Foreign students who are coming in Korea for the Fall semester should know about Chuseok (추석). As you can read in wiki, this is a is a major harvest festival and a three-day holiday in Korea celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunar calendar on the full moon. The best thing about it is that you have the whole 3 days off when you can go travel, visit places and enjoy yourself. In this article I’m going to tell you about one of these places you can go. Its name is Everland (에버랜드) and it is the biggest amusement park in Korea.
Everland was originally opened in 1976 by a Samsung’s (삼성)daughter company and this year it celebrated its 40th anniversary.
An interesting fact is that Everland was formerly called “Jayeon Nongwon (자연녹원)” which roughly means “Natural Farm,” according to Wikipedia, and Its former English name was “Farmland.” Anyway, Everland is a huge park that lies on 247 acres. In 2014 it was ranked 16th in the world for attendance. This park is also famous for one of its roller-coasters, «T Express». It is made of wood and it is the largest roller-coaster of all kinds in Korea, its length is 1,7km.
So the park itself is located in in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do province (경기도 용인). There are several ways to get there (apart from driving there on a car, in this case gps will take you there):
- There is an option to take a special taxi that can take you from anywhere and deliver to the There is a flat fee without any additional charges. The price may wary depending on the place of pick up, the car’s class and whether it is round trip or not. More information regarding the price policy and how to take it you can find on the following website: http://carey.kr/evercab/english/
- The second option is to take a subway. You would have to go to a Jeondae Everland Station (전대 에버랜드역) (last stop) on Yongin Ever Line (용인에버선) and take a free shuttle bus to the Everland from there. Although it might sounds easy, it is estimated to take 2 hours to get there from City Hall Station (시청역) and cost you around 2500 Won.
- More likely you would rather take a bus. There are two regular busses that go there:
- Bus number 5002 departures from Gangnam Station (exit 10). The bus stop is in front of the Krispykreme Doughnuts. It takes around 40 minutes and costs 2500 Won.
- Bus number 5700 departures from Jamsil station (잠실역) (exit 6). Note that the bus stop is on the Bus only lane, so you would have to cross the road to get there. This road would take around an hour or little more and the fee is 2500 Won
Once you get off a bus, go to the shuttle busses that will bring you to the Everland’s front gates.
When you get to the front gates there are multiple ticket offices there. However, it is better and a lot(!) faster (I would like to stress how faster it is, might save you an hour) to go to the group tickets office that is in the back. Moreover, that’s where you go with your coupon. The usual ticket price is 52000 Won, but they usually issue a coupons during holidays that offer a 50% discount. To know more about their pricing strategy and current special offers or to buy a ticket online and not to wait in a queue I would recommend to check out their official website: https://www.everland.com/web/multi/english/everland/everland_guide/ticket/Tickets_and_Coupons.html
Finally, once you are in you have plenty of stuff to do! Depending on the time of the year the park may be decorated in different themes. When I was there everything was in the Halloween theme and looked awesome!
Just to give you a hint about the layout of the Everland here is the map for the Fall 2016:
As you can see, there are 5 different zones in the park:
- Global Fair
- American Adventure
- Magic Land
- European Adventure
- Zoo Topia
I don’t know how about you, but I’m a big fan of roller-coaters, the scarier the better. Here are just some of those I’ve tried:
Based on my experience, I have to say that “T express” is a “must do” thing. It is clearly in the top 10 roller-coasters I’ve had and this ride was one of the most enjoyable moments since I got in Korea (that’s 3 weeks’ time but still). I’ve already mentioned how long it is, but it also the steepest wooden coaster. Another tip is not to waste a lot of time on “Rolling X-Train.” That coaster is at most a minute ride with a few loops. When I got off I still couldn’t believe that was it (that’s what I waited an hour for).
Apart from coasters there is a huge zoo area where you can have a safari ride. There are enclosures with animals all over this zone and the one thing you should definitely try is to feed a bird from a hand. It feels quite good actually!
There is also a beautiful area with gardens there. It is in the European adventure zone, in the very North corner. There are so many spots where you can take great pictures there. My skill of taking pictures su…khm…is bad, so just trust me, it’s very nice there, especially at night when all those LED lights turn on.
Make sure that you will stay till the evening because there is a very nice parade that goes through the park around 8:30pm. Here are a few pictures of that parade.
To sum up, Everlend is a “must go” place in Korea. Go there in the early morning and spent the whole day there until the parade! Ride coasters, walk around, take pictures, eat something tasty, and have fun with your friends! As for me, I don’t now a better place to spent a Chuseok.
Article by Pavel from Russia
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