Theme Park Thursdays feature photos from one of our theme park adventures in the past.
Wilderness Lodge Dock (2007)
Today's photo features the boat dock at Disney's Wilderness Lodge, on the shores of Bay Lake, near the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground, where the Tanner family has spent many a vacation. I took this photo during a September 2007 visit and just liked the way the sun was setting in the image.
Wilderness Lodge opened in 1994 with a Pacific Northwest theme, based on the historic National Park lodges. While Fort Wilderness is considered "low end" in the Disney caste system, Wilderness Lodge is upscale, complete with a set of timeshares. It's always been interesting to share a boat with folks from both resorts to see the differences in lifestyle, personality, and perception. (Translation: Disney treats Wilderness Lodge folks better.)
There have been rumors that Disney is looking at building another Vacation Club timeshare between the two resorts, on or near the location of the long-closed River Country water park. Great, just what we need… more timeshares mucking up a beautiful campground environment!
Are guests permitted to swim in that water? Could you dive off the dock or is that for the boat only?
There used to be swimming allowed in Bay Lake (and the connected Seven Seas Lagoon), where Disney offered swimming and water-skiing options. The now-closed River Country water park actually used lake water in most of its rides (granted, it was cleaned first). Early 1970s advertising often showed an image of Goofy water-skiing near the Contemporary Resort.
While I don't know when it was put to a halt (probably in the 1990s), swimming is no longer allowed primarily because of a brain-eating amoeba that is now common in a lot of Florida lakes. Yeah, gross, huh! However, you can still swim in the late if you sign up for Disney's Triatholon, however I believe you have to sign waivers and undergo other precautions.
Thus, the lakes are pretty much just for boats and catch-and-release fishing these days.