Everland!!

To unwind after our first week of classes, Lisa and I took a trip to Everland, Korea's largest theme park. Located about 45 minutes away from Seoul, Everland is like the Korean Disneyland. The park has a Mickey Mouse-like mascot, different villages, and a theme song.

Lisa and I went to Everland with a friend we made at Ultra Korea. He works for Samsung, which owns Everland, so we were able to get discounted tickets. When we first walked into the theme park, we were greeted by singing workers dressed up as the Everland mascots. We stopped to take some pictures with them before going into the park for the main attractions.

Taking pictures with the Everland Masccots

Posing by the main gate

Everland offers a wide variety of shows ranging from K-Pop hologram concerts to animal demonstrations to circus performances. Everything in the park is covered by the entrance fee, but you have to sign up for a showtime in advance and get a ticket before you can attend a show. We signed up for the Big Bang hologram concert and “Madagascar Live,” a circus show. The performances were later in the evening so we decided to go on the rides first.

Everland is known for its T-Express ride, a huge wooden roller coaster that features a tall 76 degree drop. As we were waiting in line, Lisa and I were panicking pretty hard. As the roller coaster slowly crept up to the top of the first hill, we were the only ones on the train screaming our heads off in fear. But after the first drop, we really enjoyed the ride and wanted to go on it again at night. Unfortunately, the ride closed early so we didn't get to go on a second time, but we heard that the T-Express is even better when it's dark outside.

After going on the roller coaster, we stopped by a bird demonstration. Everland is located in a more rural part of Korea, so it's surrounded by forest. During the bird show, the animal keepers would play music, and huge falcons would swoop into the stage from the surrounding trees. At the end, around 50 wild chickens flew in from the forest; it was unlike anything I'd seen before.

The Big Bang hologram concert wasn't as good as I'd expected. The show was really short, and the holograms weren't very life like. Madagascar Live was much more exciting. There were a variety of fun performances including acrobatics, musical numbers, and dancing. At the end, the whole stadium got showered with confetti.

We ended our night at Everland by going on the carousel and watching fireworks. Our day at Everland was pretty magical. I think Disney has a fair competitor over here in South Korea.

All smiles after a fun day in Everland :)