On November 2nd, 2015, Rivers of the Far West will be drained and remain empty for most of 2016 (untill November 2nd, 2016).
This will be mostly the same period as the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment and work on a construction bridge to the Big Thunder Mountain island has already begun.
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Above pictures are courtesy of InsideDLParis (Twitter).
The river is being drained slowly.
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Above pictures are courtesy of DisneylandBerry (Twitter)
I wonder what lurks beneath....
What's the bridge for?
Ooo wonder what they will find!
Have the Rivers ever been completely drained before? Can't say I remember hearing of it in 23 years of the park.
I don't think they ever have been emptied before.
I seem to remember reading somewhere that The Rivers of America at Disneyland have only been emptied twice in 60 years and apparently last time it was emptied it stank.
I'm not surprised, I guess its a bit of a task to drain and re-fill such a body of water.
As for the smell, I wouldn't be surprised it if did the same in Paris. Which doesn't make Frontierland in '16 an enticing prospect along with all the walls and only one attraction to speak of.
Still, mustn't grumble, things like these need to be done from time to time.