NemesisRider's Korea Ender (South Korea Megatrip) - Pt.6: Children's Grand Park

[NemesisRider]

Intro: Together Again

Regular readers of my trip reports are probably aware that I’ve become rather a fan of the East Asian theme park scene lately, despite its many idiosyncrasies. After ticking off most of the top Japanese creds in 2023 and visiting China twice in 2024, I felt it was time to turn my attention towards the final major theme park player of the far East – South Korea. Throw in some cheaper than usual flight prices because of the hilariously failed coup attempt in late 2024, and we had a deal.

Since it had been the better part of two and a half years since I last did a holiday with my parents, I invited them along for the ride in Korea. I'll admit that this meant the trip was a bit less cred-dense than my last Asian forays, but ditching my parents constantly to sod off to theme parks would have sort of defeated the point of a family holiday.



Anyways, the itinerary consisted of 3 main cities, flying to Seoul but immediately heading to Busan, hopping over to Gyeongju for a few days, then returning to Seoul for a full stay. In the process I would tick off the country’s “big 4” theme parks: Lotte World Adventure Magic Forest in Busan, Gyeongju World in Gyeongju, then Lotte World Adventure and Everland in Seoul.



Let’s talk logistics. Compared to my two China trips in 2024, planning for South Korea was mostly a breeze. Currently, there’s no visa requirement for English tourists, though a K-ETA looks set to come in force in 2026. As expected, I found debit/credit cards were accepted widely in Korea, though a little cash is still required for street food and certain family-run restaurants. My usual arsenal of booking websites did the trick: trip.com for hotels, trains and theme parks; Airbnb for a cheaper group stay in Seoul; Klook for pre-buying SIM cards and booking tours.

South Korea only has two additional app services travellers should get up to speed with. The first is Naver Maps, which does a much better job at public transport than Google Maps in South Korea. Just beware that Naver is much less conservative than Google when estimating journey times, if you don’t want to be late. The second app is Kakao-T. This Uber-type service is ubiquitous in South Korea, offering quite cheap and hassle-free taxi travel. It turns out Uber is also usable and expanding in South Korea, but Kakao-T looks to be the local pick.



Day 1/2: Arrival

Time rolled by, as it tends to do, and on a cloudy April afternoon we soared away from Manchester towards Seoul. Upon arrival, our entry to South Korea was blissfully smooth – there was little immigration faff, the SIM cards were sorted quickly, and the AREX train journey from Incheon to central Seoul was very simple. We grabbed dinner from a noodle place near our hotel before promptly crashing out for the night.



Seoul Station was mercifully only 5 minutes’ walk from our hotel, so the next morning we were soon settled comfortably into First Class on the KTX. Admittedly, Korea’s high-speed rail network doesn’t offer the glamour of the Shinkansen or the scale of the Fuxing network, but tickets were very affordable (even in First Class), and it worked perfectly throughout my trip. All aboard; destination Busan.



Next time: A Whole Lotte Nothing.

 

[NemesisRider]

Day 2/3: Lotte World Adventure Magic Forest (and some other Busan stuff)

A gloriously sunny second day in Busan heralded the first theme park day of the trip. We’d arrived the day before and, despite being jetlagged out the wazoo, had managed to take a good stab at exploring the area surrounding our hotel. We also took a trip to see Sangwangsa Temple, which was beautifully lit up with lanterns in celebration of the Buddha’s upcoming birthday.



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My first Korean theme park destination was to be the succinctly named Lotte World Adventure Busan – Magic Forest. Lotte Magic Forest opened in 2022 as the anchor of a brand-spanking new Lotte shopping complex next to the OSIRIA metro station. Whilst it is located a fair distance Northeast of the main Busan city centre, the park is perfectly well-connected by cheap and frequent public transport, being accessible via both bus and metro. My metro journey from Nampo in the city centre took about an hour to reach the park.



Before any theme parking could commence, there was another attraction to attend to. Lotte Magic Forest is within 30 minutes’ walk of Haedong Yonggungsa, one of Busan’s most famous tourist attractions. This beautiful, albeit somewhat touristy and overcrowded, temple is a must-do whilst in this area of Busan. I would strongly recommend visiting here on the same day as visiting Magic Forest, as Magic Forest is currently a half-day park at best and both are quite removed from central Busan.



Temple perused, I doubled back towards OSIRIA and the park. Heading towards the entrance I was getting déjà vu – it was looking like this would be another elaborate yet ghostly quiet Asian theme park. As it turned out, the park was a bit buzzier on the inside and crowd levels noticeably increased across the day.



As I alluded to earlier, Lotte Magic Forest is quite a small park with a shallow ride line-up. Whilst there are 3 creds up for grabs, there are currently zero dark rides, and the park relies on attractions for small children to pad out the lineup. For example, there are two different sets of bumper cars marketed as different rides. To make matters worse, on the day of my visit both Giant Splash (their Mack Powersplash) and Giant Swing (their Zamperla Giant Discovery) were down for maintenance and inspection respectively. The former was advertised on the website in advance, but I couldn’t justify replanning our entire Busan visit just to nab one more cred.



Immediately upon entering the park, I made a beeline for Underland (Magic Forest’s underground themed area) and Giant Digger, their Blue Fire clone. I’d say I like the original Blue Fire more than the average thoosie, so I was more than happy to get on what looks like one of the better copies of it in operation.



As will become a theme throughout Lotte Magic Forest, the presentation is on point. There’s a spacious desert-y plaza to watch the ride soar past, a themed queue through a mine, and a very cool drill-themed zero car on the trains. Speaking of the trains, they were only running 1, which sadly resulted in over 30-minute queues despite decent ops and a modest crowd level.



