I am not a fan of themed parks although if given the chance, I don't say "no" to it. I began to gain interest on themed parks again after my 1st child was born. I thought he needs to see these places to gain experience and enjoy his childhood.
On this post, I will share with you all our adventures at Korea's
Everland and how this became one of the best places to visit for kids and kids at heart.
It was Sunday, March 30, 2019. We arranged our
Everland trip via
Klook for both our
transfer/s to and from Seoul and the actual
themed park pass. The bus was scheduled to leave at 9:40 am. The departure point was the subway line 1, 3, or 5 at Jongno 3 (sam) - ga Station exit 12. We got there from the hotel 10 minutes before the scheduled departure. Few meters from the departure point, we already saw tourists queuing for the bus. We lined up as well and showed our vouchers as issued by the provider and boarded in. The bus left at exactly the same time as scheduled and stopped at 2 more pick up points for other passengers to board. We left Seoul for
Everland officially at 10:10 am. The journey took about 1 hr and 30 minutes.
There was a huge parking space for tourist buses close to the resort. The bus stopped there as we needed to transfer to another bus going to the themed park. Our bus driver told us to meet him again at 3:00 pm on the same drop off point for our ride back to Seoul. Off we went to
Everland bus! Queue up people! The bus ride took about 5-10 minutes before it reached
Everland's main entrance gate.
We got to the entrance gate at
Everland and had our first photo opportunity there. At the
Everland's gate, our voucher's QR code were scanned and got in. Convenient right? There's no need for you to print anything unless you already have done so, that's okay too.
Ivan and his wife Adel were with us during the whole Korean trip.
On to our next adventures, friends!
When we got in, I was amazed by how massive the area is and how attractions were arranged. Below are the arrangements of the of the attractions and rides. You can also download the full map
here.
- European Adventure
- Magic Land
- American Adventure
- Zootopia
- Global Fair
Then, another photo opportunity came up right after we got in.
My wife - Deborah immediately noticed this big and
colorful tree and posed for another photo!
As mentioned, this is a massive themed park and the only way to go around is by foot. If you will be bringing toddlers - I would suggest you bring baby stroller with you as we did for a more convenient movement. Don't worry, as the whole themed park has paved walkways and alleys. There's also "walkalators" at Zootopia so you will be okay. Unfortunately there are slopes that you may need to pass through as you go around so just breath as you push your baby strollers up. Tiring indeed but well worth it if your family's happy!
My wife and our son - Andrei posing with some Dutch inspired buildings
at the background.
Restaurants, gift and souvenir shops are strategically located in between attraction sections for those shopping enthusiasts. For hungry folks, restaurants cuisines depend on the area they are in. European cuisine are available in the European Adventure section of the park while American restaurants can be found in American Adventure section. If you're lucky, you may find
KFC inside the park. You can also see snack bars offering various delightful treats for the street food lovers. Just be advised though that depending on the number of guests in the restaurant, the food will be served to you in as late as 40 minutes. We went to
Venitian Pizza for our early lunch fix and got the food after that long. If you think about eating in one of the restaurants here, try to go in first and see the number of people inside and decide if your stomach can wait a little longer than the average food serving time.
Winter could be harsh especially for people from tropical countries. Remember, you will walk in chilly temperature with cold winds blowing on your face, so make sure you prepare before your travel. I was a victim of harsh weather in one of my previous travels to Europe and was told by one of my Swedish friend "Don't blame the weather - blame your layers".
My wife and our son - Andrei posing with the Everland sign at the
European Adventure section of the park.
Everland has numerous gardens too. Maybe the most prominent one is the Tulip Garden located in Little Holland. These are real living tulips my friends. If you're okay to just sit back and relax while enjoying the little piece of Holland with you, then this is the place for you.
They even sell real tulips in Everland for just 4,000 won
per piece. Any takers?
Little Holland at Everland
The best time to go to
Everland is during the summer as hopefully all the rides and attractions are open to tourists. Depending on the weather,
Everland closes some attractions for safety purposes so it's better to plan your tour ahead. You may end up not seeing some attractions during rainy, snowy or windy weather.
Before we leave
Everland, another spectacle greeted us - that's the
Everland parade where grand floats and fairy creatures danced with the tune of
Everland theme songs. It was magical and entertaining. What's surprising is, you will likely see few local dancers in the group. We saw mostly caucasian men and women as part of the dance troupe. Regardless, it was indeed entertaining and fun.
One of the grand floats which roamed the park at 1:00 pm
in Everland
Some of the dancers singing and dancing in the tune
of Everland theme songs! What a spectacle!
We ended our tour at 2:45 pm and headed to the main bus station few kilometers away from the park, which unfortunately is also the worst part of the whole experience.
As agreed with the bus operator, we will meet him again at 3:00 pm on the same place where we left him. We arrived there 10 minutes before the scheduled departure but we saw our bus already leaving for Seoul. We ask the other drivers there why the bus was leaving early and we were told that the bus is heading to a different drop off point. We were then told that we would need to transfer to a different bus and we need to wait. At exactly 3:00 pm we still did not know which bus to take going back so we asked some drivers there. We just got a rude reply from one Korean driver saying - "I don't speak English" as he walked away.
We ended up taking another bus to our destination back to the city but since it was not the same route our new driver was familiar of, we arrived in Seoul at around 6:30 pm. That's 3.5 hours compared to the 1.5 hours travel time going to the park.
If you will remove that unfortunate travel experience, our trip to
Everland would have been perfect. Yes - we might come back again to see this park covered in snow. When? - only time will tell.
