Everland

Saturday Jason surprised me by suggesting we should take a trip to Everland! Everland is one of Korea's most popular amusement parks. (There is also a popular amusement park in Seoul called Lotte World, it is indoor so some claim it is the better of the two, as even during winter it is not cold.) I was very excited to go, especially since I'm so used to going (read: spoiled) to Disneyland every Christmas season. While Everland is not Disneyland, it was a very fun day full of Christmas lights and parades!

By 9am Saturday morning we were up and headed towards the Bus Terminal. There we caught a bus to Yongin, the town where Everland is located. The bus ride was only about an hour so we were there in no time! Once we arrived we made sure to by bus tickets back to Wonju right away (last bus was at 8:30) -- sometimes the buses from Seoul get full very early in the day and we didn't want to risk this happening in unfamiliar Yongin. There was no need for us to worry though, as it didn't seem like the most popular of destinations. The ticket lady was also able to point us in the direction of the right city bus to take us to the Everland entrance. It was so easy and convienent to hop on the bus and be dropped right at the gate to the park!

Admission was only 31,000 won each (we got a foreigner discount too) and the park was not crowded at all! Overall it was a really cute place, the entrance had Christmas decorations and lights all over and the main street was made up to look like famous places from around the world, I noticed hints of Venice and Egypt. In the center of main street was a huge fairy like tree all decorated with lights and christmas ornaments. The rest of the park was loosly divided into different theme areas "Magic Land" "European Land" and "American Land" were just a few. American Land was hilarious and ironically our first stop! Jason went on a spinning "rodeo" ride, we stopped by a tipee, took pictures next to "rusty" mining gear and saw the sailing ship Columbus. It was all quite funny! The only other part that made up American Land was a hometown Diner and Burger Cafe!

Entrance to the park. The cast member who took our picture told us to make the hearts!

Large fairy tree with Christmas decorations.

"American Land" -- there were space heaters inside too! 

Aesop's Fables Land 

Cute hats, scarves and gloves were everywhere!

Roller coaster riding.

While all the sections of the park were cutely decorated and attended by "cast members" wearing silly Christmas coats, snow hats and gloves, the rides were a little lacking. Most of them just went in circles or up and down. We did go on one great roller coaster though! Its claim to fame, and now mine since I rode it, is that it is the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world! They aren't lying, that first drop is dramatic and takes your breath away! It was also super cold outside so by the end of the ride you are quite frozen. 

The cast members working the park were also super cute, they always had to wave their hands at passers by, as in, at all times. It did make things pleasant but when I waved back and they didn't stop I always felt like I should keep waving too! Everytime they saw Jason and I they would speak English too, like "have a good day!" We saw a few other foreigners while we were there, most likely military people (why else would there be a group of middle aged American men and women walking around together?)

We also saw two parades! During the day there was a Christmas Parade and at night the Moonlight Magic Parade. Both were really cute, the second was kind of like the eletrical parade at Disneyland because it was full off floats will really beautiful lights all over them! The strangest part about the parades were the people in them... they were not Korean! Well, a few of them were, but the majority of the parade actors were white, they looked some kind of European to me because they all had pointy noses and inset mouths, as if they were from the same country... Jason wonders how I could make a guess like this (he said they could be American for all we know) but I really doubt this... I just wonder how you get a job like that! I know that foreigners work carnivals and fairs during summertime in the US too but its just such a strange concept for me. We also noticed that unlike Disneyland the actors do not have smiles plastered to their faces. This really does make a difference. You just don't feel like they are having a good time if they are not smiling!

One of the best sections of the park was the animal area! We wish we had visited it right away instead of waiting until the end of the day. They have a little wildlife/zoo section. We saw white tigers, a polar bear, sea lions, pegiuns, all types of monkey's, leemurs, snakes, etc. There were tons of cool animals to look at! We felt a little bad for the polar bear though, he was the only animal that was all alone, without a companion. The baby fox was so cute!

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the day was... the penguins! For creatures that move so slowly I feel like the amount of time we got to see them was very brief but... at 3pm we headed to main street to watch the pengiuns walk around... dressed up as Santa and his Reindeer! It was the cutest, strangest thing! These little guys came waddling out and walked in a giant circle, urged on by their handlers, to the cheers of a sizable onlooking crowd! They also brought out a baby fox and leemur, I got to touch the leemur's tale! The whole thing was pretty ridiculous... ridiculously cute that is!

Aren't they too cute!?

Baby lemur!

Lemur, penguin and baby fox!

We ended the night by strolling through the Chritmas lights before catching our bus back to Wonju. The day was chilly and long but lots of fun. I had the best person to spend it with too. (When I told some students and teachers about my trip to Everland today they all went "with your boyfriend?! Date?! Awww.")