Giant Digger does lack a little of the showmanship on the original Blue Fire – the prelaunch section is bare with no build-up of tension, and there’s no onboard audio to be found. Luckily, the meat of the coaster rides just as well as its German sibling. The launch has ample punch, the horseshoe roll’s inversions are a whippy highlight, and the airtime moments felt stronger than I remembered them to be on the original. Unfortunately, they have tampered with the wonky shaping of the iconic Blue Fire roll – Giant Digger’s version rode much more similarly to the much less memorable heartline roll on Helix. Whilst the whole ride felt a little forceless in the morning, it had warmed up nicely by the afternoon and was offering precisely the pure fun I expect from this model. Good stuff.



Moving on to the Joyful Meadow section, Mysterious Cookie Train was the second credit up for grabs. This Preston & Barbieri family coaster has a very sweet and hilariously clunky looking train design. It also feels like the layout was designed with a complete disregard for physics, offering both unexpectedly speedy valleys and elevated turns where you feel on the verge of stalling out. Kind of comedy, but not quite ridiculous enough for a harden veteran.



Cred run done, let’s take a tour.

Walked around the Giant Splash to confirm lack of life. Blokes working on it so, yup, definitely dead for today. Looked nice though.



I next investigated the picturesque main castle. Inside, it’s home to a photo studio and shops. The second floor is tucked away and only accessible via lift, but offers a balcony with some fantastic views of the park.



Back in Underland, I got lunch at Lotteria, a Lotte owned fast food chain that can be found around Korea. My chicken burger/chips lunch was reasonably cheap for theme park food, but nothing much to write home about. Second floor offered some sneaky views of the very much stationary Giant Swing.



Time to go on a ride again. Ogre’s Flume is the park’s second major water ride, offering an unexpectedly steep main drop, some decent theming and not too much of a soaking. I’d describe it as the Poundshop version of Toverland’s goblin flume, Expedition Zork. Most memorable was the ride’s incredibly confusing policies which got me turned away on my first attempt at riding – it turns out bags are allowed, and ponchos are not mandatory, but you have to wear any backpacks on your front as you enter the queue? Korea gonna Korea I guess.



Feeling generally unenthused towards most of the rides on offer, I headed back to Giant Digger for a couple more laps until the length of the queue was outweighing the extra enjoyment I was getting. After a quick pin badge pitstop in the park’s very well-stock “Lorry Emporium” gift shop, I felt satisfied that I had seen enough.



Doing some more research after my visit, I learned that there were two upcharge walkthrough attractions tucked away in the park which I completely missed. Whilst walkthrough attractions usually aren’t my bag, there was apparently a new for April 2025 horror one I would have been amongst the first to try if I knew it existed. One can only hope Magic Forest have since fired their clearly useless marketing team.



Lotte Magic Forest is the definition of style over substance. The park is utterly gorgeous in its presentation, with some top-notch theming and great landscaping. However, I can’t help but feel that Lotte have phoned it in on the hardware so far. Originally, the park was meant to open with a family Gravity Group wooden coaster called Tiger Tracks behind the main castle. Why was this scrapped when it would have the perfect thrilling addition to bridge the gap between Giant Digger and the Mysterious Cookie train? And, on the subject of Giant Digger, why opt for a Blue Fire clone as your headliner in 2022? A unique launch coaster would have really put this park on the map and should have been feasible for an operator as accomplished as Lotte. This does, admittedly, look like it is going to change in future. Rumours suggest that a Zamperla Double Heart will occupy the Tiger Tracks plot in 2026, and several other rides will soon be installed. But, for now, Lotte Magic Forest feels less like a full theme park adventure and more like a lure to attract more visitors to Lotte’s shiny new shops.



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After wrapping up at Lotte Magic Forest, I hopped on the bus and rejoined my parents for a walk around the nearby Haeundae Beach. Haeundae is a popular area for tourists with good reason – it felt like a classier and more Korean version of Miami, with skyscrapers hugging close to the shoreline.



In the early evening, we returned to Nampo where we enjoyed our first (and probably best) KBBQ of the trip. Great stuff, and the perfect way to start a trip.



Next time: Korea’s coaster capital.

 

[NemesisRider]

Days 4-5: Bye Bye Busan...

The next two days were dedicated to non-theme park related activites in Busan. It rained ferociously for much of Day 4, so most of our time was spent in shopping malls or relaxing at the hotel.



Thankfully the weather did perk up for our final full day in Busan, which we spent visiting Gamcheon Culture Village and Songdo Beach. I found the former a bit of a letdown, being something of a glorified Instagram photospot, but the latter offered some lovely walking routes and a dramatic cable car across the bay.



Day 6: ...And Hello Gyeongju

Come the next morning, it was time to move on. Our next stop was Gyeongju, a hotspot for historical tourism in Korea and home of the ancient Silla Kingdom capital.



At the height of its Imperial power, the Gyeongju had a population of 1 million, but the city lots its capital status and declined hugely in the centuries that followed. In the modern era, that decline has been partly reversed, and Gyeongju has experienced a revival as a “living museum”. Whilst there has been archaeological interest in the area throughout the 20th century, the city’s transformation into a tourist hotspot was a pet project of President Park Chung-Hee in the 1970s and 80s. In short, compared to other ancient capitals like Kyoto and Xian, Gyeongju is an industry plant. For me, learning this was a lightbulb moment, as it explained why the city felt perhaps less authentic than some of its peers which became tourist destinations more organically.



Despite being designed for tourists, Gyeongju is deeply charming. The city has expansive parks filled with distinctive burial mounds, alongside a few original bits like the Cheomsongdae Observatory, which are lovely to stroll in the early evening. On the outskirts of town, there’s tucked away shrines and another of Korea’s most famous Buddhist temples. I also enjoyed the culinary scene more than I expected to, finding some great local restaurants on Naver. It’s definitely worth a stop for a day or two if you’re touring South Korea.



