When Disney World opened in 1971 swimming and other water activities were allowed in Seven Seas Lagoon. There were marked off areas for general swimming, along with sail boat rentals and water skiing.
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In fact my mother and father rented sailboats when they stayed at the Disney Contemporary Resort in 1972.
At that time you were allowed to sail anywhere you wanted and even come ashore on any beach the to get out for a bit. Notice the teepee in the background on then open Discovery Island.
My siblings and I also had the opportunity to swim there in the early ’80’s. We were lucky my Mom captured a couple of shots for us to remember it by. (My Mom was notorious for killing cameras. I think we went through 2 on this trip alone.)
There have been many reasons stated why they don’t allow swimming anymore. I heave heard everything from threat of alligators, not enough life guards to bacteria in the water.
But the consensus for originally ending swimming in the lagoon is much more sensible. As the number of boats on the Seven Seas Lagoon increased so did the risk of swimmers to get in their path. So for public safety they stopped the swimming.
What neat pictures! Thanks for sharing.
Very cool! I would think the water is probably gross, but there is definitely at least an iron man or something for swimmers to go through!
I remember swimming in Bay Lake in front of Ft. Wilderness! Love that smell of the water. Great memories, unfortunately, I have no pictures. Yours are wonderful to see. Nthanks for sharing.
Yeah, I read this and won't be swimming in the water any time soon!
http://thecousinmickeydoesnttalkabout.blogspot.com/2011/03/why-cant-you-swim-in-lakes.html
Lol! My husband would second your sentiments after reading that. I grew up swimming in ponds with alligators, snakes, etc. so I don't fluster as easy. But I could see how Disney would not want to handle those complaints!
I would love to swim in it but I don't know how healthy it would be.
How cool! I had no idea swimming was ever allowed in Seven Seas Lagoon. Thanks for sharing your pictures with us!
Now we know why it wasnt allowed. Alligators, you guys were lucky.
Wow, how times have changed. Shame it takes an alligator attack to get people to realize how dangerous this is.
I came here to get a sense of the size of the 7 Seas Lagoon. Now I realize the child may never be found…too many acres of water, too many alligators. Do they capture every gator and kill it?? No. If I ever visit Disney with my daughter, I will not let her walk alone near the water or even in the lowlands. Children will be children…you can’t protect them from every possible danger.
We also swam in the lagoon in the early 80s but you have to remember alligators were viewed as predators back then and hunting them was a constant legal thing
In the event of an attack or if one was spotted it was shot not “relocated”
Or”tagged” so they could watch it
So swimming in the lake was a lot safer with fewer gators
The pics are great and bring back many fond memories