Final day starts early as I checked out from Banana Backpackers as early as 6.30am. We're heading to Gangnam Station as the bus to Everland will take around 45 minutes to 1 hour. It was Wednesday, people are rushing to work. You can see this Metropolitan city really makes as the people moves fast to catch each train.
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| Seocho @ Gangnam |
It is a normal scenario in major cities all over the world. It is actually a very unique experience to see as we can learn and adapt to the local activities. Probably there are some point that differentiate us compare to theirs.
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| Touch you T Money or pay cash |
Busses to Everland departs from Gangnam every 15 minutes. You need to take bus no. 5002 which costs you around KRW1,600. To those who still have their T Money, just tap it on the sensor and you're good to go. I just noticed that my balance was low so I pay cash. Not a problem thou, they'll still give you change for sure. For more info on the transportation ways to Everland, you can visit the link provided above. You should inform the bus driver that you're going to Everland so that he can give you the exact fare. Don't worry if you don't know where to get off as the bus will have an announcement if you're reaching the station. So sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
I've covered my sleep time during the journey as it was a heavy traffic at Gangnam so I can't really enjoy the snowy view outside.
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| view of the Everland shuttle bus stop |
Once arrived, you can see there's another bus stop across from where the bus stop where you got off. You need to cross the road and look for a bus stop which you can see Everland shuttle bus is waiting for you.
On your right will be another station which various feeder busses are. There are busses that heading back to Gangnam, Incheon, Yocchan and other various places. Hop on the shuttle bus, it's free and it'll take you straight to Everland entrance as the journey will take you around 10 minutes.
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| Ticket price |
Everland is open everyday. Kindly check on the schedule for the park operating hours. Tickets price is KRW37,000 for adults and KRW28,000. Details on ticket prices can be seen here. Don’t forget to check on their websites often if you’re planning to visit Everland as sometimes they even offer a discount voucher only for foreigners.
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| Fancy buildings once enter Everland |
From outside Everland, you can see buildings with designs as you’re in a cartoon. From the map you can refer and plan your way through this theme park. I left my red backpack at the locker room, surprisingly there’s a big locker space for tourists who bring large bags. Very convenient indeed.
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| The Hurricane |
We then proceed to checkout on the buildings in Everland and I proceed straight to 1 of the rides called The Hurricane. Just imagine my 1st time riding a ride during winter. Shivering cold~ It was definitely a fun ride, can’t find it in Malaysia. My next ride will be The Rodeo.
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| getting ready for the ride |
We then walked past a beautiful garden and found ourselves in front of a kiddy roller coaster called Racing Coaster. This is similar to Buffalo Bill Coaster at Sunway Lagoon theme park. Looks like Adam loves it as this is his 1st time riding a roller coaster.
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| Rolling X Train tracks |
We then split as I will cover the main attraction, the roller coasters!!! Looking at the view, there are 2 main rollercoasters, Rolling X Train and T Express. Some of the rides were closed during winter seasons and that includes T Express as well. Too bad thou~ I straight went to find Rolling X Train which was located at the New York side. Here you can find Let’s Twist and Rock n Roll. Let’s Twist opened quite late around 11pm so I proceed to have 2 rounds of Rolling X Train and then Rock n Roll. Rock n Roll was quite similar as Tornado at Dunia Fantasi, Jakarta. It’s just that this ride is smaller, and the turns are not as crazy as Tornado.
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| View of 4 Seasons Square from Festival Train |
I then walked downwards to the 4 Seasons Square where you can see the winter decorations are taken place. This 4 Seasons Square changes with the season as well. From here you can ride the Festival Train that will bring you around the square.
Right after I covered the square, we meetup again and proceed to the centre square where there are Welcoming Parade starts. (apologies for the video quality)
We don’t missed a chance to take pictures with the characters and dancers. They are dressed up and the characters were like Disney characters. Its just that they have their own mascot and characters as a trademark of the park.