Most memorably, on our first night we managed to catch the opening ceremony for the Hyeong San Gang Lotus Lantern Festival; whilst this mostly consisted of lengthy Korean speeches we didn’t understand, it concluded with some fantastic fireworks and an impressive lantern parade.



Day 7: Gyeongju World

Of course, I didn’t come to Gyeongju for just history. Gyeongju World is the oldest of Korea’s “Big 4” parks. founded in 1985 during the aforementioned tourism push in the area. The place has been having something of a renaissance recently, having opened 4 new roller coasters in the last 7 years, beginning with Korea’s tallest and fastest coaster Draken in 2018. Most recently, Gyeongju World became the first park outside of the USA to open an RMC Raptor with the launch of Skoll & Hati. This aggressive expansion shows no sign of slowing – during my visit, 40th anniversary celebrations were underway and construction on their new for 2025 “Time Rider” Coaster Wheel was progressing nicely.



My journey to the park was incredibly easy, requiring only a single bus and little more than 30 minutes journey from my hotel. As I would learn is the fashion in Korea, visitors would not be entering the park until 10am sharp, so after an early arrival I took the chance to grab some photos of Draken from the car park. The staff were unusually attentive, going out of their way to give me an English map with some notes on the handful of rides unavailable that day. Cheers lads.



With several coach loads of annoying children hot on my tail, the clock struck 10am and the small crowd at the entrance started to move. Whilst there was thankfully no “running of the bulls”, I did join a couple of other guests in their speedwalk towards Draken Valley.



First impressions were solid. Gyeongju World as a whole had was better presented than I expected, with ample foliage and some good theming throughout. Admittedly, it’s not “immersive”, but it doesn’t pretend or need to be. Draken Valley was easily the most cohesive area in the park, reflecting the level of care and polish Gyeongju World has been putting into their recent additions. Some other sections feel more a bit more dated, but never embarrassingly so – I’ve seen Chinese parks <10 years old that look way worse.



Top of the agenda was Skoll & Hati, my first RMC Raptor and arguably the most hyped ride of the trip. On approach, I was dismayed but not surprised to see that the ride was only running 1 train, which would indeed become a theme across the day. After passing through the grand entrance arch, a fairly basic queue winds towards the ornate Nordic fortress housing the station. After being batched inside, riders have a choice of whichever rows are unoccupied on the 10 car trains – whilst the front offers unparalleled views, the back has is more intense with better airtime. Much like the RMC hybrids, however, the slick looking trains are not the most comfortable. This is mostly due to the shoulder straps, which undermine some of the wild airtime, but taller riders might also find the lack of legroom awkward.



After a leisurely climb to the top of the 105ft lift hill, a panoramic turn leads the train into the 78-degree first drop. At the front, this element is a bit of a letdown with little sensation, but at the back, it offers a very punchy ejector moment. Whilst the subsequent dive loop feels pretty unexceptional, the following twisted hill is fantastic, violently throwing the whole train from their seats. A bit of twisty action leads into the second major drop, which is similarly much more exciting towards the back. The inversion focused finale ends the ride on a high note: a whippy cutback leads into an impressively sustained zero-g roll (arguably the best element on the ride), before a final turn and pop of airtime conclude proceedings. Whilst the coaster is broadly smooth, there is a headache-inducing rattle in some valleys which isn’t present on RMC’s hybrids.



So, was Skoll & Hati good? Absolutely, yes - especially at the back once it got warmed up. It uses its modest footprint and height very effectively, offering a couple of world class elements (the twisted hill, the zero-g roll). Whilst I would be more than happy to see this layout closer to home in Europe, it has clear issues. The trains are the most obvious problem: their length makes the ride experience very dependent on where you sit, and the restraints are subpar. Additionally, the middling size of the ride means the amazing airtime moments are very sudden and never sustained. This was definitely top 50 material for me but wasn’t quite the life-changer I was hoping for.



Staying in Draken Valley, next up was the titular big boy. Being a clone of Busch Gardens Williamburg’s Griffon, albeit using smaller trains, Draken mercifully avoided receiving the much inferior vest restraints which plague most recent dive coasters. Whilst Gyeongju World lack the dynamic terrain of the original, they’ve done a commendable job on the presentation – there’s ample viewpoints to marvel at the main drop and splashdown, an ornate station exterior and a Big Ass Dragon out front. Unfortunately, the school trips had already descended on Draken by the time I arrived, so I had to suffer through a 1-hour queue on 1 train ops for my first ride. Urgh.



Whilst Draken is a fairly standard full-scale dive coaster, it does what it does very well. The first drop offers the floaty freedom this model is known for, the valleys offer bucket of positives, and it’s all as smooth as glass. Beyond the expected good stuff, I felt the standout element was the hill before the splashdown, which offered a very respectable airtime pop. My only real issue with Draken was that the MCBR brought us to a near stand-still before the second vertical drop, killing all the momentum the ride had built up. This unnecessary break in the pacing is the main reason why I’d rank Draken below the mini-dives like Valkyria and Baron 1898, which offer shorter but far more relentless start-to-finish experiences.



In terms of where to sit, across my 3 rides I thought that front row offered the best theatrics, but the back offered better forces on that iconic main drop. Do be aware however that the far-left seats at the front get quite a misting from the remnants of that splashdown though…



Closing out the Draken Valley coasters is Valkyrie, a ride which is perfect for Gyeongju World as it can only run 1 train anyway. Valkyrie is – you’d guessed it – another clone, this time of Gold Rush at France’s OK Corral. The comfortable yet unnervingly goat-shaped trains are also a direct copy of those from Freizeitpark Ruhpolding’s Gipfelstürmer, in a further effort to save cost no doubt. Unlike others of the model, this Gerstlauer family shuttle coaster has a closed-circuit layout, allowing Valkyrie to run two sequential laps in the forward direction before ending with a single backwards run. This allows for a satisfyingly long ride, despite the modest track length. The obvious highlight is the backwards lap, which has some decent whip at points. I thought Valkyrie was a solid family coaster which fitted snugly into Gyeongju World’s lineup, though a little more theming wouldn’t hurt.



