Everland Adventure

Everland

(This happened on December 22nd, 2013....It's my second post about that long weekend we had, this covers Sunday. I'm still catching up on my posts >.<;;) 

The Magic Tree

It’s really fun to go to theme parks during certain holidays because they go all out with decorations and themes so it just adds a lot to the atmosphere. I actually usually really plan out my theme park trips but this time we just decided to go to Everland (South Korea's version of "Disneyland") and kind of do whatever we felt like doing.

Christmas at Everland

The cool thing about Everland is that it is a theme park and also a Zoo. We went to the Zoo first and checked out all the animals. It’s been forever since I’ve been to a zoo and there was a lot to see. 

Everland also has two different safari-like rides you can go on where you hop in a bus and the driver takes you through an exhibit where some exotic animals walk around like tigers and bears. 

 

It really felt like a safari and was neat to see the animals up so close and free like that.

The zoo also happens to be a filming sight from a recent show called Good Doctor (staring Joo Won and Moon Chae Won). Jenee hasn’t seen it but I was pretty excited to get another drama sight in from a show I really like.

Joo Won and Moon Chae Won visit the Zoo at Everland in Good Doctor

After finishing up with the Zoo we headed down to the main square to watch the Christmas parade. Actually, we ended up only watching the beginning of it on accident because we thought it was over only to find out (after we moved on) that it was, in fact, still going. Oh, well. What we did see was nice and I’ll admit we giggled a bit over all the foreigners in the parade.

We went on the pirate ship/viking ride next. 

Viking Ship

It was actually the only “ride” we really went on (my stomach doesn’t handle most rides well these days) and we just had to go on this particular ride because it’s in like every theme park scene for every drama (probably not this particular one but…still).

Romantic Illumination at Everland

After the ride we got some food and then took the cable car down to the bottom of the park (it’s built on a mountain…) where the Romantic Illumination event was taking place. 

It was starting to get dark so the lights all turned on and it was just so pretty. There were lots of different displays and we actually found out later that this area was used as a shooting location for another drama The King 2 Hearts. 

Lee Seung Gi and Ha Ji Won at Everland in The King 2 Hearts

It’s really beautiful and makes for some great photos especially earlier in the evening before the hordes of people started showing up.

No water fountain this time of year...

When we finished looking around at all the lights it was dark and cold so we went and got some hot chocolate to drink while we waited for the moonlight parade. Luckily, we didn’t have to wait too long and we got a good spot with a nice view as the illuminated floats paraded by. The effects were neat and the dancing was cute. I can’t remember the last time I saw a parade at night so it was a nice experience.

By the time the show was over, we had about an hour before the last event we wanted to see was going on which was the Christmas firework show. We took up post at a spot with a really good view and waited out in the cold, freezing, singing Christmas songs to make ourselves feel better. Despite the agony of waiting, the show was totally worth it.

We were standing above the Romantic Illumination arena and facing the main stage. As the Christmas music played the lights synchronized to the songs and then fireworks started going off (also in sync). It was pretty much the coolest firework show ever (I would argue that it was even better than the International Fireworks show we saw earlier in the fall…though it wasn’t as long). Plus, it was all Christmas-ie, which was just too awesome.

Here is a video of the opening part of the show:

Here is a video of the grand finale (it's pretty awesome):

We left the park after that and headed home. It kind of sucked getting back so late on a Sunday knowing we had work bright and early the next morning after two very long days of doing things (I really need my one day per week of lazing around doing nothing). But it wasn’t too bad, and it was worth it!