our most significant expansion in the last two decades and the combined 1,700 new hotel rooms and proposed Disney Vacation Club villas we are building at four different resorts will create thousands of new construction and permanent jobs and will drive economic opportunity and incremental revenue for Central Florida. We continue to add new attractions, new lands — and these beautiful accommodations will be right in the heart of all that magic.”
As of now, there is no name for the new resort and nothing more is known about the opening date other than sometime in 2022.
When River Country closed in November of 2001, some thought that it may open up again one day. By January of 2005, Disney announced that River Country would remain closed for good with Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach serving as the water parks for Walt Disney World.
The land has sat unused all these years and some of the old water slides are still visible when guests ride by them in Walt Disney World boat transportation. River Country brought forth a lot of great memories for many guests, but it’s a place of the past. This brand new nature-inspired resort will allow for new memories and even more guests to visit WDW and stay on the shore of Bay Lake to enjoy all the fun.