Cred number 4 was Wizard Race. It’s a powered kiddie coaster that trundles around in a circle a couple of times. The queue was near walk-on and the presentation was good at least. Next!



Over on the other side of the park lies Phaethon, the final credit on today’s ticklist. This B&M invert is the park’s oldest coaster, despite opening in 2007 – a fact that really speaks to the renewal Gyeongju World has undergone lately. It’s also notable as the park’s only custom coaster, though the layout does bear some resemblance to Cedar Point’s Raptor. I’d heard mixed things, but I was excited to check Phaethon out for myself.



Interestingly, despite its age, Phaethon is probably the most extensively themed coaster in the park. To give a little context, Phaethon was an unruly son of Helios who stole Helios chariot and nearly burned the world, causing Zeus to smite him. Your ride with Phaethon begins by passing the grandiose entrance sign, before you navigate a dark indoor queue through the underworld and up to the station. Bonus points for the evil looking horse-themed wheel covers on the trains, minus points for the glacial operations.



Unfortunately, for a ride that looks this good, the experience on Phaethon doesn’t quite match. The first drop and vertical loop are very respectable, offering the crushing positives I’d expect from the model. However, the next few elements feel like the worst of both worlds in invert design – the zero-g and cobra roll lack both the whip of the classic models and the gracefulness of more recent models like Oziris. After a weak helix, Phaethon claws back some momentum for the second half, offering some floaty banking and two classic snappy corkscrews. A second, much stronger helix wraps things up in style.



As with seemingly everything in Gyeongju World, the back is the place to ride. I found front row left me quite cold, though it was a tad smoother. Though Phaethon is probably my least favourite B&M invert so far, it’s still good fun and definitely worth multiple laps if you have time.



Creds run, time for lunch. Had a sizable pork cutlet set from one of the sit-down canteens, which only set me back around 13,000 Won (<£7). Expensive for Korea, sure, but damn good value for within a theme park.



As none of the flat rides were wooing me (the drop tower was shut), I gave the rapids a spin. Got wet, but not soaked, which was welcome on a sunny day. Otherwise, not much to report.



By this point it was 3pm, so I decided to focus on rerides for the remainder of my time. One thing to beware of as the end of the day approaches at Gyeongju World is queues will close before the park’s advertised closing time – the Skoll & Hati queue closed mere minutes after I joined it at 5:20pm, despite the park not officially shutting until 6pm.



After unsuccessfully trying to snag a final bonus ride on Skoll & Hati (they had a spare seat going but my negotiating tactics failed), I stopped by the gift shop before heading back to the hotel.



I think Gyeongju World was probably my favourite day out of all the parks I visited in Korea. I am a coaster guy at heart, and this park easily had the deepest and most balanced coaster line-up of all the stops on my Korean adventure. Many parks in East Asia tend to only have one coaster worth lapping, but Gyeongju World has a solid top 3 which you’ll want to ride multiple times. However, I must also give the park credit for the surprisingly lovely atmosphere and theming – a welcome deviation from my expectations of a more bare-bones, Six Flags style amusement park. The only drawbacks I noted in my visit were the subpar operations (Skoll & Hati and Draken at minimum needed to run 2 trains) and the slightly obnoxious crowds of schoolkids. I’m optimistic the park will maintain their momentum and continue to make great investments – maybe they’ll be able to afford a custom coaster again soon…



Next time: *James Hetfield voice* “We’re off to Never Everland”

 

[NemesisRider]

Days 8/9: Hey Seoul Sister

After my few days of culture and coasters, we were finished with Gyeongju and speeding back towards the South Korean capital via KTX.



For our stay in Seoul, I chose to base us in an Airbnb in Myeongdong. I was overall happy with this location – Myeongdong is well-connected and has plenty of attractions on the doorstep, though it is clearly touristy and hence more expensive for food.



Regardless, whilst I was excited to be back to explore Seoul properly, I was quite nervous for my next two major theme park stops. Both Everland and Lotte World Adventure had a reputation for obscene crowd levels, an array of rolling ride closures to navigate, and additional complexities in the form of Smart Queue and Magic Pass. To make matters worse, the weather in Seoul was meant to turn sour before the end of the week, necessitating my theme park plans to be compressed into the first few days back in town.



What could possibly go wrong?

Day 9: Everland

Despite being a way out from the city centre, Everland is well-connected by public transport, with several frequent connections offered by express buses. These are inexpensive and run until late, allowing guests to stay until park close and still make it home. From my Airbnb, it ended up taking me a little over 90 minutes to reach the park, using a combination of two metros and one of the aforementioned buses.



Before visiting the park, it was crucial to install the Everland app and create an account so I could use the Smart Queue system. For the first 4 hours of the day, top attractions like T-Express are only accessible to guests who have a timeslot reserved via Smart Queue, meaning those without Everland app accounts will have to wait until after 2pm to ride. Furthermore, Smart Queue timeslots fill up very quickly and can only be booked once your ticket has been scanned, so it’s a good idea to arrive at the park well before opening so you don’t miss out. I ended up using my Smart Queue booking on Panda World as T-Express had sacked off Smart Queue for the day (maintenance delaying its opening til 1pm). Smart Queue ultimately worked well and saved me a longer stand-by queue later in the day, but please prepare in advance or you might lose out.



By the time the gates were flung open at 10am, a significant crowd had already amassed. Uh oh, that doesn’t bode well. I quickly booked my Smart Queue reservation then immediately jogged towards cred number 1 for the day.



