Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Welcoming December by Visiting Lotte World

Hellooo December! My favorite month of the year. The last month that is always full of wonderful memories. The last month that will bring us to a new year. And for me, it's a month full of wishes. A wish to be true. 

So.. to welcoming this great month, I made a visit to Lotte World on December 1. One of the most famous amusement park in Korea. It's located in Jamsil, Seoul. You can reach Lotte World by taking subway line 2 or 8 to Jamsil Station. Lotte World is connected directly to the subway station. After get off the subway, find the signboard that write Exit #3 and/or Lotte World. Just follow those signboards until you reach the ticket counters. You will pass the self-ticketing machine and Lotte Card office before you reach the main gate and ticket counters. There are a lot of counters, each is occupied by one officer. So, no matter how crowded it is, you don't need to worry about the time you need to queue. They work quite fast.

In front of the entrance - and ticket office of Lotte World
The entrance ticket is 44,000 Won for adults (normal price). But no worries, Lotte World often holds some event for us to get some discount for the entrance ticket. For example, starting from Nov 29, 2013, until Dec 5, 2013, they give 50% off for all visitors without any conditions. You can see the detail here: Lotte World 50% Off Event (131129-131205)

1 Day Special Pass to Lotte World
It will be our exam period starting next week. So, I planned to have fun, releasing all stress before that stressful period. I went there with three of my friends. It was a fine girls-day.
We arrive at the ticket counter around 9:10 in the morning. Purchasing our tickets, and enter the amusement park around 9:40 (FYI, it opens at 9:30 AM). 

Note: most of the pictures in this post were not mine (for all pictures from other website, I put its source/courtesy under the picture). I didn't take too many pictures because I didn't bring my camera and had only a smartphone with very limited battery. And since my main purpose was to enjoy the ride, I did really forget to took pictures of the rides. ㅠㅠ

Lotte World has both indoor and outdoor park. For indoor park, it's called Adventure, consist of four levels, plus a ground level for Ice Rink (you need to purchase another ticket to play ice skating) and 4D shooting theater. For outdoor park, it's named as Magic Island. It has more thrilling rides than those in indoor park.

Floor Guide of Adventure Park
I advise you to take a guide map right after you scan your ticket and before you take the escalator up to Adventure Park. Because it will help you navigate yourself in the park and of course, to decide which ride to ride next. You can also download the guide map here: Korean or English.

Our first ride was The Conquistador, or Viking, which is located at first floor. There were only a few people that time, we waited for no more than 10 minutes (or 5 minutes maybe) to rode this. I rate this ride 2 out of 5. It's stopped before I felt the thrill. I felt quite upset ㅠㅠ Indeed, the best Viking ride in Korea is still in Wolmido.

The Conquistador (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Second ride was Jungle Adventure in third floor. We were able to ride this without has to wait in line. There were no other visitors in the line~ I rate this ride 3 out of 5. You will ride on a boat with 6 people capacity and surpass a very-dark area. Don't worry, though it's a bit shaky, you won't get wet here. ㅋㅋ

Before the ride of Jungle Adventure~
Jungle Adventure (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Next... we headed outside to Magic Island!

On our way to Magic Island~
A beautiful castle in Magic Island!
Our first ride in Magic Island was Bungee Drop. We rode it without waiting for too long. I rate it 3 out of 5. I was startled for the first drop, because it was so sudden. But for the next drop, it was just so-so.

Bungee Drop (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Before riding Bungee Drop, 두근두근~
Next to Bungee Drop is Gyro Spin. We waited for around 15 minutes for this ride. I rate this 3 out of 5. For some people, this ride may look a bit scary, but when you ride it, you won't feel it as scary as you see (my friend is the real example ㅋㅋ). And you will neither feel dizzy after this ride. 


Gyro Spin (picture source: Vimeo)
Gyro Spin when we're waiting in line.
Next ride was Comet Express. It was my favorite ride there. It was not so thrilling, but it got me excited! ㅋㅋ Due to the long queue and because it's located under ground, we waited for around one hour without any clue of what kind of ride it was. But once we rode it, I fell for it. ㅋ We explored the so-called 'Galaxy' while seated on a rotatable seat. It was fun. But too bad, the queue is never below 60 minutes. I rate this ride 4 out of 5.

Comet Express (picture source: Tripadvisor)
While looking for next ride, we passed by Fantasy Dream and The Haunted House which had empty line. So we tried both of them. 

Fantasy Dream (picture courtesy: Lotte World). We did't know it was designed for kids. lol
I will skip the rating for this ride, since it's a kids-ride.
Inside Fantasy Dream (taken on moving train)
The Haunted House (picture courtesy: Lotte World). It was a small theater for 3D 'horror' short-video. I rate it 2.5 out of 5. We will be given a 3D glasses to watch the video. I felt quite dizzy wearing the glasses to watch the video. For the video itself. It's just so-so.
Quite shy to post this picture, but it's an 인증샷 when we're inside The Haunted House! ㅋ
There was another thrilling ride in Magic Island: Gyro Drop, which is similar to Bungee Drop, but Gyro Drop is much higher and it drops only once. We skipped this for unspoken reason. ㅋㅋ

Gyro Drop (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Gyro Drop (we skipped this ride! ㅋ)
There were Bumper Car in Magic Island. But because the waiting line was too long, we skipped this. Next ride was also one of my favorite rides in Lotte World: Gyro Swing. I rate it 4 out of 5

