The Draining of Rivers of America Had an Unintended Side Effect Rarely Seen at Disney World
After nearly two months, Disney completed draining Rivers of America this week. While Disney fans tried to save the river and Tom Sawyer Island’s aesthetic beauty, they will be plowed under to make way for the new Cars and Villains Land.
While this will be a sad loss for Magic Kingdom, there is still excitement about what’s to come. However, in the meantime, the loss of Rivers of America has turned Frontierland into a construction zone, and there has been another unintended side effect that Disney did not anticipate.
With the drainage of Rivers of America, some standing water was left at the bottom of the riverbed. With Florida’s hot temperatures, this has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. For the first time, possibly ever in Disney World history, guests have taken to social media to complain about being bitten in Disney World.
While Disney World was built on a swamp, it should be swarming with mosquitoes. However, when the property was being built, Walt Disney turned to General Joe Potter to create a plan to keep the pests away from guests.
Potter was an MIT graduate and an engineering expert. He also served as the governor of the Panama Canal Zone, an area swarming with mosquitoes. Walt Disney and Potter met at the 1968 World’s Fair, and once Walt learned of his background, he hired him immediately.
Potter’s first order of business was to ensure that all the water in the Walt Disney World Resort was constantly moving. If you take a minute and look around, you will see that all bodies of water have fountains to ensure that water is never still. This eliminates mosquitoes’ breeding ground.
In this case of Rivers of America, the standing water is back, and there’s not much Disney can do about it now. Disney started the final process of draining the river this week by removing the remaining sludge at the bottom of the river. This should help to eliminate some of the mosquitoes’ breeding grounds.
For now, Disney guests will have to deal with another inconvenience caused by the removal of the Rivers of America, and this time, it will itch.
Have you ever been bitten by a mosquito at Disney World? Let us know in the comments.