My expectations for Rolling X-Train were not high. The ride is an Arrow looper, nearly 40-years-old, and was inexplicably running only one train. However, to my shock, this turned out to be a surprisingly forceful and impressively smooth ride. The double loops left me on the verge of a grey out and there was no noticeable headbanging at all! I’d best compared this one to Python at Efteling – high praise, as Python is my unambiguous favourite amongst this genre of coaster. Why is it as smooth as it is? I don’t know for sure, but I suspect it is down to good maintenance and the unusual trains it runs. I ended up giving Rolling X-Train another lap later, which is an endorsement I rarely give to this type of attraction.



After a bit of faff and some light wandering, I realised I didn’t have time to squeeze in any other rides before my Smart Queue timeslot at Panda World and hence went for a quick wander in the zoo. The tigers were feeling sociable which made for some great photos.



Everland is home to South Korea’s only 4 giant pandas, which seem to have something of a cult following. Panda World combines an educational walk-through with a generous habitat for the pandas themselves, where visitors can watch their adorable furry friends chew bamboo and sleep. There are also some red pandas in a separate section of habitat, for bonus panda action. As a grown man, I wouldn’t have queued more than 20 minutes for this, but I’d still call it a must-do at Everland.



Now is a good time to introduce you to the odd layout of Everland. Whilst many of the key attractions and the zoo are located in the adjacent valley, the entrance to the park is located at the top of a big hill – and I mean BIG big. For this reason, the park offers 3 different skyride type attractions to help shuttle guests up and down. The direct route through the zoo is a long and steep walk, but the loop via the back of the park is a bit more pleasant when ascending. Everland is not quite Alton Towers levels of sparsely populated, but if you don’t plan a route, you will definitely end up racking up a lot of steps.



Straight down the hill and through the zoo is Amazon Express, Everland’s rapids. In another classic of the “Asia parkgoers hate getting wet” genre, it has massive sheets inbuilt in the cars which you can use to help keep dry - in case the poncho you inevitably have on simply isn’t cutting it. This one was good fun, going through the forest and being deceptively soaking at points. Luckily the glorious sunshine meant I dried quickly.



Seeing as T-Express wasn’t opening until 1pm, I decided to grab an early lunch next door before joining the throng outside the entrance.



T-Express dominates the valley, with its unnervingly steep looking first drop and giant camelback towering over the surroundings. This Intamin prefab is a bit of a Frankenstein – the first section is much reminiscent of Six Flags Great Adventure’s El Toro, before it hits the MCBR and turns into a near carbon copy of Liseberg’s Balder. Whilst the original debuted in 2008, the first half of T-Express was recently retracked using RMC’s 208 ReTrak technology, allowing the coaster to be relaunched with a new logo and slogan above the entrance (“the iron rebirth”).



T-Express is themed to an Austrian train for some reason, though it’s rather loosely done. Unlike Rolling X-Train earlier, the coaster was running 2 trains with a vengeance, mercifully not requiring any time-wasting stretching activities like I’d heard tell of. Despite hefty crowds, I averaged around 30-45 mins queue per ride, racking up 4 laps.



After being whisked up the cable lift hill, T-Express offers a slow panoramic turn with fantastic views of the park. The ride begins in earnest with a spectacular ~150ft first drop, offering incredible “prepare to meet God” level ejector on the back car. The following camelback is the highlight of the ride, packed with sustained floejector airtime; the upstop wheels can clearly be heard screaming for mercy from around the park. From here, the train dives into a high-speed twist, which rides alarmingly roughly given it has been retracked, before rising into the MCBR which concludes the first half. I’d call RMC’s 208 ReTrak a huge success and a perfect fit for T-Express - compared to the GCI Titan track on Efteling’s Joris, which I found somewhat sterile in its smoothness, the 208 is more characterful. Let’s hope it doesn’t get much rougher though.



The MCBR brakes bit harder than I was expecting, bleeding off a lot of speed and putting a real damper on the pacing. In its second half, T-Express basically becomes Balder, which is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, this is section is certainly very fun - Balder offers a buffet of ejector airtime pops, seemingly finding more kinetic energy from nowhere to keep on going. On the other hand, I find the Balder layout very repetitive, reusing nearly identical sequences of hills and banked turns several times. Crucially, it rides much rougher than the 208 first half and unquestionably worse than Liseberg’s original, which ran impeccably during my 2023 rides. It’s still good, sure, but it’s a clear step down in quality from the first half.



T-Express was probably a victim of its own hype – I had heard so much praise heaped on this thing, and it didn’t quite deliver. The first half is incredible, but the MCBR kills the pacing, and the second half fails to reproduce that magic. Though T-Express still ended up being my favourite coaster of the trip and top 25 material, the wasted potential of this thing really does bug me. Give me Nanchang Sunac’s Python or Fantawild Zhuzhou’s Trailblazer any day, sorry.



Rant over, let’s weave our way back up the hill and ride some other stuff.

The shooting ghosts dark ride does exactly what it says on the tin – you shoot ghosts. It’s fine, but I usually find shooting dark rides some of the least interesting out there. Next!



Heading up the hill, one can find the day’s final credit – Dragon. Disappointingly, it does look quite carnival-esque and temporary. However, it’s an above average powered kiddie coaster, being weirdly forceful at a few points.



Next door is the Spooky Fun House, a family walkthrough haunted house where you can press buttons to trigger “spooky” animations. My on-the-day notes eloquently described it as “s***” with no further elaboration.



Enroute to the Thunder Falls flume, I passed “Lenny’s Safety Center” – which looked run down as hell – and the corpse of the park’s Ferris wheel proudly on display. In general, I thought the attractions in the middle of the hill (Dragon, the Ferris wheel, etc.) felt notably dated, which starkly contrasted with the high-quality presentation found elsewhere. I really hope Everland can refresh this area in due time.



A little further along the path is Thunder Falls. It’s very easy to tell this flume is a modern addition to Everland as it looks fantastic. It’s themed to the wild areas of California; the natural scenery feels a perfect fit for the theme, and the main finale has plenty of good viewing spots. The course is well-paced, featuring turntables, a backwards section, a large forwards drop, and minimal faff in the middle.