Gyro Swing (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Ready on the line to ride Gyro Swing!
On the day we visited Lotte World, Atlantis was not operated. The ticket officer told me the reason, but I didn't really understand what she said, since it was in Korean. =.= Watching the advertisement over internet, it looks so exciting. Too bad it was not operated that day. ㅠㅠ

Atlantis (picture source: mountainmadman.wordpress.com)
Done with Magic Island, we headed to Adventure. Since it's lunch time already, we looked for a restaurant. I forgot to take picture of the restaurant and the food ㅠㅠ. I had shrimp fried rice for 7,500 Won in a  restaurant at second floor. The taste is not good for that price, but well, as long as it can fulfill our hunger. =3

To let us digest our lunch, we decided to ride the family ride: Aeronauts Balloon Ride, which is a balloon-shaped ride from the highest spot of indoor park of Lotte World. Its entrance is in 4th floor. By riding this, we can see the view of beautiful indoor theme park of Lotte World. I rate it 3 out of 5. The queue for this ride was never under 60 minutes that day. We waited for around 100 minutes. ㅠㅠ

Aeronauts Balloon Ride (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Here are all the pictures taken when we're riding the Aeronauts Balloon Ride.

Adventure Park in a glance
Giant Loop and World Monorail
Flume Ride and Drunken Basket
A small performance on the Ice Rink


On the same floor, there is a Marvelous Art Museum, which is similar to Trick Eye Museum. I rate it 2.5 out of 5. We took some funny pictures here. ㅋㅋㅋ




Next to Marvelous Art Museum is Pharaoh's Fury. We wished to ride it, but the line was just too long so we just skipped it. It was more than 90 minutes waiting if I'm not mistaken. 

Pharaoh's Fury (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
The last ride in 4th floor is Dynamic Theater. It's a 4D theater for 10 to 15 minutes short animation movie. It played Dracula movie when we went there. I rate this 3 out of 5

Dynamic Theater (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
There are only two rides in third floor: Jungle Adventure (see above) and World Monorail. Since we're interested in the World Monorail, let's move to second floor!

Had more than just enough time for digestion, it's time to ride French Revolution. It's an indoor roller coaster. I rate it 3 out of 5. The waiting time for this ride was around 60 minutes. It's not as thrill as I think it could be. 

French Revolution (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
There is another Bumper Car in second floor. It's been a while since the last time I rode Bumper Carㅋ
The waiting line was quite short, so we decided to ride it. It has quite wide area, and the car seemed good. But, once we bumps our car to another, it needs quite some time to restart I guess. I rate it 3 out of 5.

For our dinner, we decided to just have kebab since we're not that hungry. It's only 3,900 Won, though the taste is just so-so, it's good enough to avoid being hungry. While eating kebab in second floor, we watched some parades in first floor. The parades were started every several hours (there was a timetable). And December 1st was the last day of the parade. I didn't take any pictures of the parades since I was too busy choosing rides in daytime, but for the last one, I took some though its quality is not good ㅠㅠ (will be updated later)

Done with second floor, we then moved to first floor.
We started with Giant Loop. It's not as fun as I thought. The shoulder bar was quite loose. I felt like I'm going to slipped down. I rate it 2 out of 5.

Giant Loop (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Close to Giant Loop is Flume Ride. You will ride a small boat with maximum 4 people, going up trough a water railway, and slide down twice. You will get a bit splash (only the first two people from the front side), but no worry, it's really a bit only. I rate it 3.5 out of 5.

Flume Ride (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Next ride was The Adventure of Sinbad. You will ride a boat with 20 people capacity. The boat will surpass a very dark area 2 levels underground. I rate it 3.5 out of 5.

The Adventure of Sinbad (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
We again headed to Magic Island, planned to ride Comet Express once again. But.. the line was too long that we changed our plan~

The castle at night! Beautiful right?
The famous Comet Express with long line from daytime to nigh time~ ㅠ
We had around two hours before closing time. And we had tried almost all the available rides. After wandering around, we decided to go to Tomb of Horror. It's a 'Haunted House' with some 'ghost' human inside. We need to purchase another ticket (3,000 Won) to enter this house. Enter through 'Death' gate, we walked along the path to the 'Escape' Gate. There were some 'ghost' appear all of sudden, trying to scare us, and some times grab us. Though we know they are human, we couldn't help but keep shouting, as loud as we could. And because of that, some of the 'ghost' were confused what to do with us, and some others were taken back because we're too noisy. ㅋㅋ I rate it 3.5 out of 5.

Entrance tickets to Tomb of Horror
Ready to enter the Tomb oh Horror, the officer told us before we entered: "Please make your entrance through Death gate, don't run and don't hit the ghost~" ㅎ
Finally, I made my Escape from the Tomb of Horror (does my expression look like someone who got scared? ㅋ)
Next ride was Lotty's Air Balloon. It's a theater where we will stand on a big circular plate while watching a video. The scenario was that we're riding an air balloon and on our way to a place called Lotte World. I'm not really into this kind of ride, so I rate it 1.5 out of 5.

The last ride before we headed back was merry-go-round (Camelot Carousel). For a little while, let's go back to our childhood, riding a white horse, while going ups and downs in a big circle. 

Camelot Carousel (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
Camelot Carousel (picture courtesy: Lotte World)
인증샷 before the ride~
And another 인증샷 on the ride! (credits to Jessica <3)
This ride remains us to our own life. Don't worry when you're down, because you will going up later or sooner (you need to pay some efforts of course!). And don't be too proud when you're up, because you may go down anytime!

Wish you guys enjoy this last month of 2013, make a lot of beautiful memories, a list of new year resolution, and finally, make sure all the wishes in your list come true in 2014!
~^^~