Everland
Another bucket list item for Luke and I was to go to one of Korea’s major amusement parks. With roller-coasters and rides, the fall colors and bonus Halloween events, it was the perfect opportunity to make a day out of it. We found discounted tickets from an app called “Seoul Pass” so we each paid ₩34,000 instead of ₩54,000. Woohoo!
From the Incheon Bus Terminal, it took us about two hours to get there, with a number of stops in between. Once we arrived to the park, we got ourselves a map and a good grasp of everything we were going to try and see that day. We started with their biggest and best wooden roller-coaster, the T-Express. It was a little over an hour wait in line, but it was honestly the best wooden coaster Luke or I had ever been on! We screamed our lungs out, and by the end of the ride, I had tears running down my cheeks and my hair was so big it looked like I had just stepped out of the 80s. We were on such an adrenaline high for the next half hour we went to the “American Adventure” section, rode the rest of the rides, and laughed hysterically at each other’s reactions. There was a ride called the “Double Rock Spin” which swung you and spun you until your eyeballs did a full 360 inside your head. There was even a “water ride” where they covered us up with a tarp so we wouldn’t get wet—even though I came out with a denim soaked butt that didn’t dry for 4 hours! But soaked butt and all, it was so much fun!
After we explored the grounds a bit more, we found our way into the “Zoo-topia” area where there was a small zoo of monkeys, polar bears, tigers, porcupines, turtles and more. There was even an entire exhibit dedicated to a couple of pandas and a small museum-like room to learn about them!
As it got dark, we moseyed our way to the “Magic Land” to see thousands of beautiful lights. There were gorgeous gardens for romantic walks, fountains with color changing water, huge castles, and various other displays of bright and colorful lights. Koreans do not shy away from a good photo opportunity, so it was no surprise to see so many photo zones. Nearly each one consisted of a cute or funny sign, a cute backdrop, and of course—the perfect lighting. All the lights got me so excited for the Christmas season just around the corner.
However, it was still October, so we had to make the transition to a proper Halloween-land so we headed towards the “European Adventure” area when the zombies and scary costumes were out and about after dark. We came upon a stage where hundreds of people were sitting on the ground in front of it. We weren’t sure what was about to happen, but we saw the words “Crazy Zombie Hunt 2” on stage and knew we wanted to witness whatever was going to happen. So we found a seat and waited for the performance. It was truly epic! It was like a zombie musical that went on for about ten minutes. Afterwards, they came out into the crowd and people were able to get pictures with them.
Once we finished with Everland’s Halloween, we headed to the final event of the evening—the “Parade of Lights”! We headed to where the parade would end and found a seat. There were hundreds of people lining the sides of the street and in about 20 minutes, they shut off all the lights nearby and the parade came down the street and performed for another 20 minutes or so. It was a very unique parade, with the only light coming from what they were wearing, or the thousands of tiny light bulbs on each float. Dancers with matching light up costumes would separate the floats; and each float got more and more extravagant. What a way to end an unforgettable day! 😍