Eagle-eyed readers may have already noticed that I’ve not mentioned the last of Everland’s creds thus far. Unfortunately, the cute Vekoma family coaster in the Aesop’s Fables area was down for scheduled maintenance for most of the week, leaving me unable to get a clean sweep on the day of my visit. It’s a shame to miss the +1 but I’ll live.



By this point I had done basically all the main attractions on my hitlist, so I was free to peruse Everland at a more leisurely pace. Having neglected to visit my new local top spin thus far (Toxicator at Alton Towers), I went for a lap on Double Rock Spin. It’s not exactly Talocan when it comes to presentation, but it ran a decent cycle which didn’t leave me feeling too green.



I then caught the chairlift down to the bottom of the hill and headed to Lost Valley, an attraction which will feel very familiar to those who have ridden Chessington’s Zufari.



Guests climb aboard big safari vehicles, which tour through animal environments and pass a couple of thematic set pieces. There’s also a Jungle Cruise-style narrator, which was neat albeit not especially useful for me as I speak about 3 words of Korean. Whilst the ride is fine, I didn’t think it was worth the 30-minute queue. I also later realised that most of the viewing areas can be accessed on foot, likely offering a more pleasant animal viewing experience.



Before I resigned myself to re-riding T-Express, I went for a wander towards the European village and the rose garden. At sunset, this area was perhaps the most gorgeous in the park, with live music creating a real buzz around some of the restaurants. At this point it hit me how much I absolutely adored the setting for Everland – it really is one of the most unique and stunning locations for any theme park I’ve visited.



With 4 T-Express rides under my belt and a decent sized journey back ahead of me, I chose to head home about 8pm. There was some evening entertainment including a parade and fireworks, but I forfeited this in favour of some well-earned sleep.



Everland is a lot. The park is physically massive, with a decent range of rides alongside a very substantial zoo. But whilst the setting is absolutely lush, Everland didn't captivate me quite as much as I was hoping it would. I think this is mainly as the substance feels lacking. For a park flush with both space and visitors, which does seem to actively cater explicitly to thrill-seekers, Everland’s coaster line-up feels thin. Given the immense success of T-Express, it’s disappointing to see they haven’t bought any new coaster hardware since 2008; I would absolutely love to see them fully utilise their unique terrain for a Helix-style multi-launch coaster. Furthermore, there is a notable gap in quality between the old and new attractions in the park. I would love to see a few of the older areas and attractions get a refresh – the park’s dark rides in particular really leave something to be desired. Last but not least, the Smart Queue is a mess which just makes visiting the more park more stressful; Europa Park and Liseberg run this kind of system much better. There’s a lot of potential within Everland, but I think it needs some new thinking to fully harness it.



Next time: A Whole Lotte More

 

[NemesisRider]

Day 11: Lotte World Adventure (Seoul)

Another day, another park. Thankfully, today’s target was substantially nearer than Everland, necessitating a mere 40-minute journey via the metro from Myeongdong.



Lotte World Adventure in Seoul is perhaps Korea’s most internationally recognisable theme park. Located in the heart of the city, it is adjacent to the truly enormous Lotte Tower and has several entrances integrated with the Jamsil metro station. Whilst the bulk of Lotte Adventure is indoors, their outdoor “Magic Island” area is home to iconic attractions like Atlantis Adventure and Gyro Drop.



Before I dive into the Lotte experience, let’s talk about crowds and queues.

During my visit, I got a strong impression that Lotte Adventure was simply not built for the attendance it attracts. I went on a sunny Tuesday outside of school holidays and found the place was rammed, with the queues for most major rides remaining stubbornly above 60 minutes all day. The compact nature of the park means there is little space dedicated to proper queuelines, which necessitated makeshift queuelines which spilled well into the midways around rides. I also think that part of the problem is insufficient capacity on Lotte’s headlining rides; a park welcoming around 5 million guests a year should not own only a single train for its only inverting coaster (looking at you, French Revolution). In my view, Magic Pass is basically mandatory if you don’t hate yourself; I bought a ticket via trip.com which included 3 individual Magic Passes, though I slightly regretted not buying more.



By the way - unlike other parks in South Korea, there are single rider queues, but I had quite a poor experience with these. Nearly everyone that day visited Lotte in even numbered groups, for reasons beyond me, resulting in very slow SRQ movement. Again, this might have been pure bad luck but just beware.



Anyways, one place where queues were not an issue were the ticket desks outside the park; Collecting my physical entry/fastpass ticket from the trip.com QR was very easy. Lotte Adventure’s inhouse brass band gave a lively performance just before 10am, and soon enough it was time for the accumulated crowd to head in.



When the gates were finally opened, I speedwalked through the indoor section and headed straight for Magic Island. Compact is the name of the game here – this fascinating area squishes a surprisingly complete miniature theme park onto a tiny piece of reclaimed land. It’s home to the bulk of Lotte Adventure’s high thrill rides, a Disney-esque castle, and multiple shops and restaurants. The very limited space on offer forces evidently Magic Island to be cut-throat with their new additions, as seemingly none of the 1990 opening day rides operate today and during my visit a portion of the island was closed due to the construction of a new MapleStory area.



The first attraction of the day was the park’s world-famous Intamin Aquatrax, Atlantis Adventure. This one-of-a-kind coaster is a real oddity. Layout-wise, it resembles a prototype Intamin Blitz with its LSM launch and lift combo, but aesthetically, it tries its best to cosplay as a water coaster by putting its main outdoor drops in flume-style troughs. For a modestly sized ride it makes quite the visual impression, with much of the layout is hidden inside a beautiful Atlantean palace. Unfortunately, after over 20 years of operation, maintenance standards seem to be slipping on Atlantis. On the day of my visit, the coaster was a lot less Aqua and a lot more Trax, with the main pool of water completely empty and none of the water effects around the track working.