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| I'm C, scored 6,400 points :D |
When Nazlee and family decided to take a break for a light snack, I then proceed to the Mysterious Mansion. At first I thought it was a ghost house but I was wrong. It’s a shooting ride where the rider sits on a moving vehicle while shooting at a green light. This will activate some movements from the mechanic ghosts. Try your best to shoot as many as you can, there will be a score for you at the end of the ride. My score that time was 6,400. See if you can pass my score. Hehe~
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| Chicken Popcorn with mustard |
The next ride will be The Rotating House. Kind of odd but let’s give it a try. It’s a house where the rider sits on a platform, and it feels like the whole house is rotating 360 degrees!!! This is definitely one of the new experience I had at Everland. I proceed to the place where my friends are having lunch, just grab a simple chicken popcorn worth KRW3,800. I can’t really eat much as the excitement at a theme park really makes me forget about my lil tummy.
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| watching the introduction scene in Zootopia 4D |
Me, Nazlee and Adam then tried the Zootopia 4D Motion Master. It was definitely entertaining with the storyline about the Zootopia characters are given a responsibility to protect a crystals from the evil. Can’t enjoy much as there are no subtitle so you can just enjoy the cinematic 4D experience.
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| my 1st time watching a Liger LIVE!!! |
We then head to the rabbit performance where they showed a rabbit race through obstacles. Just enjoying the performance as then we proceed to the Safari. You will be riding a bus and the bus will take you inside the cage where you can see various of animals inside the cages. During our visit, there are tigers, lions, bears and even liger (lion + tiger breed) and white tiger!!! It was so close that you can even see the bears are just next to you!!! The driver then gave some information about the animals while giving the bears some food so you can see those grizzly bears just stand and wait for us to come.
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| Sea Lion Stadium show about to start |
Once done, we walked through a various of animals that was kept in a cage. This the same setup as Wildlife Park at Sunway Lagoon. Once we covered most of the animals, we then head to Sea Lion Stadium where the sea lion show will starts soon. It was definitely entertaining as the animals were trained and performed based on a storyline which in the Musketeer’s era. The show was around 20 minutes.
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| u can't miss this!!! |
Next we headed to the Alpine Village where the next attraction, Snow Buster awaits!!! This is definitely an experience that one must never forget. You grab a tube from the counter, head straight along the elevator uphill and slide down a snowy hill. How cool is that!!! We can’t get enough of this as we were going up and down for a few times.
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| Let's Twist!!! |
As the time reaches 4.30pm, I need to start moving as I have to catch a bus back to Gangnam Station, and then the Airport Limousin straight to Incheon Airport. Just afraid that I’ll be stuck in the jam as calculated, I’ll be arriving airport around 8.30-9.00pm and my flight back to Kuala Lumpur is 11.20pm. Still got much time but I can’t hesitate. It’s time to make a move but before that, 1 last round of the Rolling X Train and finally, Let’s Twist!!!
Boy it was such an incredible experience at Everland. I managed to catch a bus back to Gangnam and waited for the Airport Limousin. It was quite confusing as I don’t know where to take the bus. Since the signboard was at the roadside, there’s also bus stops in the middle of the road. Right after a bus arrived, I straight asked the driver on how to go to Incheon Airport but sadly he didn’t understand me. Luckily there’s a lady who really speaks English very well, assisted me that the bus was from airport and I need to cross the road and wait at the bus stop opposite of where I’m waiting currently.
The system for the busses at Seoul was definitely amazed me. They’re using GPS tracking system as you can see a LCD display showing the bus number and how long will it takes to arrive at the station. When I arrived at the bus stop, bus no 6011 will be arriving another 9 minutes and from what I seen on the massive traffic jam, the bus really arrived 9 minutes later!!!
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| Lotteria Beeper card |
As a conclusion, Seoul was definitely a MUST place to visit. Since you don’t require a visa, it’s very convenience as most of the signboards are in English as well. So there will be no issue on going around without keep on relying on the locals. Hope the tips and guides for Seoul will assist you on your next budget trip to Seoul!!!
for more pictures on this trip, kindly refer to my Facebook photo album:
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108578&id=1372841986&l=5ed3f7da79
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 2
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108690&id=1372841986&l=4da372f265
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 3
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 3
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108697&id=1372841986&l=9062e7ae64
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 4
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 4
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108700&id=1372841986&l=bfa5efec98
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 5
Winter Seoul 2011 Part 5
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108704&id=1372841986&l=09db5937c3
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