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The dead water parks at the heart of Disney World Florida
bbc.co.uk Newsbeat ^ | March 20, 2016 | staff

Posted on 03/24/2016 10:41:33 AM PDT by kingu

Just east of the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, Florida, is a lake.

In the middle of Bay Lake is an island that Disney won't let anyone set foot on.

That's because Discovery Island is home to an abandoned park that they'd rather nobody saw.

Just across the water is another deserted park, River Country. These images show nature reclaiming what Disney left behind.

These are the only Disney parks to close permanently. Discovery Island was a nature reserve open between 1974 and 1999 and River Country, a water theme park, operated from 1976 to 2001.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Conspiracy; Hobbies; Local News
KEYWORDS: disney; drone; faa; nofly
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To: blackdog

As for trespassing, Disney would have a huge liability if it let visitors crawl around unattended islands.

...

That’s my interpretation, too.


21 posted on 03/24/2016 11:08:21 AM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: lancium
Gators in Florida? Wild birds nesting in abandoned structures? Bacteria in fresh 85 degree fertile water?

Uhmmmm......That's normal Florida. It was a swamp, and reverts to same if you leave.

As for getting onto the island, if you can't, you sure are a moron. You can pull a small draft boat right up to the shoreline. If you want to be all commando about it, you can just parallel the shoreline about ten feet from the beach and your paranoid commando buddies can just roll off the side of the moving boat and walk on-shore. What a nut-job?

22 posted on 03/24/2016 11:10:59 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: llevrok

There used to be a show on about how nature would take over once the people were gone (computer models). I’m guessing Disney wouldn’t want to take the risk, but they could have college kids study the places over time.

Heck - Disney could do their OWN show.


23 posted on 03/24/2016 11:11:32 AM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
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To: reaganaut

Deer rifle. :>)


24 posted on 03/24/2016 11:11:35 AM PDT by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: reaganaut

You apparently can’t grasp that Disney property is not intended as a nature preserve. It is property for current and future theme parks. Most of the property owned by Disney remains undeveloped or set aside for future redevelopment. There is zero hypocrisy here by Disney. Can’t say the same about you.


25 posted on 03/24/2016 11:11:39 AM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
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To: rktman

Growing up we had all sorts of shotguns, and the deer rifle. Still known as that now that I have it, even though I have others.


26 posted on 03/24/2016 11:13:46 AM PDT by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts It is happening again.)
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To: freepertoo
Bird $hit, warm humid weather, reptiles everywhere eating anything that moves too slow, mosquitoes, and still movement fresh water full of lawn fertilizer..............

Of course there are viruses, brain eating amoebas, flesh eating bacteria, and fungus that can eat your toes off. That's why man came out of the jungles and modified their environment to their evolutionary favor. Some creatures adapt to their environment, and human creatures adapt their environment to flourish.

I think it's a very cool study to follow.

27 posted on 03/24/2016 11:17:49 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: Salamander

LOL!


28 posted on 03/24/2016 11:20:49 AM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: kingu
I went to River Country when it first opened, but only once. I believe it had a fatal flaw. It was too closely associated with the Fort Wilderness campground, and too far from everything else.

When River Country first opened in 1976, all there was at Disney World was the Magic Kingdom theme park, the Contemporary Hotel, the Polynesian Hotel, and the Fort Wilderness campground for a cheaper vacation stay. Most people came too the Magic Kingdom, so unless you were a local who could visit WDW many times a year, you Weren't going to waste a day at the water park.

-PJ

29 posted on 03/24/2016 11:21:46 AM PDT by Political Junkie Too (If you are the Posterity of We the People, then you are a Natural Born Citizen.)
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To: blackdog

Hey. That sounds like Washington, DC!


30 posted on 03/24/2016 11:24:20 AM PDT by freepertoo
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To: llevrok

I just checked at a website, World of Walt, for Bay Lake and Adventure Island. The lake and the island are natural features. The idea was to use it for half-day excursions as an escape from the hectic environment of Disneyworld, but the idea never took hold.


31 posted on 03/24/2016 11:24:54 AM PDT by grania
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To: kingu

Interestingly, if you do a Googlemaps search of Bay Lake, FL, “Discovery Island” does not even appear in the lake. However, if you Mapquest the same location, it does.


32 posted on 03/24/2016 11:28:30 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: freepertoo

One can only hope!


33 posted on 03/24/2016 11:29:17 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: kingu

Correction: Googlemaps was showing some other location than Bay Lake. Discovery Island does appear on Googlemaps.


34 posted on 03/24/2016 11:30:36 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Kirkwood

Actualy it is property designated for whatever they want, like most property. It currently holds old not current theme parks. This is not undeveloped, this is leaving a junkyard. It is total hypocrisy. You have your facts all wrong.

And what hypocrisy do you see in me? Do tell. LOL.


35 posted on 03/24/2016 11:31:41 AM PDT by reaganaut (Bible Scholars, Theologians and Evangelicals for Trump)
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To: rktman

Last two weeks in November.


36 posted on 03/24/2016 11:32:48 AM PDT by reaganaut (Bible Scholars, Theologians and Evangelicals for Trump)
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To: grania

The idea took hold for me and my almost adult children. The best day we had at the resort was counting the species of birds, spotting the gators, watching the turtles splash into the water when we got close, and observing just how fast nesting birds can stuff an old ticket booth shack full of nesting material. I swear nesting birds can move a one ton bale of dry plant matter in a day! There were some buildings stuffed so full of nests they were from floor to ceiling, only now the floor was almost at the ceiling.


37 posted on 03/24/2016 11:35:21 AM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: reaganaut

Crap. I’m hungry now. Dang the luck. :>)


38 posted on 03/24/2016 11:40:48 AM PDT by rktman (Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?!)
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To: kingu

I went to River Country on my only trip to WDW, a week or two before the bicentennial in 1976 — must have been brand new. Always wondered what ever happened to it.


39 posted on 03/24/2016 11:41:40 AM PDT by Burma Jones
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To: blackdog

I went to Adventure Island in 1984 or thereabouts. I agree with you. It was a wonderful experience. Somewhat sanitized nature, but still a real experience. I thought back then they said that the goal wasn’t particularly to make a profit, but to provide a positive experience in an environment where everything wasn’t virtual.


40 posted on 03/24/2016 11:48:15 AM PDT by grania
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