Atlantis’ trains at least feel somewhat ahead of their time. They offer motorbike style seating and lap bars for plenty of freedom, and they're much preferable to the slightly cramped accelerator trains Intamin were producing at the same time. The ride also tracks smoothly, and is plenty re-rideable. Across my 3 laps I preferred the views in the front seats, but found the back had a little more whip.



Atlantis’ first half begins with a slope out of the station and a punchy LSM launch, sending riders hurtling through the darkness into the ejector-filled indoor top hat. The ride stays on full throttle with several dynamic twists and turns, tightly weaving in and out of the structure with satisfying intensity. Things calm somewhat as the train returns outdoors, gliding through a block brake then regaining speed as it dives down its first flume-style drop. Unfortunately, there’s little time to enjoy the newfound momentum, as after a low turnaround over what should have been the water another set of brakes bring the train to a near full stop.



The brief dark ride interlude that follows is navigated slowly and is a real pacing killer in my books, made worse by the fact the main animatronic alien plant thing was entirely static. Atlantis’ second half has a more placid beginning, starting with a gentle LSM lift and a panoramic turn, offering views across Magic Island. Thankfully the second flume-style drop is probably the best of the bunch, feeling sudden and steep. It's also followed up with a great airtime moment on the twisted hill re-entering the structure. After racing through one last indoor curve, the trains dive back outdoors and slam into the final brakes for one last time.



I really wanted to adore Atlantis Adventure – the theming is beautiful, the location is stunning, and the beginning of the first half is really good. Unfortunately, I don’t think it delivered the non-stop thrills I was hoping for. Primarily, the overall pacing of the experience is absolutely w***, with the coaster repeatedly building up speed just to throw it away. The first elements are so good, and it never quite reaches those highs again. Furthermore, in its current state, Atlantis felt past its prime - I think the ride desperately needs TLC on the water effects and dark ride section. It’s a solid family-thrill attraction, but I think it's overhyped.



Next up: Gyro Drop. I love a classic drop tower, and this one is both on the larger and more forceful end. It also happens to be the first gyro drop tower Intamin ever made – happy to report they nailed it first try. The views are great, the drop feels huge, and the brakes slam on basically as late as possible. My only complaint is that Lotte Adventure have surrounded the restraints with plastic screens to dampen riders’ screams, which makes the whole thing feel a little claustrophobic frankly. Good stuff regardless.



Gyro Swing also includes the same dumb plastic screens on the restraints. The airtime is good and swinging out across the water is neat, but the nausea factor made this a one-and-done for me.



Comet Express had already built up a miserable looking 90-minute queue, so I decided it fair cop as my first Magic Pass use. This subterranean family coaster turned out to be a classic of the “oh my God, this thing is trying to kill me” genre, much reminding me of Nigloland’s Spatiale Expérience. Once onboard, riders are plunged into darkness, and spin relentlessly as they power through tight turns and janky directional changes. There’s also some UV-lit planets and other space stuff, though I didn’t take much notice as I was too busy clinging on for dear life. Whilst I only got on this once due the long queues and poor capacity (it only has one train), I’d highly recommend it nonetheless.



Due to my own stupidity, I managed to accidentally miss the second underground ride here, the dark ride Fantasy Dreams. Woops.

So, that’s it for Magic Island in this report – lovely vibes, but very crowded. Come for Atlantis Adventure, stay for the drop tower.



Let’s head back inside and explore the indoor theme park component of Lotte Adventure. Let’s start off with the obvious observations – this place is f***ing HUGE. Whilst the actual footprint is fairly small in theme park terms, the park’s staggering height allows them to cram in an impressive number of attractions over six floors. Dark rides seem to be the indoor park’s bread-and-butter, but it also houses Lotte’s original thrill coaster (French Revolution), a log flume, multiple transport rides, and even an ice rink on the bottom floor. Given that Lotte have been chopping and changing their ride line-up for over 35 years, the park’s design is remarkably cohesive, despite a few casualties. My only niggle is that navigating the park’s multiple floors can be a bit confusing in a few places, with highlight attractions not always well advertised.



Lotte’s final credit, the aforementioned French Revolution, is a unique Vekoma looper and that looks better than it rides. One of the few opening day attractions remaining at Lotte Adventure, the coaster has suffered something of an identity crisis since the Pharoah’s Fury dark ride moved in next door. The coaster has two showstopper elements, both found towards the end of the ride: a forceful vertical loop with a pedestrian bridge passing through it, and a tight helix surrounding a water feature. Both elements pile on the positives and have strangely shaped entries, resulting in two violently whippy moments in the back. Unfortunately, the rest of the layout is forgettable, mostly consisting of low speed turns which occasionally weave in and out of tunnels. The more exciting second half is noticeably rough; given the sizable queue, one ride was enough for me. Exactly my favourite Vekoma looper, but it gets points for style.



I stopped for some lunch at Kimpira, where I had a very hearty cheese tteobokki meal. Tasty stuff, and not too expensive either.



Dark ride time.

The Adventures of Sinbad is Lotte Adventure’s answer to Pirates of the Carribean, though I would argue it has a bit of a rough-around-the-edges charm best compared to the original Piraten in Batavia. This incredibly long dark ride takes you underground on a journey across the high seas, passing through caves, temples and palaces. Alongside the static scenes, Sinbad includes a handful of cool effects and animatronics (shout-out to the awesome three-headed dragon). Whilst some parts feel a bit dated, it’s a lovely classic dark ride.



Heading to the opposite end of the first floor we find Flyventure, the park’s flying theatre, which is hidden in a slick looking steampunk grotto underground. Flyventure takes riders through portals into several fantasy lands: a water world, a lava world, an evil tornado world, etc. Whilst the screens are high quality and the visuals are good, the choice to go for a “just fly around stuff” experience in favour of something more narrative-driven made this ultimately unmemorable. Worth ticking off certainly, but bang average for the model overall.



Located next door to Flyventure is Dragon Wild Shooting, a decent little shooting dark ride. Whilst the shooting system is a little unresponsive at times, the dragons are truly adorable, and they’ve actually bothered to include some physical setwork.



Last but not least amongst the dark rides in Lotte Adventure was Pharoah’s Fury, an Indiana Jones style jeep ride which seems to have something of a cult following amongst enthusiasts. Like Sinbad, Pharoah’s Fury is a very substantial ride – it seems to have been squeezed in at the top of the park using some kind of dark magic. It’s most memorable for its extensive physical theming, which is undeniably world class. Along the journey some of the highlights include a crocodile temple with a sizable animatronic, an escape through a corridor of lit up sarcophagi, and a cavernous golden treasure room finale. The jeeps also briefly journey outside, in what seems to be a nod to the classic ghost trains of old. However, much like Fantawild’s Qin Dynasty, Pharoah’s Fury doesn’t stick the landing perfectly. I found the ride system was a clear downgrade compared to DisneySea’s version, offering a less dynamic range of motion and a surprisingly poor capacity that makes long queues seemingly inevitable. Furthermore, the pacing is a bit off at points, with the ending in particular feeling abrupt and unsatisfying. Fury is a real achievement and definitely the best dark ride at Lotte, but if you go in expecting Indy levels of perfection I fear you’ll come out disappointed.



In terms of indoor transport rides, Lotte Adventure offers both a monorail and a balloon ride. The former monorail was fine enough but definitely skippable in my books.



The latter, however, is a must-do attraction that I chose to splurge my final Magic Pass on. It offers fantastic views of the park you can’t find anywhere else; dangling from the roof really highlights just how damn tall this building is. Bonus points for the adorable Pokémon overlay on this ride too.



I can’t wrap up this review without mentioning Lotte Adventure’s generous entertainment offering. Even without actively searching, I encountered all sorts across the day – costumed Pikachu characters doing photoshoots, a roaming brass band, and a daytime indoor parade with huge fire effects alongside the floats. They also run a daily projections/fireworks show on Magic Island which I’ve heard good things about, but I didn’t stick around for it as I fancied dinner outside the park.



Indoor theme parks tend to run a high risk of stagnation – finite space makes it hard to expand without removing other attractions, and the engineering complexities usually limit the ambitions of post-opening day additions. Lotte World Adventure is the antithesis of this, continuing to evolve unapologetically whilst retaining the best parts of their original line-up. Although their coaster selection leaves something to be desired, they have some very unique attractions, including the best collection of dark rides in Korea. The setting is also incredible; I loved both the striking 80s design of the indoor section and the miniature Disneyland of Magic Island. The main drawback with the place is that, operationally, Lotte can't handle its crowds. Magic Pass is effectively mandatory to have a good time at the moment, and most of their headliners have insufficient throughput. Despite its flaws, this is the theme park in Korea I would most highly recommend to other enthusiasts, and I’ll be eagerly watching the progress on the new MapleStory and Godzilla rides.



Next time: cleaning up creds at Children's Grand Park

 

[NemesisRider]

Day 12: Imjingak Park, the DMZ, and Children's Grand Park

The day after my visit to Lotte Adventure, I had booked for the family to join a group tour of South Korea’s famous De-Militarised Zone (the DMZ). Admittedly, large group tours are usually one of my least favourite ways to visit somewhere, but tight restrictions on DMZ access made this a necessary evil.



Though I was admittedly oblivious to this during my planning, nearly all DMZ Tours begin at Imjingak Peace Park near the North Korean border. Here one can find a very temporary looking amusement park with a wacky worm and some other carnival rides. Unfortunately, scheduled tour timings meant that we would be well gone by the time the park opened, so no surprise +1 for Sam.



I think I ended up being a tad underwhelmed with the DMZ proper. We certainly did get very lucky with the weather, which made it very easy to see across the border at Dora Observatory and see the North Korea flag fluttering in the distance. The North Korean invasion tunnels are also interesting, albeit very uncomfortable to walk in. However, my main disappointment was that the DMZ felt like a theme park and not a place of living history. For example, at Imjingak our group got a short talk from a North Korean defector about her experiences. Whilst I’m glad she had found safety in the South – and was hopefully making good money for her family back at home – I didn’t like how this real person and her stories had been basically turned into an attraction for tourists to gawk at. For what it’s worth, I think the War Memorial Museum in Seoul does a much better job at humanising the impacts of the Korean war, as well as illustrating the world events that lead to it.



Anyways, creds. I had originally hoped to nab the Children’s Grand Park +1 on the same day as visiting Lotte World Adventure but had ditched these plans when the latter proved entirely deserving of a full day visit. At this point, I’d already missed out on two creds on this trip, so I wasn’t going to miss another goddammit. The DMZ tour was due to wrap by 4:30pm, so I made plans to swing by Children’s Grand Park immediately afterwards.



Children’s Grand Park is a large public park in Seoul, which is home to a small permanent pay-per-ride amusement park. Though the setup here was similar to the likes of Sun Park in China, Children’s Grand Park seemed overall prettier and better maintained – I’d definitely recommend a stroll around if you get time.



The amusement park’s single cred, Family Coaster, is a Vekoma SFC which clones the layout from Grona Lund’s Kvasten. I found this layout very pedestrian in comparison to the more common Orkanen clones, lacking any particularly dynamic or whippy moments. Contrary to popular consensus, I did think the ride was plenty smooth though.



Though I found it quite boring, Family Coaster seems perfect for the audience of younger kids this park attracts and certainly looks to be a vast improvement on the Meisho monstrosity they had beforehand.



Next time: your regularly scheduled credding will resume soon